Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism | Iliad, Homer - Mary Ebbott (essay date 1999)

Mary Ebbott (essay date 1999)

SOURCE: Ebbott, Mary. “The Wrath of Helen: Self-Blame and Nemesis in the Iliad.” In Nine Essays on Homer, edited by Miriam Carlisle and Olga Levaniouk, pp. 3-20. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield, 1999.

[In the following essay, Ebbott interprets Helen's character in the Iliad as the epic personification of blame and of the consequences of righteous indignation.]

When Aphrodite tells Helen to go to Paris' bed after he has lost his duel with Menelaos, Helen refuses (Il. [Iliad] 3.410-412):

κει̑σε δ' ἐγoν οὐκ εῒμι—νεμεσσητὸν δἐ κεν εἴη—
κείνου πορσανἐουσα λἐχοs· Τρῳαὶ δἐ μ' ὀπίσσω
πα̑σαι μωμήσονται· ἔχω δ' ἄχε' ἄκριτα θυμἳ̑.

I am not going to him—it would arouse nemesis—
to share his bed. The Trojan women hereafter would
all...

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