A noted historian reexamines the issue of the real Helen of Troy by delving into mythology, poetry, and art, and by examining the sparse shards of historical evidence for the possible reality of Helen's existence, tracing the fluid image of Helen from ancient times to the present day. Reprint. 15,00[...]

As soon as men began to write, they made Helen of Troy their subject; for close on three thousand years she has been both the embodiment of absolute female beauty and a reminder of the terrible power that beauty can wield. For millennia she has been viewed as an exquisite agent of extermination. But[...]