rwcarter
Helen of Troy is seated on a golden throne whose arms are engraved with snakes. Her gown trails into the pool of water at her feet. In her left hand she holds a golden apple, while in her right she holds a golden cup into which she stares in deep concentration.
Helen
Rodney
Helen
- daughter of Zeus and Leda, who bore two sets of twins, one immortal by Zeus (Helen and Polydeuces aka Pollux) and one mortal by her husband (Clytemnestra and Castor)
- married to Menelaus, Aphrodite arranged for her to fall in love with Paris as Paris’ prize for having chosen Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess; this action began the Trojan War
- after Paris was killed in the war, she became the wife of another man before eventually being reunited with King Menelaus, who was determined to slay her for her adultery but at the sight of her beauty fell in love with her all over again
- the hypnotic power of the feminine world of feelings, a power that’s both magical and magnetic
- all the men who pursue her see in her the reflection of the depth of their own souls
- she is motivated by her own secret purposes and feelings, appearing as a mystery to others
- she does nothing that she doesn’t want to do, including getting married; unusual for her time, she chose Menelaus as her husband when most girls were forced to marry whomever their father or brothers told them to marry
- whomever she loves, Helen gives herself to wholeheartedly
- as the embodiment of all the secret unconscious fantasies of the perfect woman, she conquers men without trying
- she is full of paradoxes as she is both virgin and harlot, calculator and victim
- one can’t argue with the heart’s logic, even though it defies rational analysis and often is in conflict with morality
- she has the ability to start conflict and action without having to actually do anything
- an image of the unconscious that pursues its secret purposes unbeknownst to the conscious mind, luring one into crisis, conflict, intense passion and fate through its mysterious power
- as fixed water, she is intense and passionate
- this queen is passionate, proud and intense and refuses to bow to anyone
- one who bases their actions on what they feel and who is not concerned with what other people think
- intense, passionate feelings and powerful emotional natures
- fierce determination can turn to ruthlessness
- on the positive side, she can be tremendously loyal and very responsible, but on the negative side, she can be possessive and jealous and can tend toward the destructive
- passionately loyal but can be quite relentless with those who hurt or betray them
- is she dissolving into the water or emerging from it?
- when she declares her love (by giving the apple) she means it for as long as she means it, and when she stops meaning it, she’s done
- the juxtaposition of the snakes on her throne (ancient symbol of Scorpio) and the apple suggest the downfall of any man who gets too close
Rodney