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Helen of Troy by Bettany Hughes
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Helen of Troy

The Story Behind the Most Beautiful Woman in the World

The Story Behind the Most Beautiful Woman in the World

By Bettany Hughes

By Bettany Hughes

By Bettany Hughes

By Bettany Hughes

Best Seller
Paperback $24.00

Jan 09, 2007 | ISBN 9781400076000

Ebook $4.99

Jun 03, 2009 | ISBN 9780307485885

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    Helen of Troy by Bettany Hughes
    Paperback $24.00
    Jan 09, 2007 | ISBN 9781400076000

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    • $24.00

      Jan 09, 2007 | ISBN 9781400076000

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Jun 03, 2009 | ISBN 9780307485885

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    Buy the Ebook:

    About Helen of Troy

    For 3,000 years, the woman known as Helen of Troy has been both the ideal symbol of beauty and a reminder of the terrible power beauty can wield.In her search for the identity behind this mythic figure, acclaimed historian Bettany Hughes uses Homer’s account of Helen’s life to frame her own investigation. Tracing the cultural impact that Helen has had on both the ancient world and Western civilization, Hughes explores Helen’s role and representations in literature and in art throughout the ages. This is a masterly work of historical inquiry about one of the world’s most famous women.

    About Helen of Troy

    For 3,000 years, the woman known as Helen of Troy has been both the ideal symbol of beauty and a reminder of the terrible power beauty can wield.In her search for the identity behind this mythic figure, acclaimed historian Bettany Hughes uses Homer’s account of Helen’s life to frame her own investigation. Tracing the cultural impact that Helen has had on both the ancient world and Western civilization, Hughes explores Helen’s role and representations in literature and in art throughout the ages. This is a masterly work of historical inquiry about one of the world’s most famous women.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also by Bettany Hughes

    The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
    The Hemlock Cup
    See all books by Bettany Hughes

    Also by Bettany Hughes

    The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
    The Hemlock Cup
    See all books by Bettany Hughes

    About Bettany Hughes

    Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster. Her first book, Helen of Troy, has been translated into ten languages. She has written and presented numerous documentaries for the BBC, PBS, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and National… More about Bettany Hughes

    About Bettany Hughes

    Bettany Hughes is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster. Her first book, Helen of Troy, has been translated into ten languages. She has written and presented numerous documentaries for the BBC, PBS, the Discovery Channel, the History Channel and National… More about Bettany Hughes

    Product Details

    Category: Ancient World History | Biography & Memoir

    Paperback | $24.00
    Published by Vintage
    Jan 09, 2007 | 528 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9781400076000

    Category: Ancient World History | Biography & Memoir

    Ebook | $4.99
    Published by Vintage
    Jun 03, 2009 | 512 Pages | ISBN 9780307485885

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    Praise

    “Dazzling. . . A look at the love match between beauty and power, displaying the archetypal ‘trophy mistress” to the modern world.” –O, The Oprah Magazine

    “A divine biography. . . . Sizzling. . . . [Hughes] , a young British historian, explores not only the Bronze Age babe but also what she has meant throughout history and the cultural significance of being both desired and despised.” –USA Today

    “[Hughes’] multi-faceted, multi-hued, and multi-period portrait of la Belle Helene will capture the imagination of professional scholars and general readers alike. I cannot recommend it too strongly.” –Professor Paul Cartledge, Cambridge University

    “Hughes brings a passion for ancient history and archaeology crossed with a strain of feminism to the figure of Helen.” –The Washington Post Book World

    “The book triumphantly reclaims Helen from some of her traducers. Hughes’s portrait is as close to a real, living Helen as we are likely to get.”
    –Financial Times

    “When Helen launched her “thousand ships,” was she a “shameless hussy?” Or, like her mother, was she a rape victim? . . . The answers have always depended on who you speak to and when. Hughes has them all.”
    –The Times

    “Hughes skillfully brings this period back to life. A fascinating window onto the power politics of an age . . . a genuinely exciting historical narrative.”
    –Sunday Telegraph.

    Table Of Contents

    Illustrations
    Text Acknowledgements
    Maps
    Timeline
    Dramatis Personæ
    Family Trees
    Foreword and Acknowledgements


    INTRODUCTION
    Cherchez la Femme
    An Evil Destiny
    Helen-Hunting
    Goddess, Princess, Whore


    PART ONE
    HELEN’S BIRTH IN PRE-HISTORY
    1 A Dangerous Landscape
    2 A Rape, a Birth
    3 The Lost Citadel
    4 The Mycenaeans
    5 The Pre-historic Princess

    PART TWO
    THE LAND OF BEAUTIFUL WOMEN
    6 The Rape of ‘Fair Hellen’
    7 Sparte Kalligynaika
    8 Tender-eyed Girls

    PART THREE
    THE WORLD’S DESIRE
    9 A Trophy for Heroes
    10 The Kingmaker
    11 A Royal Wedding

    PART FOUR
    KOUROTROPHOS
    12 Hermione
    13 A Welcome Burden
    14 Helen, High Priestess
    15 La Belle Hélène

    PART FIVE
    A LOVER’S GAME
    16 The Golden Apple
    17 Bearing Gifts
    18 Alexander Helenam Rapuit
    19 The Female of the Species Is More Deadly Than the Male

    PART SIX
    EROS AND ERIS
    20 Helen the Whore
    21 The Pain of Aphrodite
    22 The Sea’s Foaming Lanes

    PART SEVEN
    TROY BECKONS
    23 East Is East and West Is West
    24 The Fair Troad
    25 The Topless Towers of Ilium
    26 The Golden Houses of the East
    27 A Fleet Sets Sail

    PART EIGHT
    TROY BESIEGED
    28 Helen – Destroyer of Cities
    29 Death’s Dark Cloud
    30 A Beautiful Death – Kalos Thanatos
    31 The Fall of Troy

    PART NINE
    IMMORTAL HELEN
    32 Home to Sparta
    33 The Death of a Queen
    34 The Age of Heroes Ends
    35 ‘Fragrant Treasuries’
    36 The Daughter of the Ocean

    PART TEN
    THE FACE THAT LAUNCHED A THOUSAND SHIPS
    37 Helen in Athens
    38 Helen Lost and Helen Found
    39 Helen, Homer and the Chances of Survival
    40 Veyn Fables
    41 Helen of Troy and the Bad Samaritan
    42 ‘Perpulchra’ – More Than Beautiful
    43 Dancing with the Devil
    44 Helen’s Nemesis

    APPENDICES
    1 The Minotaur’s Island
    2 La Parisienne
    3 Women of Stone and Clay and Bronze
    4 Elemental Helen – She-Gods and She-Devils
    5 Royal Purple – The Colour of Congealed Blood
    Epilogue – Myth, History and Historia

    Abbreviations
    Notes
    Bibliography
    Index

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