6/2/07 - Classical Literature - Euripides: Helen (2)

Menelaos still regards the Trojan War as a success, even though he now knows that it was for nothing; the eidolon is more real for him than reality.

It is in essence a comic plot. Agons are used for scenes, as if in a court of law. In this case, Helen and Menelaos are discussing how to overcome an obstacle - a typically comic plot. They are pleading for the same thing, which is unconventional for an agon.

Theonöe is unusual for a prophet: she knows everything and tells it clearly. She is the only character to make a moral choice; in tragedy such choices should be numerous.

Hera wants to help Helen so that everything will be known of the judgement of Paris and so it will be known that Aphrodite won because of a bribe. Aphrodite, however, wishes to hinder Helen. Theonöe tells Helen this. The pettiness of the gods shows clearly in the play; the gods are similar to Helen and Menelaos.

Helen's argument is that Theonöe has a duty to the gods and her father. Menelaos' argument is that she will lose her reputation if she doesn't help them. Theonöe is persuaded because of the obligation to her father.

The second half of the play is not mirror or continuation of the story. It is more like a retelling of the story. Again, we have the judgement of Paris, tricks and deception, etc. There is doubling: the messenger speech about the disappearance of the eidolon, the machina. So is the play in two halves or is it two separate stories?

It was typical of new comedy to be constructed around dramatic irony, e.g. Theoklymenos' dialogue.

There is a gap between the real and fictive Menelaos in the second half. To Menelaos, the real Menelaos is a soldier. To Theoklymenos the fictional Menelaos is fictional and the real Menelaos dead. In the second half, Helen and Menelaos control truth and fiction and make others judge real from false.

The second narrative is like the Trojan War: the rescuing of Helen, killings, tricks, etc. It parallels also with the Odyssey, where Egypt equals Ithaca: so will Helen be a second Helen of Troy or an innocent recreated Helen?

There are no choral odes in the first half. The first stasimon is at line 1117. Odes open up another perspective: why save the odes till the second half? The Demeter and Persephone ode is important.

Egypt is linked with the land of the dead. It is wealthy, other-worldly, and Helen is trapped there. Helen and Persephone are both picking flowers in the countryside when they are abducted. Note that women should not be left alone, hence the renowned myth. Hermes takes Helen away; Hades takes Persephone away.

Everyone does Helen's bidding in the second half; she effectively writes the plot. She is concerned with the construction of images: a mimesis of life? (Aristotle and Plato) Things are invented to change convention. Helen becomes scriptwriter; see Menelaos, "That's old-fashioned."

Menelaos asks for a chariot. This is stupid because they don't know the way, besides they must cross the sea. He then wants to kill Theoklymenos, but Theonöe would know. Helen comes up with the plan and runs the show henceforth.

The theme of appearance: Menelaos' rags help persuade Theoklymenos of the truth of their story. Helen dresses in mourning clothes.

Messenger speeches usually come at the beginning of the play, not the end. They tend to be Homeric in language, and Euripides' is particularly so. Also, they should be descriptive enough to make you feel as if you were there, e.g. Helen's ankle, troublesome bull. The bull mimics the story in the Aeneid in which an animal stumbled and this was taken to be a bad omen. Helen and Menelaos encourage their men to think of the killing as a second Troy. However, they are not now fighting barbarians but massacring unarmed Egyptians. This could also be a mimic of Ithaca.

Theoklymenos decides to kill Theonöe, and then Kastor and Polydeukes (machina) turn up.

Euripides doesn't wrap up small details, but he ends the play abruptly, as in the Odyssey.

The same choral epilogue was used in four other plays.

Where are we left at the end? The ending is too easy, encouraging irony. Is Helen re-enacting Troy, and so living up to her bad reputation? So it is not a happy ending after all.

Is the play escapist? Anti-war? Are there any guidelines for telling what is real or not? Does one resign oneself to the will of fate and the gods? Will Helen resign herself to just being herself?