Helen

One of the primary themes of Helen is that of appearance versus reality. This is one aspect of a larger cluster of themes that Euripides explores, which also includes a reflection on the nature of virtue and how it is perceived. The primary way in which the theme of appearance verses reality appears in the play is through the tension between the real Helen and the phantom Helen. Whereas most of the ancient Greek world thought of Helen as morally repugnant because of her presumed infidelity and because of all the bloodshed that followed from her actions, Euripides reminds us that not all is as it appears to be. The infidelity that was assumed of Helen was actually attributable to the actions of the phantom Helen, not the real one, and so the moral and social cost of the Trojan War could not be laid on Helen’s shoulders. As Helen herself says, “Although my name is vilified through Greece, my body here remains free from reproach” (74-75). The real Helen emerges from the play as a paragon of virtue, as far from the popular construal of her character as could be imagined. Teucer remarks on this point in the opening scenes, comparing Helen to the phantom version that he knows: “Your similarity to Helen is only skin-deep; inside you’re not a bit like her” (169-70).