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Portrayal of Helen of Troy in the Select Poems of Sappho and Wislawa Szymborska: Shattering the Stereotypes
Abstract
The Greek society was highly patriarchal; it was a masculine world where war was glorified. Helen of Troy is one of the most imperative characters in both ancient and modern literature. For centuries she has been portrayed as the woman whose beauty sparked the Trojan War. But there are writers whose characterization of Helen and description of her beauty differ from the stereotypical mainstream narrative. This chapter investigates how the mythical character of Helen has been explored by such female writers, through poems of Sappho and Wislawa Szymborska. In Sappho's “Fragment 16,” the readers observe how she refashions the character of Helen and projects her as a “hero” because she had followed her heart. She only mentions her beauty and does not describe her in an elevated way. But Szymborska is more effective in describing the consequences of her unsurpassed beauty that becomes her weapon. In the poem “A Moment in Troy,” Szymborska criticizes the internalization of patriarchal values. She manipulates patriarchy by using a patriarchal narrative to empower women.
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