Sapphoâs choice of the grammatical neuter for the love object in line 4 (âwhateverâ one desires, not âwhomeverâ) contributes to the implied objectification of Paris, who, as the object of Helenâs desire, sets her in motion without any indication of agency on his part. It was (probably) not Paris but Aphrodite or Eros who âled her astrayâ (11), presumably by holding out an alluring vision of Parisâs beauty, as Aphrodite does in Homer (Il 3.390â94). Paris thus exercises the passive power that beautiful women wield so often, with or without their consentâthe kind of power the Trojan elders attribute to Helen in the Iliad. The declaration of Helenâs own surpassing beauty opens her to the prospect of objectification in her own right, but this prospect is left unacknowledged. Unlike Alcaeus or Ibycus, Sappho insists in the strongest terms on Helenâs beauty, but she conveys its erotic power only obliquely, by asserting the beauty of anything that arouses erĹs. She ostentatiously avoids presenting Helen as a (destructive) object of male desire, instead allowing her to retain both her beauty and her agency.
Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation, Ruby Blondell.
Greek Bronze Mirror with Helen and Paris, late 4th century BCE.
