HELEN
Helena was the daughter of Zeus and Leda. Was wife of King Menelaus of Sparta, though Paris decided
to kidnap her , which was sparked the Trojan War .
Helena was a woman of extraordinary beauty. Aphrodite engaged to Paris in exchange pageant prize
where he was a judge (see Aphrodite). Although Homer's work appears as an ordinary mortal , immortal
regarded tradition of its divine origin . Zeus had conceived together with Polydeuces , one of the
Dioscuri , with her mother Leda adopting the guise of a swan. Clytemnestra , sister of Helen, Castor and
his brother were also, according to this version , ordinary mortals begotten through Leda and her
husband Tyndareus ( see Dioscuri , Los and Leda ) .
Helena grew up in Sparta, in the court of Tyndareus . When I was about 12 years, Theseus abducted her,
but her brothers Castor and Polydeuces got free. Later, every single prominent Greeks demanded his
father hand until Menelaus, the prosperous prince of Mycenae, was the lucky guy who married her. He
thus became king of Sparta, while his brother Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had married. The
remaining suitors Menelaus swore allegiance if he ever had trouble because of his wife.
The marriage was happy at first , with a daughter named Hermione . Then came Paris , son of King of
Troy, and during a visit to Sparta Helena desire caused by the intervention of Aphrodite. When
Menelaus was leaving for Crete to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Paris saw an opportunity to
kidnap her and fled to Troy with several of the king's treasuries . Once there , he married Helena without
popular approval . The Prince Hector in particular disapproved of her brother 's attitude towards women
and opposed the marriage.
When Menelaus returned and discovered what had happened he contacted his brother Agamemnon
and Greek monarchs had promised help. Along with Odysseus , Menelaus traveled to Troy , to force the
Trojans to a liberation of her daughter , but failed. Thus, the Greeks prepared a powerful army and
departed to Troy where they began a siege that lasted ten years, until he managed to enter the walled
thanks to the cunning of Odysseus.
Throughout the war Helen was cursed by both sides , for the trouble caused .
NEMESIS;
Nemesis, daughter of Nyx (the goddess night) personifies the Divine Vengeance , and therefore is
responsible for punishing those who indulge in excess, one of the great faults for the Greeks .
This excess or Hubriz is such excess in human happiness , pride , arrogance , and of course the challenge
to the gods.
The existence of this divine vengeance is explained by the worldview that had the Greeks , for whom the
balance ( svfrosunh ) was the most important . When it broke, it threatened the order of things , so the
punishment was necessary to keep the world as it is .
Thus, in the case of Croesus - man too happy and too rich - Nemesis is led by a dangerous expedition
where you beat Cyrus. This action ends up being the downfall of Croesus .
The same happened with the Persians, who incurred the excessiveness of giving by some victory over
Athens. Never managed to conquer it , so with a block brought by the Persians themselves with the
intention of making a trophy of his victory, the famous sculptor Phidias made a statue of Nemesis ,
which served as motivation for the Athenians at Marathon , where they obtained a landslide victory.
Nemesis appeared in many stories, with the intention to maintain the precious balance ( svfrosunh ) of
the Greeks. But it is also known for her affair with Zeus involuntary .
Legend has it that Nemesis was the subject of sleeplessness love of Zeus , and she did not want , so to
try to escape the embrace of the great god , she changed shape a thousand times , until eventually
conviertió a goose. At that time, becomes swan Zeus and endorsed .
By this union , Nemesis laid an egg . Shepherds picked him up and handed him over to Leda . From this
egg - born the Dioscuri Castor and Pollux , and the beautiful Helen , who later became the cause of the
terrible Trojan War.
Persefone
Persephone is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (daughter of Cronus and Rhea , sister of Zeus and
goddess of fertility and wheat ) . His uncle Hades (brother of Zeus and god of the Underworld ) , fell in
love and one day she abducted her .
The girl was picking flowers in the company of her friends and sisters nymphs father, Athena and
Artemis, and at the time it'll take a lily ( a daffodil as other versions ) , the earth opens up and the crack
Hades takes and takes .
Thus, Persephone became the goddess of the underworld . Apparently , abduction accomplice was
performed with the help of Zeus , but in the absence of Demeter , so it began a long, sad journeys in
search of his beloved daughter, during which the earth became barren.
At the time , Zeus relented and ordered him to return Persephone Hades , but this was no longer
possible because the girl had eaten a pomegranate seed while he was in hell , it is unknown whether
voluntarily or tempted by Hades . The problem was that a bite of any product of Tartarus meant being
chained to him forever .
To ease the situation , Zeus decided that Persephone spend part of the year in the ends of the Earth ,
along with Hades , and the other part on the ground with her mother, while fulfilling its role Demeter
germinating promise and returned to Olympus.
Persephone is known as Proserpina by Latinos.
Legend has it that the origin of Spring lies precisely in this rapture , because when Persephone is taken
into Hell , the flowers were grieved and died, but when he returns , reborn flowers for the joy that
causes the return of the young . As Persephone 's presence on earth becomes cyclical , and the birth of
flowers does too.
Moreover, during the time when Persephone is kept away from her mother, Demeter and confined to
Tartarus, or the underworld , as the wife of Hades , the land becomes barren and sad ensues Winter
season .