The Beautiful
Helen

“Helen” was beautiful and cursed throughout antiquity, not because of any harm she herself caused, but because of the harm caused by her beauty. A woman’s “power” to destroy society through her eroticism and the “unrestrained” passion she “provoked” in men was a frequent narrative in ancient Greek tradition.

Control of women’s independence by their socially superior men was considered almost imperative and women in ancient Greece never acquired civil rights; they always remained under the guardianship of a male family member, like children.1Blondel, R. 2013. Helen of Troy: Beauty, Myth, Devastation, pp. 10- 12

At the same time, however, women were considered a source of considerable power. Through lucrative marriages, assets were transferred and new citizens were born. Attention! Neither of these two facts favoured women themselves, as they did not hold a citizen’s rights or the right to own property. Nevertheless, they could through matrimony connect families and give birth, so they were considered valuable.2Allan, W. (ed) 2008. Euripides: Helen, p. 50, 52 If they also happened to be attractive, they held “power” over influential political men and thus threatened the prosperity and balance of society. In other words, since they did not play any political or economic role in the public sphere, their “influence” over men ought to be controlled lest there be an accident. It is therefore not unreasonable that the “nature” of women was discussed so extensively in ancient Greece, especially since it simultaneously defined the position and obligations of men. Because, while the name of the play may be “Helen”, the authors – Sappho excluded – were always men, the theatre audience was overwhelmingly male, and political and social power was certainly in the hands of a minority of men.

Similarly, they explored other cases (and situations): they created Antigone, Clytemnestra, Orestes, Bacchae, Agamemnon, and Frogs in order to address on stage various issues that concerned them and to account for factors such as “fate”, “destiny”, “morality”, and “justice” in human life. Homer’s “Helen of Troy”, the one who was kidnapped and was the “cause” of the Trojan War, was the first “Helen” to acquire such importance in the mythical tradition and from then on poor “Helen” became synonymous with destruction throughout antiquity.

At school, for example, we learned about Euripides’s Helen. Euripides was so interested in the study of the female gender that Aristophanes commented on the fact in his own comedies. Thirteen out of the nineteen surviving plays by Euripides feature women as their protagonists; their themes often revolve around the relationship between the sexes in society, and his heroines share their gendered experience on stage, expressing what it feels like to live as a woman in society.3Blondel, R., Gamel, M-K, Rabinowitz, N. S, Zweig, B. (Trans and ed.) 1999. Women on the Edge: Four Plays by Euripides (Alcestis, Medea, Helen, Iphigenia at Aulis), pp.80-81Different versions of tragic heroines are found throughout the history of opera, like for example Lucia di Lammermoor in Gaetano Donizetti’s work of the same title (pictured below).

Although friendlier than other versions that condemn “Helen” as a force destructive to her society, even Euripides’s tragedy cannot be considered radical in its treatment of the female gender. “Helen” may be presented as a victim of circumstance but the tragedy did in no way seek to critique the hegemony of male thought and behavior, or the poetic tradition that associated womanhood with destruction. So “Helen” here too remained bound by her “nature”: a beautiful and– at least inadvertently– destructive woman who ought be controlled by her husband.4Allan, W. (ed) 2008. Euripides: Helen, p. 55

When German composer Jacques Offenbach began his career in Paris, Emperor Napoleon III exercised absolute control over theatrical production in order to prevent the dissemination of revolutionary ideas.5The cambridge companion to operetta, p. 73 [pdf]  Thus Offenbach introduced and built his career on the genre we call operetta, a genre that provided musical entertainment, avoided political commentary and is considered the forerunner of today’s musical. And Offenbach excelled at it. Not only did he write 100 pieces of music theatre during his career, but he also founded a very successful theatre in Paris. After the success of his Orphée aux enfers, he decided to stage a version of the myth of Helen in 1864, as ancient Greek themes were popular in Paris at the time. And thus La Belle Hélène was born, a comic operetta so popular that it was performed 700 times in Paris and travelled throughout Europe and the USA over the next six years. The theme of this “Helen” may appear to be connected to ancient Greece, but as is often the case in art, behind the costumes, plot and characters of antiquity, Offenbach concealed a musical parody on the endless thirst of Parisians for spectacles and entertainment.6ibid. 83

Using fragments of Offenbach’s music, Offenbach’s “La belle Hélène” by Kornilios Selamsis and librettist Alexandra K* takes this troubled ancient heroine and lends her a satirical voice in Greek reality. Pay attention to the libretto to hear comments and opinions about our society, thoughts on our culture and the place of women in it, and of course don’t forget to write to me after the end of the performance to let me know if “Helen” in this version is a woman who has no say over her fate. Traditions are always subject to change and you might be surprised.

In the following link you can take a look at the programme of the performance and browse through the story of Helen through the notes of its creators. https://www.nationalopera.gr/images/flipping/programma/en/