National Hellenic Museum Puts Helen of Troy on Trial

Following highly-acclaimed successes with the National Hellenic Museum’s (NHM) Trials of Socrates, Antigone, and The Parthenon Marbles, the NHM is once again partnering with prominent American  judges and attorneys to take on another case with ancient roots and modern consequences – The NHM Trial of Helen of Troy.

Helen of Troy, known universally as “The face that launched a thousand ships,” has borne the blame for the Trojan War since antiquity — but was she really a traitor or just an innocent, helpless victim?

Helen was the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Paris, a Trojan prince, was an honored guest in Menelaus’ home. But by the end of the evening’s festivities, Helen and Paris somehow found themselves together on a boat bound for Troy.

From ancient times, all the way up to the modern day, people have continued to argue about whether Helen went willingly with Paris or if she had been kidnapped.

Regardless of what really took place that fateful night, Helen’s flight from Troy did cause the Trojan War, a twenty-year conflict which resulted in innumerable casualties on both sides, including the deaths of the great heroes Achilles and Hector.

Helen’s culpability is at the heart of this age-old story, and our understanding of it raises timeless questions about the place of women in society and their control over their own lives and bodies.

The NHM panel of legal experts will ask: “Did Helen willingly leave Sparta with Paris, thus betraying her home, or was she abducted by Paris?”

You decide!

For more information, and to obtain tickets for the event, which will take place on March 5, 2020, please click here.