Was Paris of the Trojan War a bully for kidnapping Hellen? It’s important to clarify this word in order to answer the question. It may simply be asking if he forced Helen to go with him in any way, indeed if she did agree to go. But let’s examine this from all angles. Was Paris a habitually cruel, insulting, or hanging person? No. He was the contrary actually!
He was good to creatures.
was discarded for dead by his parents as a invigorated since they were told he’d be the destruction of Troy, so Paris was brought up with a herder and was known for having an excellent disposition, was good to the herds of creatures he tended to, taking great care of them so that they came famously healthy and beautiful creatures. He was latterly reunited with his royal parents, but he was brought up veritably submissively.
He was a man of keen perceptiveness,
so much so that he was named by the gods to be a judge of beauty. However, you more believe you have an excellent mind and a great character for being a stable and reputed person, If the gods are asking you to use your judgment in a discussion of theirs. Not to mention, he was an excellent sportswoman, which means he was good at targeting where to strike his adversary, showing an excellent mind.
He was romantic.
The nymph One none fell in love with him and they were childhood dears, therefore indicating that he’d a veritably romantic, sensitive side. Nymphs, while they could be veritably voluptuous beings, were veritably skittish around over-bearing, aggressive men and generally ran down and hid from any men who portended to be bullies.
Did Paris force Helen to go with him to Troy despite her being a wedded queen in Sparta?
This is frequently called “ the rape of Helen, ” but we must understand that this verb is used in this poetics to mean simply hijacking , like the raspberry “ raptor, ” which means a raspberry which takes it’s victims and flies off with it. It’s not a sexual verb in this jotting as it has come to mean moment. But it still begs the question, if Helen was willing to go, why was it called rape or hijacking at all?
We’ve to understand the culture of this age and these people and the circumstances. Paris had come to Sparta on an assignation from Menelaus. Menelaus had gone to Troy to recover some dead bodies which had been left there over an hassle Hercules had with Troy, where both Trojans and Greeks had failed.
There were great pressures between these nations since Priam, the King of Troy( and Paris ’ father), had been left as King by Hercules but had been rather “ conquered. ” His family, the Princess Histone, had been taken off and his father had been boggled. It was Histone who had saved Priam’s life( and their area) since she was offered a “ gift, ” and she ’d asked for Priam’s life to be saved. We see that these two had a veritably close relationship! And Priam wanted to “ deliver ” her from the Greeks once he was a reigning king of any power. She was living in Salamis.
Priam was colluding an attack on Salamis and the Greeks may have allowed Priam had a grudge against all Greeks over this occasion, so when he arrived to get these dead bodies, Menelaus was n’t awaiting a warm hello from Priam.
Priam asked Paris to deal with Menelaus when he arrived, and Paris ended up getting along famously with Menelaus, and showed him so important hospitality and respect that Menelaus was bloated and began to consider Paris as a reputed friend. The two of them saw an occasion of being strong abettors , since, at that time, the Greek nation wasn’t a coalition. Each megacity had its own sense of identity and governance, so Menelaus, as his own solitary king, saw that an alliance with Troy might strengthen his megacity- area in Greece, and Paris sounded like a remarkable diplomat and excellently fair person.
So Menelaus, upon his departure, asked Paris to come and visit him in Sparta where he ’d return the hospitality and further their fellowship. Priam wanted Paris to head off and attack Salamis so he fitted Paris for war and arranged a war line for him and transferred him off. But, on his way, Paris decided to stop off in Sparta first and see Menelaus on the idea that he might move Sparta to join his attack on Salamis and thus have an indeed stronger army.
And this was smart since we see that Menelaus had a notorious character for being a reputed legionnaire and an excellent general. And he’d that assignation to come as well, so he might as well take Menelaus up on that while he was heading out to Greece. This has taken me some time to explain, but all these pieces are important when we see that it hurt Paris in every way to take Helen from Sparta.
It would ruin his alliance with Sparta and would produce another adversary for Troy. However, he ’d beget the Greeks to unite against Troy and Priam would not want Hercules to come back a alternate time and with the entire concerted army of every Greek megacity- area!
If he’d also do to attack Salamis. It also was a blatant offense against the hospitality rules of the time, which were veritably strict to the Greeks! Offending these hospitality rules, called Xenia( or theorem), brought Zeus against you, since he defended solemnities of hospitality, being frequently called Zeus Xenias.
[Xenia rules:
Hosts must respect the guest. He must offer hospitality, drink, food, bath, gifts, and safe escort to their next destination. Guests must respect the host, showing courtesy and moderation, not becoming a threat or a burden, and guests must reciprocate the hospitality if ever the host should call upon them at their own home].
To seduce and abscond with your host’s wife is a major disrespect! And a serious offense. So, even if Helen had been willing to go, Paris’ taking her away at all was called a “rape” because it was so offensive, so disrespectful, such an abuse of Xenia that it was obscene. And it did reap heavy consequences!
But, per the story, Helen fell in love with Paris at first sight (because of Aphrodite). When he arrived on their shores and Helen saw him for the first time, that Erosion arrow hit and she was taken with him. Aphrodite had promised Helen to Paris, and she made good on that promise and made Helen absolutely in love with him.
So, her leaving with him was as much her idea as it was Paris’. And, it could be argued, since Paris had a sweetheart at home, and he had such a keen mind and even more reason to keep his loyalty to her husband, even if she was willing to give up hers, she may have persuaded him to take her with him. This seems obvious when she advised him how to organize his soldiers so that they could attack the Spartan treasury and successfully rob it on their way off.
So there was absolutely no bullying being done by Paris in this story. He comes across as a beautiful, ill-fated pawn actually, and therefore, inspires pity. Also, when the Greek army did come to Troy, Priam said Helen would be returned to the Greeks if she were willing to go. So, no one was bullying her to be wherever she was. It was entirely her choice. She wanted to be with Paris.
The character of this drama who might come off as a bully is Menelaus since he rallied the Greeks to combine and attack Troy and take Helen back, and he was rather demanding to have her back. This is certainly threatening behavior, still, he isn’t considered a habitual bully, and his outrage is rather justified, especially considering the cultural view of the offense that had been done to him and the laws of Xenia which had been broken, not only with his wife, but also his treasury.
The ultimate bullies of this story are Hera and Agamemnon, and even, arguably, Athena once the fighting begins…but that’s another question.
