| Helenus 1, who was the cleverest man in the Trojan army just as Odysseus was reputed to
be the most clever in his own, is the Trojan seer
who told the Achaeans, either voluntarily or by
force, how Troy could be
taken. After the sack of the city, he followed Neoptolemus to
Epirus where he became king, marrying Andromache, his own
sister-in-law.
Best of SEERS
Helenus 1 has been called the best of seers, a gentle man, and also the dear son of Priam 1, or indeed his
dearest; for his father believed him to possess the
wisdom that his brothers lacked. And yet when Hector 1 died (who was
the pillar of Troy) the king found no consolation in Helenus 1 and his other sons who were still alive, and forgetting himself he told them:
"Away with you, base children that are my shame; would that you all together in Hector's stead had been slain …!" (Priam 1 to
his sons. Homer, Iliad 24.254).
Deeds in combat
For that which is forever gone appears as the most precious of all possessions, and its eloquent absence causes everything else to look opaque and unworthy. However, Helenus 1—though being a corageous fighter, who led a company together with his brother Deiphobus 1, slew Deipyrus, and was himself wounded by Menelaus with a spear
of bronze on the hand that held his bow, having to
leave the battlefield with his hand hang down and
the spear trailing after him—cannot be
compared to Hector 1. For whereas the latter was a warrior of great courage and strength, Helenus 1 was chiefly a man of wise counsel. And therefore Hector 1, knowing that
his brother understood the spirit of the gods (who
above rejoice in the ranks of warriors), listened
to him and followed his advices, as when he
challenged the best of the Achaeans, and fought in
single combat with Ajax 1.
Captured knowledge
For all that, Helenus 1 is remembered for other deeds rather than those required by combat, and particularly for this one: that only he knew the oracles that protected the city, which he revealed to the enemy so that the Achaeans could finally take Troy. For when Paris died, Helenus 1 and his brother Deiphobus 1 quarrelled for the hand of Helen; and when Deiphobus 1 was preferred, Helenus 1 left the city and established his residence on Mount Ida, where Odysseus captured him.
And after having displayed the excellent seer in
the Achaean camp, they forced this glorious prey to
tell how Troy could be taken. That is why Helenus 1 prophesied whatever matter they asked, instructing them to bring the Bone of Pelops 1, to
fetch Neoptolemus from Scyros, to persuade Philoctetes (in
whose power were the Bow and Arrows of Heracles 1) to come
from Lemnos, and also to
steal the Palladium, a
wooden statue that once had fallen from Heaven,
since if it were carried off Troy could not survive. But others have said that Helenus 1 was not captured but fetched by Odysseus and Diomedes 2, having
fled from Troy on account
of the crime committed by Paris that he could not
bear. For Paris, in the
course of a truce, treacherously murdered Achilles in the temple
of Thymbraean Apollo,
along with Nestor's son
Antilochus (who otherwise is said to have been
killed in battle, either by Memnon or by Hector 1). And they add
that Paris, not yet sated
of outrages against both gods and men, wished to
throw the bodies of Achilles and Antilochus to the dogs and birds, being however countermanded by Helenus 1, who gave order to remove the bodies from the temple, and hand them over to the Achaeans.
For the gods or the crime
So Helenus 1, having arrived to the Achaean camp as a suppliant, explained his acts by declaring that he feared not death but the gods, whose shrines Paris had
desecrated. And by invoking the gods and Paris' crimes before the Achaeans, Helenus 1 appeared to put piety and decency above his obligations towards his country, as if meaning that it is purposeless to defend the motherland, when it violates all rules, human and divine. But Helenus 1 also added that he had learned of Troy's imminent
fall, and therefore it is not possible to determine
if Paris' crime motivated
him, or this knowledge did. For he (as some say)
also knew that after Troy's
fall he would come with Neoptolemus to
Hellas, and live there many years. And so sure was
he concerning his own predictions that he willingly
gave himself over for execution, if his prophecies
proved to be false. However, in what concerns the Palladium, others have
said otherwise, affirming that it was secretly
stolen by Odysseus when
he went by night to Troy disguised as a beggar, or that it was handed over
to him by Antenor 1, without any participation of Helenus 1. In any case, most have agreed in considering Helenus 1 the foremost of seers; for he was able, without having been informed, to give a detailed account of all events that had taken place in the past, a circumstance that, some believe, puts prophets and seers to the test; since no one (so it is reasoned) can know the future who cannot tell about the past. But seers are believed when there is a wish to believe, and otherwise are disbelieved. For when the Trojans years before were planning to send a fleet to Hellas and carry off a woman to avenge the abduction of Priam 1's sister Hesione 2, the seer Helenus 1 declared that if such a purpose were accomplished, then the Achaeans would sack Troy and slay his whole
family. Yet this fearful prediction neither
frightened nor deterred his brothers, who sent a
fleet and captured Helen.
The WOODEN HORSE
Later, when the days of Troy were counted, it was Helenus 1 (some say) who instructed the Achaeans in the building of the WOODEN HORSE. And,
the Palladium being stolen, Helenus 1 declared that there was no hope left for Troy, and that the
Achaeans should offer a WOODEN HORSE to Athena, making it so large that the Trojans would have to breach the city walls in order to take it in. For (this was the plan) through that hole in the walls the Achaean army was to enter the city. But others do not associate Helenus 1 to the WOODEN HORSE, and
assert instead that a contingent of soldiers hid
inside that artistic (though treacherous) device,
and opened the gates of the city to the rest of the
army at a given signal. Whatever the case may be, Troy was not conquered by
force, but through cunning, or betrayal, or theft,
or by any other similar means, or by a combination
of them.
Treason rewarded
Anyway, for all or any of the aforementioned services, Helenus 1 has been counted by some (along with Antenor 1 and Aeneas) among those who
betrayed Troy and made it
possible for the invaders to take the city. And
when Troy fell, he was
confirmed in his rights as a traitor by Agamemnon himself, who
gave him and Cassandra their freedom; and after the intercession of Helenus 1 on behalf of Hecabe 1 and Andromache, Agamemnon again gave
these their freedom. It is said that these four
migrated to the Thracian Chersonese where they
settled with twelve hundred followers. Others have
said that Neoptolemus rewarded
him with the sons of Hector 1, and with all the gold and silver that had
been collected among the ACHAEAN LEADERS in payment for his services.
Epirus
But still others have said that Andromache and Helenus 1 followed Neoptolemus to
Epirus (the Adriatic coastal region of Greece
between the Ambracian Gulf and Illyria, today
called Albania), where Neoptolemus, after
defeating the Molossians, reigned over them,
becoming also king of the islands off Epirus.
During his brief reign, Neoptolemus gave his mother Deidamia 1 as wife to Helenus 1, himself marrying Hermione (who
remained childless in this marriage) while having
children with Andromache. Years
later, Neoptolemus was murdered by Orestes 2 at Delphi, and then Helenus 1 inherited the kingdom, founded a city Molossia, and married Andromache. It is an extraordinary thing that Helenus 1, son of Priam 1, should become king in Hellas. And if he knew his fate, he never told anyone; for seers seldom prophesy about their own future publicly, preferring to predict the life and doings of others, as when Helenus 1, during the last days of Troy, told Aeneas about his Italian
destiny:
"… if you keep well in mind my soul's prophetic visions, while you live Troy shall not wholly perish! Fire and sword shall give way before you … I see even now a city destined to the descendants of the Phrygians, than which none greater is or shall be, or has been in past ages …" (Helenus 1 to Aeneas. Ovid. Metamorphoses 15.439).
But with or without previous knowledge of his fate, Helenus 1 became king of Epirus, and Andromache, who had
been married to his brother Hector 1, the pillar of Troy, became his own wife and queen; and Helenus 1 inherited the kingdom from Neoptolemus, the man
who killed his father Priam 1 and that was himself son of Achilles, the destroyer
of Hector 1.
Visit of Aeneas
To this kingdom arrived years later the exiled Aeneas in his way to
Carthage and Italy, with a strong desire to talk
with the king and his wife, and learn, among other
things, how these amazing things were possible. Aeneas saw in Buthrotum, where Helenus 1 reigned (although some say that Aeneas marched two days from Buthrotum to Dodona, in order to consult the oracle, and that it was in Dodona that he met Helenus 1), a miniature Troy, with gates and watercourses named after those of the Troad. And having met Helenus 1, he asked him about the dangers that he should avoid in his journey, and how to overcome the troubles that could appear. And this priest of Apollo reassured and instructed Aeneas, describing the landscapes, the moods, and the dangers of his voyage, as well as the signs that would show him the site where he was to found his city. It was easier for Helenus 1 the seer to utter his detailed prophecy than for Aeneas to store up all landmarks in his memory. Then Helenus 1 let presents of gold, silver and ivory be carried down to the ships, and took farewell from Aeneas, and also from the rest of us; for no one have heard of Helenus 1 after his meeting with Aeneas, except that, at
his death, he was succeded on the throne by
Molossus, son of Neoptolemus and Andromache, and that
the Argives used to say, years ago, that his tomb
was in Argos. |
