The myths of ancient Greece often contain insights into human behavior. They often serve as metaphors that provide instruction concerning situations people often find themselves in. The story of Helen of Troy is a fine example that deals with affairs. In the story, Helen is given as a wife to her husband King Menelaus. Helen had come from a troubled family where the children were split up and had some identity confusion related to being from different backgrounds. In some stories, her mother had been raped.
With such circumstances, here youth and growing up were terrible. She literally went through hell. (Once she was kidnapped and taken through Hades). When she finally married, it was to Menelaus of Sparta. Menelaus was a man’s man. In order to keep the competition at bay for his wife, he had made a pact with her previous suitors and all the other kings of Greece. The pact amounted to them agreeing to come to his aide if someone tried to seduce her.
Paris of Troy came along and seduced her. Together the two of them ran off to his home. Menelaus sought revenge for the episode. In the ensuing war, many Trojans and Greeks were killed. The fighting was so intense some of the gods themselves took sides and were wounded.
She saw that Paris was not as honorable as he had originally appeared to be, and besides that he was a wimp.
When the fighting was over, she was estranged from her child and returned to Menelaus.
The story has many commonalities with modern affairs.
-Affairs lead to conflict
-Affairs lead to alliances and more conflict
-Even religious and righteous persons can be wounded in the fighting related to affairs.
-The woman involved had a troubled child hood
-The man involved had some masculinity issues and tried to prove himself by having the affair
-Affairs lead to family estrangement
There are many others as well. It would do us well to re-examine the story and its application to modern ‘cheating’ and ‘affairs’.
Best Regards,
Jeffrey Murrah
