Helen of Troy
Helen, or Helen of Troy, is a prominent figure of Greek mythology who has become a frequent fixture and inspiration in art and culture. Her beauty, according to legend, was so spellbinding, that when Paris of Troy kidnapped her from King Menelaus of Sparta, the resulting feud sparked the mythical Trojan War. Christopher Marlowe, a 16th-century playwright and poet, describes Helen's face as "the face that launch'd a thousand ships" in his tragedy Doctor Faustus. H.D.'s poem "Helen" allows Helen's identity to operate on multiple levels. For one, Helen is referred to in statue form, as a representation of mythology, history, and the culture of pride, shame, and trauma that always come together to create a national identity. She is also Helen, the woman, who was allegedly human and had memories, feelings, and a physical body. Thirdly, she functions as an aesthetic and sexual object, especially in the parts of the poem in which her body parts are described one by one, and the hatred of her physical idiosyncrasies and elegance becomes clear. Helen also appears as an idealized concept, with her "lustre," her white hands, and her position as "God's daughter, born of love." Lastly, Helen, in this poem, comes to symbolize the female subject overall, as a woman who endures unjust violence, hatred, and blame from the indecipherable masses that have formed our patriarchal culture.
Greece
Greece, while not quite a character in the poem, represents a cultural force. The personified Greece of the poem illustrates the way that certain beliefs, behaviors, and values permeate an entire society or region, and shape the zeitgeist, the collective memory, and the treatment of different groups of people. Mythology is a set of narratives that culture uses to perpetuate these ancient and deeply-rooted beliefs. While one could argue that "All Greece hates..." is hyperbole, the phrase alludes to how anger, envy, fear, and resentment have an insidious and metastasizing effect on culture, which directly drives our attitude toward women and other oppressed demographics.
