Blood of an Empire: Helen of Sparta Read online

  half brother Aegisthus; kidnapped Helen and put her aboard his ship; husband of Helen, father of Hermione; fought Paris after War had gone on for 13 years; King of Sparta.

  Menestheus---son of Petos, challenged Theseus for throne, suitor for Helen.

  Neoptolemus---had red hair; son of Achilles and Princess Deidamia; Andromache was given to him as prize of war; sons Molossus, Pielus, and Pergamus; with Odysseus and Helenus, they killed King Priam by cutting off his head; enslaved Helenus; suitor of Helen; killed Polyxena (widow of Achilles) on his grave; received Achilles’ armor; killed by Orestes.

  Nurse---took care of Helen and Pollux (children of Zeus) and Clytemenestra and Castor (mortal children of Tyndareus).

  Odysseus--son of Laertes/Anticlea; suitor for Helen; husband of Penelope; father of Telemachus; sowed fields with salt to feign madness; took 12 ships from Ithaca to Troy; first to step off his ship but stepped on his shield instead of land, suitor of Helen; fought with Ajax for the armor of Achilles- won armor; along with Helenus and Neoptolemus, they killed King Priam; captured by Cyclops, met with cannibals, Circe the witch, Sirens, six-headed

  monster, and a whirlpool.

  Oenone of Phrygia--daughter of river god, river goddess; first wife of Paris.

  Orestes--son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; avenged death of

  Cassandra and his father by killing Clytemnestra-(mother) and her lover Aegisthus (son of Thyses); had male lover; married Helen’s daughter Hermione; cousin to Hermione; died of snake bite.

  Paris---son of King Priam and Hecubas; foster father Agelaus; brother to Deiphobus, Helenus, and Hector, Cassandra, Polyxena, and Laodice; husband to Oenone (daughter of river god); took Helen away from Mennelaus and married her; father of Helen and possibly two sons; Philocletes speared Paris in his side; Paris died.

  Pasiphae---daughter of Helio (sun god); wife of King Minos; fell in love with white bull (caused by spell cast by Aphrodite); instructed Daedalus to build wooden cow so she could have sex with the bull; mother of Asterion (Minotaur).

  Patroclus---son of Menoetius; male lover Achilles; lived in cave of King of Centaurs-Chiron with Achilles; stole Achilles’ armor and fought in battle; killed Cebrione the illegitimate of son of Priam and chariot driver of Hector; killed 53 on battlefield; killed by Hector on battlefield; his ashes and Achilles’ were put in same golden urn.

  Peleus--father of Achilles; brother of Telamon, married Antigone, married Thetis.

  Penelope---daughter of Icarius; wife of Odysseus; mother of Telemachus; first cousin of Helen; niece of Tyndareus’.

  Phaedra----daughter of King Minos/ Pasiphae; wife of Theseus; fell in love with Hippolytus-son of Theseus; sister of Ariadne; hanged herself.

  Philocletes---lit fire for pyre of Heracles; possessed Heracles’ bow and arrows; took seven ships to war but was left on Island of Lemnos after bitten by poisonous water snake; rescued and fought in War; put spear in Paris’ side; fought only in the tenth year of battle because he saw ten eggs in bird nest; never returned home.

  Pirithous--friend of Theseus; married Lapith princess; centaurs stole all women at his wedding, including his wife; went to Hades to find Persephone.

  Polyxenia----daughter of King Priam/Queen Hecuba; sister of Cassandra, Laodice, Paris, Helenus, Hector, and Deiphobus; wife of Achilles; throat slit as she lay on Achilles’ grave.

  Priam---husband of Hecuba; father of Cassandra, Laodice, Polyxenia,Helenus, Hector, and Deiphobus; killed by Neoptolemus.

  Protesilau---first man to set foot on soil of Troy and to be killed.

  Semele---mortal mother of Dionysus.

  Tantalus---grandson of Tantalus, great great grandson of Heracles and Omphale; son of Broteas, first husband of Clytemnestra; slain by Agamemnon.

  Theseus---son of Aegeus; husband of Ariadne- left her on Island of Naxos; husband to Antiope (son Hioppolytus); husband of Phaedra (sister to Ariadne) who fell in love with her stepson; husband to Helen; father of Iphigenia; killed Asterion (Minotaur).

  Thetis--mother of Achilles; “most wealthy of all mortals”; wife of Peleus.

  Thestius---son of Ares and Demodice, father of Leda, grandfather of Helen; allied with Tyndareus against Hippocoon.

  Thyestes---son of Pelops/Hippodamia; brother of Atreus; father of Pelopia; father and grandfather of Aegisthus; raped daughter Pelopia in order to have a son (Aegisthus) who would kill Thyestes’ brother Atreus who killed Thyestes’ sons and cooked them except hands and feet; lover of Aerop wife of Atreus; King of Mycenae.

  Tuecer---son of Telamon; suitor of Helen, archer; King of Salamis, exiled.

  Zeus---impregnated Leda while he was swan; father of Helen.