Helen of Troy (miniseries)

Helen of Troy, a 2003 television miniseries, adapts the Greek myth of the Trojan War from Homer’s *Iliad* and the broader Trojan Cycle. Filmed entirely on location in Malta, it premiered one year before the major motion picture *Troy*, which covers the same legendary material. The miniseries shares its title with a 1956 film adaptation of the myths.

The story begins with the birth of Prince Alexandros of Troy. His sister, the prophetess Cassandra, foretells that he will destroy the city. King Priam orders the infant thrown from Mount Ida, but the servant abandons him there instead, leaving his fate to the gods. The shepherd Agelaus rescues and raises the boy, naming him Paris. As a young man, Paris encounters the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, who ask him to judge which is most beautiful. Hera offers power, Athena offers victory, but Paris chooses Aphrodite, who promises him the love of the world’s most beautiful woman. Aphrodite gives Paris a vision of Helen, a Spartan princess, while Helen simultaneously sees a vision of Paris as a shepherd.

When Agelaus’s bull is taken as a prize for a Trojan festival, Paris travels to Troy to reclaim it. He defeats all opponents in single combat, including Prince Hector, Priam’s eldest son. Cassandra recognizes Paris and urges Hector to kill him, but Paris wins the match. Priam and Queen Hecuba, realizing through Cassandra’s reaction that Paris is their son, welcome him back.

In Sparta, Helen meets King Atreus of Mycenae and his sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus. Agamemnon, who comes to claim Helen’s sister Clytemnestra as his bride, is drawn to Helen instead. During the wedding celebrations, King Theseus of Athens kidnaps Helen. She becomes attracted to him, and Theseus reveals that her true father is Zeus, who raped her mother Leda, not King Tyndareus of Sparta. Helen’s brother Pollux raids Athens to rescue her, but both he and Theseus die in the fight, despite Helen’s pleas.

At Pollux’s funeral, Greek kings gather. In his rage, Tyndareus presents Helen to her many suitors. Odysseus, already married, proposes that the suitors draw lots for her hand and swear to wage war against anyone who disrespects her husband’s claim. Helen is betrothed to Menelaus. The kings also agree to unite under Agamemnon as high king. Tyndareus dies soon after.