title: Helen of Troy: Goddess, Princess, Whore
author:  Bettany Hughes 
description: Helen of Troy has been a part of the Western cultural consciousness for thousands of years, an often troubling figure of female sexual power. Now British historian Hughes investigates the history and myth of Helen, using a mix of archeological evidence, literary sources and personal observation to flesh out this archetypal creature. Acknowledging that Helen has long served as a lens through which male thinkers have projected their views of women, Hughes traces the uses to which the ancient princess has been put, from the prehistoric Mycenaean world, in which she would have been admired for her beauty and strength, through the Elizabethan age, when she was reviled as a demonic harlot. Although the resulting book could use a generous dollop of editing, and there are too many instances in which the author has to step back and state that "there is no way to know for sure" whether the narrative she builds is accurate or not, the resultant tale is fascinating and illuminating. The elucidation of prehistoric social, political and religious systems is especially interesting and serves as a needed corrective to Christian-influenced constructions of Helen and, through her, all women. (A PBS documentary on Helen of Troy featuring Hughes will air on October 12.) 32 pages of illus., 616 in color. <i>60,000 first printing.</i><i>(Oct. 4)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
zlib_text: Acclaim for Bettany Hughes’s  
  HELEN OF TROY
  
  
  “Helen-ophiles, rejoice! Helen of Troy gives you everything you ever wanted to
  know about ‘The Face That Launched a Thousand Ships.’ … Hughes has brilliantly
  and exhaustively covered … her subject from more angles— romantic, historical,
  archaeological, mythological, psychological—than even Paris could dream of on
  his best night.”
  
  
  —Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire and The Virtues of War
  
  
  “The nuggets garnered from archaeology in particular are often revelatory….
  The details coalesce to conjure up an aspect of this age in its satisfying
  entirety, a place the reader can enter and explore.”
  
  
  —The New York Times
  
  
  “Hughes splendidly reclaims Helen from centuries of helpless victim-hood….
  This book puts Helen of Troy at the centre of a world in which, as Bettany
  Hughes convincingly explains, the primordial power was female.”
  
  
  —The Observer (London)
  
  
  “Vivid and evocative…. Underpinned by a sure-footed sense of narrative flow.
  It w