<P> Elements of her putative biography come from classical authors such as Aristophanes, Cicero, Euripides and Homer (in both the Iliad and the Odyssey). Her story appears in Book II of Virgil's Aeneid . In her youth, she was abducted by Theseus . A competition between her suitors for her hand in marriage sees Menelaus emerge victorious . An oath sworn by all the suitors (known as the Oath of Tyndareus) requires them to provide military assistance in the case of her abduction; this oath culminates in the Trojan War . When she marries Menelaus she is still very young; whether her subsequent involvement with Paris is an abduction or a seduction is ambiguous . </P> <P> The legends in Troy are contradictory . Homer depicts her as a wistful figure, even a sorrowful one, who comes to regret her choice and wishes to be reunited with Menelaus . Other accounts have a treacherous Helen who simulates Bacchic rites and rejoices in the carnage . Ultimately, Paris was killed in action, and in Homer's account Helen was reunited with Menelaus, though other versions of the legend recount her ascending to Olympus instead . A cult associated with her developed in Hellenistic Laconia, both at Sparta and elsewhere; at Therapne she shared a shrine with Menelaus . She was also worshipped in Attica and on Rhodes . </P> <P> Her beauty inspired artists of all time to represent her, frequently as the personification of ideal beauty . Christopher Marlowe's lines from his tragedy Doctor Faustus (1604) are frequently cited: "Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?" However, in the play this meeting and the ensuing temptation are not unambiguously positive, closely preceding death and descent to Hell . Images of her start appearing in the 7th century BC . In classical Greece, her abduction by Paris--or elopement with him--was a popular motif . In medieval illustrations, this event was frequently portrayed as a seduction, whereas in Renaissance painting it is usually depicted as a rape by Paris . Interchangeable usage of the terms rape and elopement often lends ambiguity to the legend . </P> <P> The etymology of Helen's name continues to be a problem for scholars . Georg Curtius related Helen (Ἑλένη) to the moon (Selene; Σελήνη). Émile Boisacq considered Ἑλένη to derive from the noun ἑλένη meaning "torch". It has also been suggested that the λ of Ἑλένη arose from an original ν, and thus the etymology of the name is connected with the root of Venus . Linda Lee Clader, however, says that none of the above suggestions offers much satisfaction . </P>

Who had a face that launched a thousand ships
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