Stesichorus’ four Helens: The heroine’s representation in the Helen, Palinode(s), Sack of Troy and The Returns fragments

Abstract

This article aims at understanding the representation of Helen in the four poems by Stesichorus from which fragments were preserved, that mention or it relate to the heroine. Since archaic Greek poetry was a “tradition poetry”, we will seek to trace possible dialogues with works prior to the poet’s, in order to perceive innovations and continuities, and we will also bend our ears to echoes of Stesichorus’ poetry in later productions. In such effort, we will condense old testimonial information about the songs, paying attention to the episodes related to the character, and we will analyze each fragment considering the context of the “song culture”, that is, of a performance context in which the poem is always destined to a certain public, to be delivered in a certain manner, in a defined occasion. And we will explore, whenever possible, the connection of the fragment with the rest of the work, and the motivations for the use of Helen’s image.