Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Rohrbacher, David

Area of Concentration

Classics

Abstract

As a widely-known mythical character, Helen of Troy draws the attention of those who wish to understand her enigmatic person. In this thesis, I argue that Homeric representations of Helen portray her as ambiguous, lacking definition. I perform close textual analysis on translations from two archaic texts and one classical text to provide examples for this claim. Chapters one and two will demonstrate Helen’s ambiguity through analysis on sections from Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, while chapter three will examine Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen to show how an earlier Ancient Greek author, with an understanding of the Homeric texts, portrays Helen’s ambiguity. This thesis will conclude with a discussion of findings from the main arguments.

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