GDST old-girl Bettany Hughes provocatively entitled her evening lecture at The Women's Library, Aldgate, as 'Goddesses, angels and whores - an evening of powerful women in history'.  What followed was a fascinating portrayal of women and the nature of female beauty by examining Helen of Troy in particular. 

By accepting the fact that the vast majority of chroniclers and writers throughout time have been men, one might safely assume that accounts of events we hold to be true today are very much from a male perspective.  There is nothing inherently incorrect in this but only half the world's populations' stories are likely to have been told.  Bettany demonstrated to her audience that the gaps in male narrative draw women's accounts into relief.   

The audience at The Women's Library, Aldgate, were treated to a talk encompassing a combination of many disciplines by a talented speaker whose obvious enthusiasm never failed to elucidate her subject. History, art, sociology, geography, psychology, mythology, literature, archaeology and anthropology all were drawn together by Bettany to explain Helen's 2800 year appeal and enigmatic status.  No one has proved her existence but none can deny her draw.  She is a mythical figure at the heart of a war between real city-states where tens of thousands of men were said to have died. 

Featured in the written word and portrayed in art, Helen's form is hard to capture with very little appearing constant through time.  Depictions of Helen, born of Zeus' rape of Leda, are hard to fathom.  As the ideals of feminine beauty changed over time, so did artists' renderings of Helen.  The Renaissance imagery of a pale-skinned, luminescent and voluptuous Northern European seem naïve and faintly absurd when one discovers that young Spartan women would have been of Mediterranean complexion, athletic, covered in white lead paint, tattooed and shaven headed.

However, one constant appears to be mankind's (and women are not factored at all here) inability to effectively grapple with the notion of beauty.  If men were tempted by beauty, it was the beautiful object's responsibility for being so beautiful.  If men could not resist beauty, it must be an evil thing. 

And so to the enigma of Helen.  How could someone so beautiful be so heartless as to have caused a war for love?  Was she victim or instigator?  Goddess, angel or whore?  How could her beauty (and hence wickedness) be so magnetic and irresistible as to have created ripples through time still palpable today?  Such weighty issues were discussed in the reception following Bettany's presentation.  Tasty canapés and appetizing wines easily oiled the wheels of  conversation and old girls of all ages enjoyed getting to grips with points raised, catching up with friends not seen for a while and making new contacts.

The Women's Library seemed a thought-provoking location in which to hold this latest of Minerva's events.  Having walked through an exhibition that raised issues and invited comments concerning women in the workplace, how they use their recreational time, the roles they hold in society and notion of beauty, the conundrum of Helen, a woman in all her infinite variety, seemed to slip seamlessly into a modern environment.

Alexis Marks

South Hampstead (1987-2004)