Helen was daughter of Zeus and Leda and wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta - a most beautiful woman whose abduction by Paris was the cause of the Trojan War. In the Iliad she is still serene and lovely - she is ogled by the Trojan elders (Book 3), and Priam and Hector have a soft spot for her. She is ashamed of her part in starting the war - and blames Aphrodite for it. She still misses Menelaus, and by now has nothing but contempt for Paris (although he can still seduce her without difficulty - Book 3). She is equally attractive in the Odyssey (Book 4) - but later writers make her into a whore who went willingly with Paris. They also add the details of her birth from an egg (Zeus having disguised himself as a swan).