Talk:Ἑλένη
Etymology[edit]
Etymology 1 of Helen ‘shine’, ‘blaze’ (*Swelenā and *Welenā, cf. ἑλένη ‘torch’, Sanskrit svarati ‘shines’) favored by Skutsch et al. must be upheld, considering (a) the deep-seated connection of light to beauty, Helen’s primary attribute; (b) the integration of light in the myth of Helen and the Dioscuri, Saint Elmo’s Fire and the cycles of the Sun; (c) the unavoidable connotation of radiance in the Homeric formula Ἀργείη Ἑλένη; (d) the connection of torches (ἑλένη) to marriage and Helen’s status as an archetypal bride; (e) the ubiquity of this meaning “Bright,” attested among mythical figures, (f) including Helen’s prehistoric doublet Phoibe “Pure and Radiant,” preserved as both the name of her own sister and that of a Leukippid, abductee of Helen’s brothers; (g) Helen’s successive pairings with Paris, the firebrand of Hekabe’s dream, and the seer Helenos, formal masculine of ἑλένη ‘torch’, underpin this Apollonian nexus. Thus, Helen remains “the Shining, Blazing one.” https://classical-inquiries.chs.harvard.edu/helenos-and-the-polyphyletic-etymologies-of-helen/ --Manfariel (talk) 17:02, 31 May 2020 (UTC)