ヘレネ伝説の研究

Abstract

This paper consists of four chapters, dealing with (1)Helen as a goddess and the rise of the legends of her seducement. (2) The legend of the seduction by Theseus (3) The legend of the abduction by Paris. (4) Another legend of the abduction by Paris. The first chapter explains the background to the rise of these legends. Archaeological data (the result of the excavation of "Menelaion" which is regarded as Helen's shrine in Therapne in accordance with Herodotus) and the etymology of the name Helen show that she was once a Laconian vegetation goddess who was connected with tree-worship. The relationship between Helen as a vegetation goddess and the legends of her abduction is explored with the help of explanations by G. Murray and M. P. Nilsson. The main purpose of the next three chapters is to investigate the historical background to these legends and to discuss some problems implicit in their study. In the second chapter, there will be a discussion of whether the legend of Theseus' seducement of Helen was known to the poet of the Iliad. An examination of the descriptive passages in the poem reveals an affirmative. Then the present writer deals with the role of the Dioscuri in the legend. Although their part in the story is an important one, it is doubtful whether they were an essential element from the first. I think they were added later to eradicate some inconsistencies to the similar legend of the abduction of Helen by Paris. The third chapter deals' with the legend that Paris (or Alexandros) abducted Helen from Sparta to Troy. It is quite clear that the legend was well known to epic poets, but they adopted it as a legend in which Helen played a passive role. This may be ascertained by examining the descriptions of Helen in the Iliad and the Odyssey. And then the problem to be analysed in this legend is the significance of Aphrodite's intervention. Though the Kypria seems to have described Aphrodite's part in the abduction in detail, it is uncertain whether the poet of the Iliad knew of the divine assistance theme. But analysis of the descriptions in the epic makes it clear that the Iliad is based upon the same type of legend as the Kypria. Homer did not describe the existence bf Aphrodite's help, directly but made it implicit in the nature of her particular protectiveness towards Paris and Helen. Many commentators have supposed that the special relationship of the three characters derives from the judgment of Paris. Therefore the themes of the judgment and that of the abduction of Helen by Paris with the help of Aphrodite's divine intervention were known to Homer as a series of legends. In the fourth chapter, the central discussion concentrates on the Palinode of Stesichorus. It is said that the poem is the first work that dealt with another version of the abduction of Helen by Paris-what he took away was not Helen but her phantom, while the real Helen stayed in Egypt under the protection of Proteus during the Trojan war. Since the. poem was transmitted. in only one fragment and the contents of the Palinode are almost unknown, an investigation must-be made to ascertain whether the poem really contained this legend. The recently discovered Oxyrhinchus Papyrus 2506 has added important new data to the discussion, emphsizing the innovation of the lyric poet. The new material consists of Helen's phantom and her stay in Egypt. I would like to investigate what is called Stesichorus' invention only on the former point. From the typology of the phantom motif the use of which is found in the Iliad and the Odyssey, his innovation is limited to the adaptation of the motif to Helen. The diversion of the concept to Helen is perhaps connected with Sparta which was the centre where Helen was worshiped as a goddess.