Il lato oscuro della bellezza: Elena come immagine della paura in Euripide

Ever since the Homeric poems, Helen’s proverbial beauty had to face the sense of fear and hostility aroused by her own figure, as proved by some terms used by Homer connecting the heroine with fear, hatred and death. Through the centuries, this feature came to V century Attic tragedy: in particular, it was retrieved by Aeschylus in the Agamemnon and, above all, by Euripides in several plays. This paper aims to highlight how Helen’s characterisation as image of fear turns out to be a real Leitmotiv in the Euripidean production, especially in the plays where she is physically present on the scene. This is made clear by the terms related to this semantic field and referred to her, as well as by other characters’ attitude towards her. Thus, Helen is constantly perceived as a danger because of her ambiguity and otherness, which make her an exotic character, frequently associated to magic and supernatural. Moreover, such a topical portrayal is also supported by the heroine’s ‘scandalous’ characterisation in the Helen: for the first time, the Tyndarides, generally impudent and smart, is tormented by fear because of her misleading reputation.