To Hellen

First published in Poems (1831), To Helen is full of mythological imagery and

consists of three quintains in iambic tetrameter with random rhyme patterns.
The whole poem is directed toward Helen in the days of the Trojan war. This was
way back during the Roman Empire. Greece is today viewed to have been a
glorifying city-state, known for its philosophy and literature, while Rome was very
grand with its physical power, its wealth, and their army.
How lightly then it flashed along,
Like those trim skiffs, unknown of yore.
An allusion to Helen of Troy who in mythology is said to have been one of the most
beautiful woman who ever lived. So beautiful, in fact, that according to many Greek
writersuch as Homer, Herodotus, and Virgilis believed to have been the cause the
Trojan War.
Nicean barks refers to the moment that the victorious Greek ships sailed home after
the Trojan War. As beautiful as this moment was, Helen is even more beautiful. The
mention of Nicea is important to emphasize the majesty of victory as Nicea is
named for the Greek goddess of victory Nike.

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the
Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus king of
Sparta.
The ancient Greeks thought that the Trojan War was a historical event that had
taken place in the 13th or 12th century BC, and believed that Troy was located in
modern-day Turkey near the Dardanelles
But at the close of the 19th century archaeologists led by Heinrich Schliemann
found the remains of a great citadel that existed on the Western shore of Asia Minor,
the traditional location of Troy, and which appeared to be overrun in a great war
around the year 1250 B.C.E., a time which is compatible with the ...
Ang Rome ay itinatag sa kalagitnaan ng ikawalong siglo B.C.E. ng mga unang
Roman na nagsasalita ng Latin, isang sangay ng wikang nabibilang sa IndoEuropeo.
Sila ay lumipat sa gitnang Italy at nagtayo ng sakahang pamayanan sa Latium Plain.
Ayon sa isang matandang alamat ang Rome ay itinatag ng kambal na sina Romulus
at Remus. Habang mga sanggol pa lamang, inilagay sila sa isang basket at

ipinaanod sa Tiber River ng kanilang amain sa takot na angkinin ng kambal ang

kaniyang trono.
Ang kambal ay sinagip at inaruga ng isang babaing lobo. Nang lumaki ang dalawa
at nalaman ang kanilang pinagmulan, inangkin nila ang trono at itinatag ang Rome
sa pampang ng Tiber River noong 753 B.C.E.
Ang mga Roman ay tinalo ng mga Etruscan, ang kalapit na tribo sa hilaga ng Rome.
Sila ay magagaling sa sining, musika, at sayaw. Dalubhasa rin sila sa arkitektura,
gawaing metal, at kalakalan . Tinuruan nila ang mga Roman sa pagpapatayo ng
mga gusaling may arko, mga aqueduct, mga barko, paggamit ng tanso, paggawa ng
mga sandata sa pakikipagdigma, pagtatanim ng ubas, at paggawa ng alak.
Etruscan
a native of ancient Etruria.
the language of ancient Etruria, of unknown affinity, written in an alphabet derived
from Greek.