Helen of Troy

noun phrase

ˌhe-lən-əv-ˈtrȯi 

: the wife of Menelaus whose abduction by Paris brings about the Trojan War

Examples of Helen of Troy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In it, Carson overlays Helen of Troy with Marilyn Monroe in order to explore the destructive power of beauty. — Amy Cannon, The Conversation, 9 Oct. 2026

The genus name Helenium comes from a legend that the flowers grew where Greek mythological queen Helen of Troy shed tears on the ground. — Sheryl Devore, Chicago Tribune, 15 Sep. 2026

The debate intensified after the entrepreneur Elon Musk criticized Nolan for casting Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy. — Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026

Did Penelope, Helen of Troy, Athena, Calypso, and the rest of the Greek gals and goddesses deserve to be more epic than the attractive but flattened handmaidens even IMAX couldn’t enhance? — Lisa Henricksson, Air Mail, 8 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1510, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Helen of Troy

• ahoy
• alloy
• annoy
• carboy
• convoy
• cowboy
• decoy
• deploy
• destroy
• employ
• employe
• enjoy