Ἑλένη

See also: ἑλένη and Ελένη

Ancient Greek

English Wikipedia has an article on:

Helen

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• Ϝελένα (Weléna) — Laconian
• Ἑλένα (Heléna) — Doric
• Ἐλένα (Eléna) — Aeolic

Etymology

Most likely from Proto-Hellenic *Ηwelénā, from a pre-Hellenic or late Proto-Indo-European *Swelénā (a solar deity), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *swel- (“to shine, warm, smoulder, burn”). In that case, related to εἵλη (heílē, “sunshine, sun's heat”) and unrelated to ἑλένη (helénē), σέλας (sélas) or σελήνη (selḗnē).^[1]

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /he.lé.nɛː/ → /eˈle.ni/ → /eˈle.ni/

• (5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /he.lé.nɛː/
• (1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /(h)eˈle.ne̝/
• (4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /eˈle.ni/
• (10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /eˈle.ni/
• (15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /eˈle.ni/

Proper noun

Ἑλένη • (Helénē) f (genitive Ἑλένης); first declension

1. (Greek mythology) Helen, a goddess worshipped in Laconia and Rhodes.
2. (Greek mythology) Helen, the daughter of Zeus and Leda, considered to be the most beautiful woman in the world; her abduction by Paris brought about the Trojan War.
3. a female given name, equivalent to English Helen

Inflection

Case / #	Singular
Nominative	ἡ Ἑλένη hē Helénē
Genitive	τῆς Ἑλένης tês Helénēs
Dative	τῇ Ἑλένῃ têi Helénēi
Accusative	τὴν Ἑλένην tḕn Helénēn
Vocative	Ἑλένη Helénē
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

First declension of ἡ Ἑλένη; τῆς Ἑλένης (Attic)

Derived terms

• Ἕλενος (Hélenos)
• Ἑλενόπολῐς (Helenópolĭs)

Descendants

Descendants

• Greek: Ελένη (Eléni)
• → Albanian: Elenë
• → Georgian: ელენე (elene)
• → Latin: Helena, Helene (see there for further descendants)
• → Old Armenian: Հեղինէ (Hełinē)
  • Armenian: Հեղինե (Heġine)
• → Old Church Slavonic: Елена (Elena)
  • → Belarusian: Елена (Jeljena)
    • ⇒ Belarusian: Алена (Aljena)
  • → Bulgarian: Елена (Elena)
  • → Macedonian: Елена (Elena)
  • → Russian: Елена (Jelena) (see there for further descendants)
  • → Slovak: Elena
  • → Serbo-Croatian:

    Latin script: Helena

  • → Ukrainian: Олена (Olena)
• → Persian: هلن (helen)

References

1. West, M. L. (2007) Indo-European Poetry and Myth, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, pages 230–232 (link to text)

Further reading

• “Ἑλένη”, in Autenrieth, Georg (1891) A Homeric Dictionary for Schools and Colleges, New York: Harper and Brothers
• Ἑλένη in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2025)
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910) English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited, page 1,012