Kirke to Helen

Kirke and Helen are women who manage to remove the fight out of the men. Kirke is a witch who convinces Odysseus to stay on the island with her for a whole year. Mind you, Odysseus has been trying to get home for 10 years. Even when the drug Odysseus took had no affect, "I drank, and the drink failed. But she came forward aiming a stroke with her long stick..." (10. 347-350), Kirke still managed to seduce him and lay in the bed with her, "She swore at once, outright, as I demanded, and after she had sworn, and bound herself, I entered Kirke's flawless bed of love" (10. 377-379). Like Kirke, Helen had her own way of keeping men from fighting. When Helen came to Troy and Paris refused to fight, Hector tried to solve the problem. Helen tried blaming herself in front of Hector to make Hector sit and stay awhile so he would feel sympathy for her, "Come in, rest on this seat with me, dear brother. You are the one hit hardest by the fighting, Hector, you more than all-and all for me, slut that I am," (6. 286-278).