Helen of Troy conjures the song epithalamium Spartan women sung at Platanistas commemorating the marriage of Helen and Menelaus: Helen's worship was also present on the opposite bank of Eurotas at Therapne, where she shared a shrine with Menelaus and the Dioscuri. The shrine has been known as "Menelaion" (the shrine of Menelaus), and it was believed to be the spot where Helen was buried alongside Menelaus. Despite its name, both the shrine and the cult originally belonged to Helen; Menelaus was added later as her husband. Isocrates writes that at Therapne Helen and Menelaus were worshiped as gods, and not as heroes.
Helen of Troy illustrations, this event was frequently portrayed as a seduction, whereas in Renaissance painting it was usually depicted as a rape by Paris. The etymology of Helen's name continues to be a problem for scholars. Georg Curtius related "Helen" () to the moon (Selene; ). Émile Boisacq considered Ἑλένη to derive from the noun meaning "torch". It has also been suggested that the λ of arose from an original ν, and thus the etymology of the name is connected with the root of "Venus". Linda Lee Clader, however, says that none of the above suggestions offers much satisfaction. Inversely, others have