Menelaus as protagonist: o corpo de Helena by Paulo José Miranda

Abstract

In O Corpo de Helena (1998), Paulo José Miranda presents an important literary innovation by transforming Menelaus into the protagonist of his dramatic work. After having examined the presence of this hero in ancient Greek literature of the archaic and classical periods, this article will focus on the symbolism, sources and characters of this short Portuguese play, in order to highlight the presence of Greek literature in this contemporary text and account for the author’s interest in revisiting the ancient heroes and Greek gods.