APAD: The face that launched a thousand ships

Meaning:

   A reference to the mythological figure Helen of Troy (or some would say, to

   Aphrodite). Her abduction by Paris was said to be the reason for a fleet of a

   thousand ships to be launched into battle, initiating the Trojan Wars.

 

Background:

   Christopher Marlowe, in Doctor Faustus (variously dated between 1590 and

   1604), referring to Helen of Troy, or as Marlowe had it `Helen of Greece':

 

     Was this the face that launch'd a thousand ships

     And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?

     Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.

 

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

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Yes. Cherchez la femme.

 

Instead of the humdrum folly, greed, vanity, etc., blame it on a woman and

you've got the idea for a good story. It's hard to imagine a movie about Troy

without Helen, Briseis, and Andromache.