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While their stories are different , Helen and Odysseus are very similar in "roles" of their narratives

Sounds nuts but hold on. I'm also probably wording that weird. but here we go.

Obviously with the time, the culture, and their genders to consider, they ARE very different but there's just...something that's been ITCHING me about them and their stories.

1.) Both of their homes/lovers are "fighting for them". Obviously the Trojan War is about bringing Helen home through the Oath of Tyndarius. (Also, "You kidnapped my wife, wtf?") Menelaus LITERALLY fighting to bring Helen back home. Penelope is fighting so that Odysseus has a home to come back TO.

2.) Paris/Calypso: Cause them both to weep in their stories, literally keep them captive through the means of an immortal/magic for YEARS. People will fight about how "willing" they are

3.) Deiphobus/Circe: Another "lover" where both were just...going through the motions. Trying to survive. Just another day in hell. Shorter amount of time. Both Deiphobus and Circe "defeats" involve someone's "rescuing" (Odysseus rescuing his men, Helen herself being rescued)

4.) Taken away from their home that they didn't want to leave

5.) Missing most of their only child's childhoods unwillingly

Even then, they are technically the CAUSE of each other's circumstances in life. Odysseus made a deal with Tyndarius to marry Penelope. Helen only got to choose Menelaus because of Odysseus' idea. Odysseus had to leave home because of said oath and still tried to resist leaving. Helen is only able to go home (aka the war is over) because of Odysseus' idea again. Both Penelope AND Menelaus leave the place they were born in (Sparta and Mycenae) to rule with their spouses in THEIR homelands. Even with how they're both an "enigma" could be something.

Obviously, they are not each other's "center of the world" but they both have affected each other with their actions (or actions under duress) Same with their spouses.

JUSt... SOMETHING'S ITCHING MY BRAIN WITH THIS skldjf klsdjf MAybe it's a whole "This is how men and women both "fight"" with their expected roles at the time and comparing the two? IDK I feel like there's something there.

Feel free to say something about this if you know more about this topic or shed some light on this or if you just want to chatter about this.

Words to describe facial expressions

Absent: preoccupied 

Agonized: as if in pain or tormented

Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire

Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest

Beatific: blissful

Black: angry or sad, or hostile

Bleak: hopeless

Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern

Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent

Brooding: anxious and gloomy

Bug eyed: frightened or surprised

Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed

Cheeky: cocky, insolent

Cheerless: sad

Choleric: hot-tempered, irate

Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings

Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor

Despondent: depressed or discouraged

Doleful: sad or afflicted

Dour: stern or obstinate

Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing

Ecstatic: delighted or entranced

Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible

Fixed: concentrated or immobile

Gazing: staring intently

Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive

Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion

Grim: fatalistic or pessimistic

Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness

Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty

Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism

Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant

Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit

Jeering: insulting or mocking

Languid: lazy or weak

Leering: sexually suggestive

Mild: easygoing

Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful

Pained: affected with discomfort or pain

Peering: with curiosity or suspicion

Peeved: annoyed

Pleading: seeking apology or assistance

Quizzical: questioning or confused

Radiant: bright, happy

Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident

Sardonic: mocking

Sour: unpleasant

Sullen: resentful

Vacant: blank or stupid looking

Wan: pale, sickly

Wary: cautious or cunning

Wide eyed: frightened or surprised

Withering: devastating

Wrathful: indignant or vengeful

Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling