‘According to an unofficial version of the myth told by Euripides, after Paris and Helen ran away from Menelaus’s house, they both wandered the seas, drifted and tossed here and there by the currents. Finally they landed in Egypt, where Hermes replaced the true Helen with a simulacrum, unbeknown to Paris. Paris took to Troy just a simulacrum, not the real Helen, who remained in Egypt. In other words, the Achaeans and the Trojans fought for an effigy for ten years. Through this myth, I want to say that reality is not what it appears. We are often misled. We think we are leading our lives for something valuable, but from a different perspective, we realize that we fight battles for nothing. Not only wars break out in vain, but also our daily lives are dotted with nothingness. Many times we think we have found our true love, our soul mate. We would fight for the sake of our lover against anything. But often love is an illusion. Like Helen of Troy, Hermes turns our lover into a simulacrum! Hence, the ultimate nature of all phenomena is emptiness. This is my opinion about life!’

This is an excerpt from The Vibrations of Words: second edition by Ettore Grillo
Ettore Grillo author of these books:
– A Hidden Sicilian History
– The Vibrations of Words
-Travels of the Mind
http://www.amazon.com/author/ettoregrillo