Helen of Troy — the legendary “face that launched a thousand ships.” For thousands of years, storytellers have claimed her beauty sparked the Trojan War. But was the war really fought over love, or was it about power, trade, and Mycenaean ambition?

In this episode of Have To Know History, Jason Freewalt takes you from myth to archaeology, exploring:

• The golden apple of discord and Aphrodite’s fateful bribe

• The abduction of Helen and the decade-long Greek siege of Troy

• Archaeological evidence at Hisarlik that reveals the real Troy

• The Sea Peoples and the collapse of Bronze Age civilizations

Along the way, we’ll ask: Was Helen truly a person, or a poetic stand-in for Greece itself?

This is Have To Know History—history you just have to know.