Hĕlĕna, ae, or Hĕlĕnē, ēs, f., = Ἑλένη.
I Daughter of Jupiter and Leda , sister of Castor and Pollux and of Clytemnestra , and wife of Menelaüs , who , on account of her beauty , was carried off by Paris to Troy , and thus became the cause of the Trojan war , Cic. Phil. 2, 22, 55; Verg. A. 7, 364; Ov. M. 13, 200; 14, 669; Prop. 3, 8 (4, 7), 32; 3, 14 (4, 13), 19; Hor. C. 1, 3, 2; 4, 9, 16; id. S. 1, 3, 107; Hyg. Fab. 81 and 118: Penelope venit, abit Helene, a Helen , Mart. 1, 62, 6.—
B Transf., in naut. lang., a single star appearing to mariners , which was regarded as an unfavorable prognostic; while a double light , which was conceived to be favorable , was called Castor and Pollux , Plin. 2, 37, 37, § 101; cf. Stat. Th. 7, 792; id. S. 3, 2, 11.—
II The surname of the mother of the emperor Constantine , Eutr. 10, 5; Aur. Vict. Epit. 41; Inscr. Grut. 284, 1.