THE ROLES OF CALKAS, HELEN, AND CASSANDRA IN CHAUCER'S "TROILUS"

Author(s): Henry H. Peyton III

Source: Interpretations , 1975, Vol. 7, No. 1 (1975), pp. 8-12
Published by: Scriptorium Press

Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23240403

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 THE ROLES OF CALKAS, HELEN, AND
CASSANDRA IN CHAUCER'S TROILUS

In Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde, the dramatic narrative unfolds

against a melancholy mood created by the author as he imparts to th
reader knowledge of the inevitability of the destruction of Tro
Although the Trojan war forms an urgent backdrop for portions of
Book I and Book II, not until Book IV does Chaucer draw the Troj
conflict forcefully into his delineation of the tragic demise of his her
Troilus. Chaucer uses, however, at times brief, at other times lengthy
references to the origin and progress of the disagreement between th
Greeks and the Trojans, and he fashions three minor characters
Calkas, Helen, and Cassandra—to remind the reader of the source an
development of a hostile situation which at first abets the hero in h
rise from initial sorrow and later structures a relationship precipitati
the hero's ultimate despair.
Calkas, as father of Criseyde and traitor to Troy— being in the word
of Troilus half Greek and half Trojan—forsakes his daughter who mu
survive a precarious situation which leads to Hector's espousal of her
cause and subsequently to her position as friend of the royal househol
Moreover, Calkas eventually instigates action producing the outcome o
the poem when he demands that his daughter be surrendered to the
Greeks. Mention of Helen appears from time to time to increase the
reader's awareness of her importance to the central theme of th
poem—the double sorrow of Troilus. Her behavior during the visit t
the house of Deiphebus, the section of the poem in which her presenc
is felt most strongly, casts doubt upon the wisdom of the Trojans in
protecting her and creates an aura of doom about the lovelrs at their firs
private meeting. Cassandra, though appearing only once and toward th
end of the poem, forcefully outlines the hopelessness of Troilus' dream
about Criseyde and Diomed. Like the three Fates, Calkas, Helen, a
Cassandra weave the threads of tragedy of the fatal destiny of Troy
and of Troilus.
After the introduction to Book I in which Chaucer states his theme
first in general terms, then in more particular ones, he develops a brief
but powerful reminder of the Trojan war, writing th&t the Greeks with a
thousand ships beseiged Troy for about ten years to avenge themselves
on the Trojans because of Paris' ravishing of Helen. Calkas is then
presented as a divine, a lord of great authority, a man of considerable
knowledge. Calkas, through revelation from Delphic Apollo and
through astrological computation knows that Troy must be destroyed.
Quietly he steals away to the Greeks, who receive him warmly because
his divinations dispel any doubts which they may have of future success
in battle. When the Trojans discover that Calkas has become a traitor,
they wish revenge by way of his possessions and his relatives.
Calkas did not confide in his daughter Criseyde his plan to defect to
the Greeks; instead he abandoned his widowed daughter, leaving her to

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fend for herself in a climate made alien by his treacherous act. Early in
the poem, then, Calkas becomes symbolic of the inherent disaster of the
city of Troy, of the unrest to which Criseyde is subject during much of
the poem, and of the unyielding force which preordains Criseyde's
infidelity to Troilus.
Having used Calkas to establish a mood against which Criseyde must
act, Chaucer leaves the Trojan divine to his Greek hosts, for Calkas at
this time is no longer useful to the narrative. Troilus and Criseyde are
brought to the point of blissful peace with which Book III closes.
At the beginning of Book IV, however, Calkas once again figures
significantly in the action. In his place of residence, a tent in the Greek
camp, Calkas is among the first to hear of a truce between the Greeks
and the Trojans. Suspension of hostilities spurs him on to make a
request of his Greek hosts. He reminds them of his Trojan birth, of how
he came to them to support the eventual success of their attack on Troy
which Calkas sees burned and beaten to the ground. In addition, he
appears to have advised the Greeks how best they might cause the
Trojans to suffer. In fact, he insists that he was so devoted to the cause of
the Greeks that he left Troy without any of his material possessions and
does not regret that he has done so. Only one sorrow does he have—that
he deserted his daughter who was asleep at the time when he stole away
to the Greek camp. At this break in the fighting, Calkas pleads with the
Greeks to have pity on an old captive. Because he has all this distress, as
he puts it, through the Greeks, he asks that they exchange one of their
Trojan prisoners for his daughter. He reminds the Greeks that the town
of Troy is destined to burn because King Lamedon refused to pay Apollo
and Neptune for their aid in building the city. With tears in his eyes, the
old man pleads for his daughter whom he imagines trapped by flames
while Troy burns. The reader notes here that it is about three years after
Calkas' defection that he presents himself as tearful, loving father to
Criseyde.
To heal him of his ills, the Greeks present him with Antenor, who is
to be exchanged for Criseyde. This arrangement is not only tragic but
also ironic in view of Antenor's later reputation as traitor to his native
city. With respect to Troilus, the irony is heightened when the Trojans
provide a bonus in the person of King Thoas, should Criseyde alone be
considered an unfair exchange for Antenor. When news of the
agreement is spread about, Troilus describes Calkas as old, un
wholesome, and "mislived," that marvelous adjective which sums up
the true pattern of Calkas' life. To Troilus' uncomplicated mind, if
Calkas returned to Troy, everything would be all right once more.
Criseyde takes the position that Calkas is instigator of what she terms
"this sin." Yet, at the meeting in Book V between Calkas and Criseyde,
she stands before her old father as a modest and dutiful child. In the fear
and disappointment of her delivery to the Greeks, she remains an
obedient daughter. When Diomed talks with Criseyde, he expresses the
Greek view that Calkas is an object of awe, for the Greeks relish his
prophecy that Troy will be destroyed.

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 Chaucer creates the figure of Calkas as the symbol of seemingly
incompatible themes—the eventual destruction of Troy by the Greeks,
as well as the reason for the necessity of Criseyde's removal from the city
of Troy and its subsequent effect upon Troilus.
Helen's presence permeates the poem in a manner not entirely
different from that of Calkas. Because of Calkas' close ties with Criseyde,
his influence is strongly suggested as the action of the poem progresses.
Because of Helen's association with the inception of the Trojan war, her
presence in Troy assumes the stance of an abiding undertone
throughout the poem. In fact, shortly before the introduction of Calkas
early in Book I, Helen's abduction by Paris is stated as the cause of the
Greek attack upon Troy. After introducing her name, Chaucer does not
mention her again until Pandarus approaches Deiphebus about a dinner
party at the latter's house. The purpose of the gathering is to enlist the
aid of members of the royal household in support of Criseyde, who,
according to Pandarus, is once more under attack as daughter of a
traitor. Deiphebus is quick to suggest that Helen's presence would
contribute an atmosphere of propriety and significance to the occasion.
And, as Deiphebus so pointedly puts it, Paris can be led anywhere that
Helen desires.

At the house of Deiphebus, Helen evidences signs of distress when

she is told of the illness of Troilus and joins in the general conversation
about what medication would be best for him. When she has heard
Criseyde's story, she expresses a prayer to the gods that anyone who
does harm to Criseyde should be punished. To Helen is assigned the task
of asking whether Hector and Troilus know the plight of Criseyde. In
this section of the narrative, Helen can be seen as a prime example of
Chaucerian irony. When she looks in on Troilus lying in his sick bed, she
greets him warmly, lays her arm over his shoulder, and tries to comfort
him. And then, it is Helen who pleads the cause of Criseyde to Troilus.
As spokesman for herself, for Deiphebus, and for Pandarus, she asks
that Troilus be good lord and friend to the wronged Criseyde. Helen,
along with Deiphebus, is instrumental in creating the occasion of the
first private meeting of the lovers (if one excludes the omnipresent
Pandarus), for she and Deiphebus retire to an arbor in the garden to
discuss a document, leaving Troilus' bedroom in a manner so that no
one in the outer hall realizes that Criseyde is to see him unattended.
Even Criseyde, when Pandarus leads her in to Troilus' sick room, is not
aware that Helen and Deiphebus are not to be present.
There is more than a hint of the sensual female in Helen as she
caresses Troilus and as she kisses Deiphebus just before she leaves his
house. Helen's passionate nature, in combination with Paris' obvious
devotion to his passion for her, along with his subjugation by her, has
set the world on end. Helen's presence at this crucial moment in the
narrative encourages Troilus in his fidelity to the cause of Criseyde and
in his complete surrender to his own sensual nature, the result of which
will be the destruction of his perfect universe. Just as Helen is identified
with the fatal destiny of Troy, she casts a shadow over the first private

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meeting of the lovers at the beginning of the central book in the poem, a
book devoted to the bliss of love.
Troilus' troublesome dream of his lady love and the strong boar
causes him to send for his sister Cassandra to interpret the dream.
Cassandra's entrance late in the last book of the poem has the effect of
contributing an atmosphere of gloom to a situation which is already
unbearably tragic. Chaucer assigns to her the role of prophetess of evil.
When she first hears of Troilus' dream, she smiles, an act which
demonstrates that she comprehends the situation immediately and
takes joy from the knowledge which she possesses. Then she tells her
brother that he must first hear some old stories, particularly narratives
of how Fortune has overthrown lords.
Thus inspired, she offers an acrimonious account of the genealogy of
Diomed, much of which is abstracted from Statius' Thebiad. She begins
with Diana who caused a boar to destroy the Greeks' crops when they
would not sacrifice to her. The boar prevailed until Meleager slew it and
sent its head to the maiden whom he loved. A descendant of Meleager
was Tideus, who with Polymytes went to claim the kingdom of Thebes,
when it was in the hands of his brother Etiocles. Cassandra also relates
the bravery of Tideus in the slaying of fifty strong warriors. After the
death of Tideus, his wife Argives wept and lamented his loss. (Chaucer
appears to have used the name of Tideus' wife Argives, as source for the
name of Criseyde's mother.) The boar in the dream signifies Diomed,
who is descended from Meleager through Tideus. As Cassandra sums it
up:

And thy lady, wherso she be, ywis,

This Diomede hire herte hath, and she his.
Wep if thow wolt, or lef! For, out of doute,
This Diomede is inne, and throw art oute.

It goes without saying that Cassandra's interpretation of Troilus'

dream is painfully accurate, not to mention the fact that it is blunt to the
point of being crude. What Troilus calls her false ghost of prophecy
elicits from him exactly the type of emotional outburst that one would
expect. He accuses her of lying. Calling her a sorceress, he shouts that in
truth she is nothing more than a fool engaged in fantastic lies about
ladies. Troilus invokes the name of Alcestis, declaring that Cassandra
would most probably create false stories about her too.
The effect of Cassandra's speech is devastating. According to legend,
she cannot be believed, but here again the reader detects Chaucerian
irony. Troilus has requested his sister's interpretation because he knows
that she can foretell the future. The reader understands that although
Cassandra speaks truth, she will not be believed because in the first place
her brother is determined not to believe her and in the second place it is
the curse of her prophecy that it will not be heard. Ironic also is the smile
on Cassandra's face as she begins the history of the ancestors of Diomed.

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It is as though her diabolical grin were a strange and sardonic precursor
of the disembodied laughter of Troilus when at the end of the poem he
looks back on earth from his vantage point in the eighth sphere.
Cassandra speaks truth and evidences humor at a point in the tragedy
when neither truth nor humor is appropriate.
Cassandra's reading of Troilus' dream places the seal of inevitability
on an already hopeless cause. Chaucer's handling of Cassandra in the
final section of the poem is nothing short of brilliant, for in addition to
her function as interpreter of dreams and as prophetess of evil,
Cassandra even has the physical appearance of the goddess Fortuna who
is so frequently described as smiling when she anticipates disaster.
Calkas, Helen, and Cassandra are minor characters in Chaucer's
masterpiece who contribute significantly to the double sorrow of
Troilus. Calkas is the basis for much of the dramatic tension of the poem
because of his divine insight and subsequent treasonous action. His
prediction of the fall of Troy has the support of an oracle, of astrological
calculations, of the casting of lots, and of divination by augury with
birds. Helen is an instrument of supernatural influences which control
the Greek attack on Troy and which propel the action of the war. And
she is terrestrial passion predominating over celestial reason. Cassandra
has the interpretive power to reveal to Troilus his personal tragedy
which is inextricably tangled with the behavior of Calkas and of Helen.
Cassandra's divination is delivered with the diabolic intensity of a harpy.
These three minor characters underscore the inevitability of the tragedy
which is the heart of the poem. Like the three Fates, Calkas, Helen, and
Cassandra weave the fatal destiny of Troy—and of Troilus.

Henry H. Peyton, III

Associate Professor of English

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