Le Belle Helene

The plot follows Paris’s wooing of the beautiful Helene. She has been promised to him by the goddess Venus, despite being married to King Menelaus. Disguised as a shepherd, Paris steals her heart with his good looks and intelligence, by winning a contest of wits. Disguised as a slave he gains access to her bedroom and steals a kiss while she believes herself to be dreaming. Then finally, disguised as the High Priest of Venus, he steals Helene herself, with her husband cheering them on. He takes her off to Troy and thus begins the Trojan war.