The Trojan Women — And Many More — Speak Up In 'A Thousand Ships'

Helen was "the face that launched a thousand ships" — the Spartan queen, seduced by the son of a Trojan king, leaving her husband to send Greek sailors and soldiers to retrieve her, and kicking off an epic and bloody war.

That classic tale has been told and re-told for generations — and there's now a new version with a twist: The stories of the women are the focus, not the stories of the men.

Natalie Haynes is the author of A Thousand Ships. She says that of the great tragedians who wrote about the war, Euripides got quite a lot right — and did center women in his plays. "But I don't think it's a question of getting things wrong, it's a question of, as time passes, we end up focusing on just a different bit of the story."