When
a Caribbean island is named after a woman named Lucia (or Lucy), why do some
people call it “the Helen of West Indies”?
This
nickname is a reference to Helen of Troy, who was a mythological
woman who was said to be the most beautiful woman in the world. She
had around 30 to 50 men competing for her hand in marriage, and she
ended up marrying Menelaus, King of Sparta. Then she was kidnapped by
a Trojan prince named Paris—and Sparta and Troy went to war over
her.
(The
Trojan War was one of the most important events in Greek Mythology
and may be based on a real war—although nobody knows for sure.)
Now,
back to St. Lucia. This island-with-a-female-name was also fought
over by two important powers. Although Carib Indians lived on the
island and Spanish explorers were the first Europeans to “discover”
the island, it was French settlers who created a treaty with the
locals and who established the first permanent European presence on
the island. However, in 1763 England obtained control of the colony
by winning the Seven Year War with France.
And
then the fighting began. Back and forth, forth and back, the island
switched from French to English rule over and over again. France had
control over the island seven different times, and England had
control seven other times.
Yikes!
St.
Lucia (the island) was fought over just like Helen (the legendary
woman) was fought over. But we all know that Helen really didn't
belong to Menelaus or Paris; she belonged to herself. And St.
Lucia needn't belong to either France or England; the islanders could
rule themselves.
They
finally got a chance to do just that on this date in 1979.
Learn about St. Lucia with this Travel Guru video.
Also on this date:
