Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, / And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?
- Source
- Doctor Faustus, c. 1592, printed 1604
- Written
- c. 1592
About this quotation
Faustus speaks these lines when a spirit takes the shape of Helen of Troy at his request. The line made her the standard figure of a beauty that starts wars. The play has several surviving texts, so act and scene numbers differ between editions.