Comment on the Helen episode in Book 2 of Virgil's Aeneid (ll.568-600)

In this passage Aeneas, having just witnessed the murder of Priam, in a frenzy contemplates the murder of Helen, only to be prevented by the intervention of his mother Venus. Helen hiding "at the altar" recalls Priam cowering at the altar before he is killed by Neoptolemus in the previous scene, casting both characters as wronged royalty and sympathetic figures. The specific reference to the "temple of Vesta" as the place where Helen takes refuge recalls the temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum, thus Helen seems to take shelter in a symbol of Roman identity which challenges Aeneas' totally negative opinion of Helen in the passage. This link to the landscape of Ancient Rome through the temple reinforces the idea of Rome as a second Troy and makes Aeneas’ sacrilege in almost murdering a defenceless woman in a religious space more poignant for the Roman reader.
Virgil uses an uncertain presentation of Helen to unsettle the reader. “This Helen, this Fury”, suitably expresses Aeneas’ disgust and aligns Helen with the monstrous being of the underworld, as well as Medea who is described as a Fury in Seneca. However the phrase also suggests a power marked with divine links, making Helen’s role in terms of vengeance and punishment uncertain. She could merely be  wreaking chaos and destruction or an instrument of the gods, serving as a precursor to Allecto who carries out Juno's plans in the epic. Furthermore, Aeneas refers to Helen as “Tyndareus’ daughter” when he first sees her in the original Latin, perhaps avoiding her name through loathing. Yet the phrase also removes Helen from her divine lineage, as Zeus is often attested as her father, allowing her to be mortal and helpless, which makes Aeneas’ actions more shocking. “Her father’s home” further removes her autonomy and reinforces Helen being presented as an ordinary mortal woman subject to the expectations and social structures of the period.  
This unheroic vengeance attempted by Aeneas and thwarted by his mother is a precursor to the just vengeance he enacts through killing Turnus to avenge Pallas’ murder at the conclusion of the epic. In both instances Aeneas demonstrates a crazed frenzy or furor, calling his heroism into question. The fact that Venus intervenes on Helen's part recalls Venus giving Helen to Paris as the reward for declaring her the most beautiful goddess. Venus' intervention calls her closeness with her son Aeneas into question, especially as this is the first time that she appears to him in her true form in the epic.
Aeneas suggesting that Helen will “walk as queen in the triumph she has won” is odd considering he previously described her as “afraid the Greeks would punish her”. This could be evidence that the passage was written by someone other than Virgil who was less concerned with inconsistency. These lines demonstrate the disparity in Helen’s presentation in the episode, she is both a proud foreign queen and a defenceless woman, reflecting her uncertain presentation in ancient literature as a whole, perpetually shifting from innocent to guilty, good to evil. Helen as a foreign queen also draws parallels to Dido, who is listening to Aeneas relate his story. This passage contributes to the foreshadowing of Dido’s role in the epic that begins when Dido is given Helen’s cloak by Aeneas in Book 1, which unsettlingly parallels Dido with Helen. Dido is a distraction from Aeneas’ duty to found Rome and demonstrate Roman qualities, just as Helen is. Furthermore in Book 6 Deiphobus describes his wife Helen as signalling to the Greeks to come and kill him during the siege of Troy, again contradicting Helen as "afraid" of the Greeks in this passage and presenting Helen as an uncertain character.
Aeneas’ bitter fantasy of Helen reunited with “her husband, her father’s home and her children” recalls Iris inspiring her with a longing for her husband, city and parents in Iliad 3, yet also seems a troubling feminine variant of the pietas, or a love for father family and homeland prized by Romans, expected of Aeneas. Yet returning to her father's home also suggests divorce or widowhood, rather than triumph. This links to the uncertain presentation of Helen throughout this passage and wider ancient literature.