Why was Helen of Troy's affair with Paris so

important that it resulted in the start of the

Trojan War?

Q: Why was Helen of Troy's affair with Paris

so important that it resulted in the start of
the Trojan War?

One has to be careful in putting the blame

(solely) to Helen’s adultery as the cause of the
ten-year Trojan War. While the details
thereof are well-known, if one reads the Iliad
carefully, the cause of the war is ambiguous.
Homer offered no easy explanation as to why
the Greeks were willing to participate in such
a lengthy conflict. While Helen repeatedly
acknowledges her role in igniting the conflict
(having mixed feelings because she feels some
complicity in her own abduction and realizes
how much death and suffering has been the
result), other characters, such as Priam, did
not treat her with reproach. The Greek gods
—who are accused of staging this great
conflict—and the Trojan prince Paris are also
held responsible.

I will not delve on how Helen of Troy was

treated through the ages as well
misconceptions thereof as it is already
discussed elsewhere (thanks Holly Root-
Gutteridge for that excellent answer), but
what struck me the most was how trivial it
is to use Helen’s adultery as the cause, even if
it violates the code of hospitality. Herodotus
himself wrote in his Histories in the
viewpoint of a Persian informant on how
flimsy was this excuse:

[T]he Persians consider that the Greeks were

greatly to blame, since before any attack had
been made on Europe, they led an army into
Asia. Now as for the carrying off of women,
it is the deed, they say, of a rogue: but to
make a stir about such as are carried off,
argues a man a fool. Men of sense care
nothing for such women, since it is plain that
without their own consent they would never
be forced away. The Asiatics, when the
Greeks ran off with their women, never
troubled themselves about the matter; but
the Greeks, for the sake of a single
Lacedaemonian girl, collected a vast
armament, invaded Asia, and destroyed the
kingdom of Priam. (Histories, Book I)

The true cause is greed.

Troy controlled a key trading position, both

in relation to it being strategically based near
a narrow strait which separated Europe
from Asia and also due to it being situated so
close to the powerful Hittite empire.
Basically, to control that region, or just part
of it was an incredible opportunity for
wealth and power, but to just invade and
attack the city solely to gain that wealth and
power would likely lead to Troy's powerful
allies rushing to its defense. Homer's account
states some allies did do so, but stealing a
King's wife was something plenty of other
nations (which were after all ruled by Kings)
would not condone.

The insult was therefore an excellent excuse

to invade the region and attack Troy, under
the not unreasonable expectation that a lot
of Troy's allies would keep out of it. Since it
could be considered as a domestic dispute,
Troy’s allies would be reluctant to give aid to
the city.