Helen was known as the most beautiful woman in the world, and she played upon that power of the physical appearance to turn the ancient world, upside down with what amounted to a war for possession of her. This is perhaps the ultimate statement of independence, and something behind the Helen Instinct for women's use - how to be both physical and not "possessed" by others, and the unique dynamics of the unconscious, when a woman unwittingly or wittingly causes men to take up arms against each other, for her affections.
The evolutionary psychologists speak to the different reproductive strategies seen the very different number of gametes that men and women have. That when women unconsciously, instinctually see men fighting each other to "win" her - a veritable war on a small scale - they also see that in subtle ways this benefits them. They get "the better man" and the "winner," and they get access to and command over the resources of a multitude of men, simultaneously, not just those of one.
This Helen Instinct can be a principle applied to various areas of life. Known to Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, pitting one's enemies against each other is a superior strategy to gain advantage in a war. But men are most certainly not "the enemy." They are competitors with each other, and with the woman, for the best romance and the best life they can achieve. However, the efficiency and power of letting others sort out their social standing, and all for the benefit of elevating the woman's own status above that of everyone else, this is highly useful to a woman in career, love, and life.