Buried and unseen for nearly 2,000 years, a series of striking paintings showing Helen of Troy and other Greek heroes has been uncovered in the ruined Roman town of Pompeii.

Discovered inside what archaeologists described as a “spectacular dining room” with unusual black walls, the remarkably well-preserved frescoes were inspired by the Trojan War, as recounted by the Greek poet Homer.

The startling finding — one of the…