Menelaus

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In Greek mythology, Menelaus (Ancient Greek: Μενέλαος Menelaos) was a legendary king of Mycenaean Sparta, husband of Helen, as well as a central figure in the trojan war. He was the brother of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae and leader of the Achaean (Greek) troops. A prominent figure in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Menelaus was also popular in Greek tragedy. In the Odyssey he is seen more as a hero of the Trojan War than a member of the doomed family of Atreus.

Menelaus became king of Sparta after marrying Helen, who would be kidnapped by Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, leading to the Trojan War. Under the command of Agamemnon, Menelaus and the other Greek kings set sail for Troy to rescue Helen. At the end of the war, Menelaus was one of the Greeks who hid on the Trojan horse. After the war, Helen and Menelaus reconciled and tried to return to Greece, but were forced to make a journey that lasted 8 years. At last Menelaus and Helen were able to return to Sparta.

Genealogy

Most sources present Menelaus as a member of the Atreid family, son of Atreus, king of Mycenae, and Aerope, although in some versions he appears, along with his brother Agamemnon, as the son of Plisthenes who, at in turn, would be the son of Atreus and husband of Aérope. In this last tradition, it was also stated that Plisthenes died very young, so the two brothers were educated by Atreus.

Childhood and recovery of the throne of Mycenae

When Atreus was killed by Aegisthus in order to restore his father, Thyestes, to the throne of Mycenae, Agamemnon's nurse and Menelaus took them to the city of Sicyon, whose king, in turn, sent them to Calidon. There they were found by Tyndareus, king of Sparta, who took them with him to his court.

When they grew up, Agamemnon and Menelaus traveled to Mycenae to regain the throne; they found Thyestes sheltering in the temple of Hera and forced him to swear that he would be exiled for life from him to Citeria. Agamemnon, being the eldest, took the throne.

Helena's wedding

In Sparta, Menelaus was one of the suitors for Zeus's daughter Helen, and Menelaus was eventually chosen by Tyndareus as his daughter's husband. Menelaus and Helen had a daughter named Hermione and a son named Nicostratus. The paternity of Megapentes (whose mother would have been the slave Piéride or Tereide) and Xenodamus (whose mother would have been the nymph Cnosia) was also attributed to Menelaus.

Kidnapping of Helen and origin of the Trojan War

Paris, a Trojan prince, traveled to Sparta, where he was hospitably received by Menelaus, but he had to set sail for Crete to attend the funeral for the death of his grandfather Catreo. Paris took advantage of her absence to kidnap or seduce Helena, and he took her on the boat along with the riches she could take with her.

Once Menelaus was informed of what had happened, he went to Mycenae, where he asked his brother Agamemnon to assemble an army to conquer Troy and recover Helen. Helen's suitors had sworn an oath that they were all obliged to help each other in case Helen was disputed with the chosen one, forcing many Achaean kings to participate in the punitive expedition.

Menelaus also tried to get the alliance of King Cinyras of Cyprus, who promised to send 50 ships to the expedition, but ultimately only sent one real one and the other forty-nine made of clay.

Menelaus' contribution to the Achaean coalition was 60 ships, commanded by him.

The Greek fleet, made up of a total of 1,186 ships, with the supreme command of Agamemnon, set course for Troy and, when they arrived, Menelaus and Odysseus were appointed as ambassadors to demand the return of Helen and her treasures before the Trojan royal court. The Trojans refused and even tried to kill them, but they were saved by Antenor. Shortly after the war began.

Menelaus in the Iliad

He fights between Menelaus and Hector over the body of Euforbo, on a plate of the archaic period exhibited at the British Museum.

Menelaus holds the body of Patroclo. Roman copy of the centuryIIa. C., of an original Greek of the centuryIVa. C., Loggia dei Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria, Florence, Italy.

Menelaus is a prominent character in the Iliad. As recounted in Canto III, Paris challenged Menelaus to a single duel on the condition that the winner would keep Helen and her wealth. Menelaus accepted the challenge and was about to kill Paris, but he was saved by Aphrodite, the goddess he chose as the most beautiful in her trial, who wrapped him in a cloud and took him to the wall of Troy. Agamemnon claimed victory for his brother, but an arrow from Pandarus that wounded Menelaus caused the battle to resume. Menelaus was healed of his wound by Machaon.

Menelaus was also a prominent figure when he had to defend the lifeless body of Patroclus. During that episode, he killed two Trojans: Euforbo and Podes; he sent Antilochus to inform Achilles of the death of his friend and, after a violent struggle, carried the corpse away from the center of the fighting. He even gave Canto XVII of the Iliad the title The Deeds of Menelaus .

Later, Menelaus participated in the funeral games in honor of Patroclus, specifically in the chariot race. He came in third, but said that he had been illegally passed by Antilochus. Finally, Antilochus admitted his mistake, and Menelaus, comforted, then decided to give him the second prize, which was his.

Menelaus in the events after the Iliad

Menelaus was also one of the warriors who hid inside the wooden horse that served the Achaeans as a stratagem to enter the city and sack it. During the looting, Menelaus and Odysseus protected Glaucus, the Trojan son of Antenor. Later, Menelaus killed Deiphobus, who had become Helen's new husband after Paris's death. He then came face to face with Helena and was about to kill her, but eventually forgave her and took her to the ships with him.

Back

After the sack, Menelaus had a dispute with Agamemnon for not wanting him to set sail without having made sacrifices to appease Athena's anger. Menelaus wanted to set sail immediately, so his ships, together with those of Nestor and Diomedes, immediately began the return to Greece. The latter two soon reached their kingdoms, but Menelaus's ships were caught in a storm which caused the loss of many of them. Only five of the ships survived, with which he reached Cape Sounion but from there he was again swept away by the winds on a voyage that took him to Libya, Phoenicia, Cyprus and Egypt, during which he accumulated much wealth. In some versions it was in Egypt, in the palace of King Proteus, where he met Helen again, since the one who had traveled to Troy was only an image made of mist by the gods, but this version differs in many aspects from the narrated one. in the Odyssey. Eight years after leaving Troy, he was finally able to return to Sparta.

Menelaus in the Odyssey

Menelaus appears as a character in Homer's Odyssey, mainly in book IV. On the trip made in search of news of his father Odysseus, Telemachus arrived in Sparta, where he met with Menelaus, who was accompanied by Helen, once both returned to reign in Sparta. Menelaus told Telemachus of his painful return journey from Troy: the gods had kept him on the Isle of Faro in Egypt, and there he would have starved with his companions had it not been for Idotea, who advised him to catch to his father, Proteus, who in this version is not king of Egypt, but a sea god capable of transforming himself into any animal, and even into fire. Helped by Idotea, Menelaus and several of his companions disguised themselves in seal skins and managed to surprise and catch Proteus, who told them that they had been held in Egypt for not having made the proper sacrifices to the gods. Once completed, the gods provided favorable winds to sail and return to the homeland.

Proteus had also informed Menelaus of the fate of other participants in the Trojan War, including Odysseus, who was on the island of the nymph Calypso. Later on and already in his land, Menelaus would tell Telemachus when he received a visit from him in search of news from Odysseus.

Death or divinization

About the final fate of Menelaus there are different traditions:

• On the one hand, it was said that Hera had made him immortal and had gone to the Champs-Elysées with Helena.

• Instead, in Terapne there was a temple dedicated to Menelaus where it was said that he and Helena were buried there.

Menelaus in Greek tragedy

Menelaus is a prominent character in several surviving Euripides tragedies, as well as one by Sophocles:

• In Ifigenia in ÁulideMenelao intercepts a letter that Agamemnon had sent to Clitemnestra to try to avoid the sacrifice of his daughter; he warmly discusses with his brother reproaching him that he has failed the promise he made to bring his daughter and that it is not proper to someone who pretends to be the boss of all the aqueos because in that way he will allow the Trojan prince to get away with it.

• In HelenaMenelao arrives in Egypt in a regrettable state with a few survivors and with which he believes that he is his wife Helena but that is actually a picture of him, after sailing errant and losing many of his ships after the Trojan war. There they meet the authentic Helena, who had never actually gone to Troy but had been transported to Egypt before the beginning of the war for Hermes. They both draw a plan to deceive Teoclímeno, the son of the late King Proteo, who intended to marry Helena. They manage to embark on a ship in which they were supposed to give funeral honors to Menelaus and manage to leave Egypt.

• In OrestesMenelao arrives in Argos, where his nephew Orestes asks for help against the hatred that some inhabitants of Argos have against him for having killed his mother, Clitemnestra. Tindáreo, the elder father of Helena and Clitemnestra, advised Menelao not to help his nephew after which Menelao indicated that he did not have enough power to forcefully applaud the citizens of Argos, but noted that he would try to convince them through dialogue. Orestes is disappointed at his uncle's cowardly attitude.

• In AndromacaMenelao and his daughter Hermíone (a lawful wife of Neopthélemus but who had not been able to give him any son) wished the death of Andromaca and the son that she, as a slave, had of Hermione's husband. Taking advantage of the absence of Neoptólemo, Menelao arrives at Ptía and takes prey to Andromaca, with the intention of killing her. The sudden appearance of the old Peleo manages to prevent murder. Menelao does not dare to prevent Peleo from freeing Andromaca and decides to return to Esparta.

• In The TrojansAfter the taking of Troy, Menelao appears on stage to take Helena, promising to kill her in Sparta. Hecuba praises Menelao's decision to kill Helena, but warns him of the charms of this woman and the possibility that he will fall back in love with the journey.

• In AyaxMenelaus appears trying to prevent Teucro from burying Ayax, considering he betrayed the Greek army.