Menelaüs

Husband of Helen of Sparta. Menelaüs (Menelaus or Μενέλαος) was the son of Atreus and Aerope, daughter of Catreus. He was the brother of Agamemnon, who became the king of Mycenae.

Menelaüs seemed to be slightly less distinguished than his brother. Homer usually described Menelaüs as having red hair.

Menelaüs helped his brother to murder their uncle Thyestes, who was Atreus' brother and enemy. Thyestes' son Aegisthus had murdered Atreus, and had given the kingdom to Thyestes. Thyestes' death was therefore an act of revenge, which was common for the descendants of Pelops.

With Agamemnon as king of Mycenae, Menelaüs became one of the many suitors of Helen, daughter of Zeus and Leda, wife of Tyndareus. Some said that Helen's mother was the goddess Nemesis. When Menelaüs was chosen as her husband, the other suitors were already sworn to protect his interests regarding Helen, against all enemies. Tyndareus abdicated in favour of Menelaüs to rule Sparta, instead of choosing one of his sons. So Menelaus became the new king of Sparta. From Helen, he became the father of Hermione.

When Paris, prince of Troy, came to Sparta, Menelaüs warmly welcomed him with no suspicion of Paris' intentions. When Menelaüs was absent to attend his grandfather's funeral in Crete, Paris eloped with Helen and fled to Troy. When Menelaüs discovered the treachery of his wife and his guest, he called upon the other former suitors of Helen to help gain her return. A massive army and fleet were gathered for the war that would be fought in Troy. Menelaüs brought 60 ships from Laconia and Sparta. His brother was appointed as commander-in-chief of the Greek forces.

Menelaüs and Odysseus went as ambassadors to Troy to demand the return of Menelaüs wife, but their mission was unsuccessful. Menelaüs was very direct, speaking in simple but clear words, while Odysseus spoke in a voice that resembled a bard holding his audience spellbound.

Menelaüs fought bravely at Troy, though he was not a great warrior. Menelaüs was almost successful in defeating Paris in a duel, before Aphrodite spirited Paris to safety. The Trojans would have given Helen back to Menelaüs, but Athena disrupted the truce. The goddess Athena encouraged Pandarus, leader of Zeleia, to kill Menelaüs with his arrow. Athena prevented Menelaüs' death so that the arrow only slightly wounded him. Despite the shallowness of the wound, the truce was broken and the fighting was renewed.

His most prominent opponent in the war was Euphorbus, son of the Dardanian Panthous, when Menelaüs was defending the body of Patroclus, companion of Achilles. Menelaüs was one of the Greek warriors to volunteer to fight Hector in a duel, but it was the Telamonian Ajax who won the right to single combat, by casting lots. He also volunteered for night reconnaissance at the Trojan camp, but Odysseus and Diomedes were chosen instead.

When the Greeks finally gained entry to Troy, Menelaüs killed Deïphobus. Deïphobus was the son of Priam and Hecuba; Deïphobus had married Helen after the death of his brother Paris. Menelaüs also wanted to kill Helen, because so many of his friends died in the war because of her beauty. However, Menelaüs couldn't bring himself to harm Helen when he saw her, because she was still beautiful.

Agamemnon and Menelaus quarrelled on the beach, before they departed from Troy. Agamemnon insisted that they should ceremonially offer a sacrifice to the gods, particularly to the goddess Athena. Because the war had lasted nine long years, Menelaüs refused to sacrifice to the gods for finally giving him victory, so the gods punished Menelaüs. The gods sent unfavourable winds that drove his ship off course and he was left stranded in Egypt with Helen for seven years. Only five of his ships survived the journey.

Finally, an Egyptian nymph took pity on Menelaüs. She advised him to capture the sea god Proteus, because the sea god had the ability of foresight, as well as being a shape-shifter. Proteus surrendered to Menelaüs and told him that he was being kept in Egypt because he had not thanked the gods for the victory of Troy. So to appease the gods, Menelaüs performed a sacrifice.

On his return to Sparta and after a couple of years had passed, Telemachus visited him, seeking any information of his father Odysseus, but Menelaüs had no news to give to his friend's son.

During the last stage of the war, Menelaüs had promised to let Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, marry his daughter Hermione. So upon his return, Menelaüs had his daughter married to Neoptolemus. But when his nephew Orestes, son of Agamemnon, regained his sanity, Menelaus, Hermione and Orestes plotted to have Menelaus' son-in-law murdered. Orestes murdered Neoptolemus and then married Hermione.

According to most accounts, when Menelaüs died with no legitimate son, his nephew Orestes ruled in Sparta as well as in Argos. Orestes' son Tisamenus was the last king to rule over both Sparta and Argos, before the arrival of the Dorians. By a slave woman named Pieris, he had a son named Megapenthes, and another son named Xenodamos by a nymph named Cnossia. See Orestes and Tisamenus in the House of Pelops.

However, in the Catalogues of Women, Hesiod wrote that Helen's youngest child was Nicostratus. Apollodorus also mentioned this Nicostratus. But according to Pausanias, Nicostratus' mother was the slave woman, so that would make him the brother of Megapenthes; in this account, her husband's illegitimate sons drove Helen out of Sparta, after Menelaus' death.

Tisamenus lost both Argos and Sparta to the Heraclids. Temenus took Argos, while two sons of Aristodemus - Procles and Eurysthenes - shared Sparta. See the Heraclids.

According to Homer, Menelaus gained immortality at his death and lived in the Blessed Isle, as Proteus had foretold, due to his marriage to the daughter of Zeus (Helen). According to Apollodorus, however, it was the goddess Hera who bestowed this privilege on Menelaus.