Summary

Menelaus (in ancient Greek Μενέλαος

Youth

Menelaus is the son of Atreus and Erope. Erope is Atreus' first wife, and he murders her after Atrea's brother Thyestes falls in love with Erope, Menelaus is raised with his brother Agamemnon, their sister Anaxibia and Aegisthe, who passes for their half-brother. Aegisthe is in fact the son of Thyestes, who raped Pelopia, his own daughter.

Seven years after the birth of Aegisthus, Agamemnon and Menelaus set out for Delphi, on the orders of Atreus, to find their uncle Thyestes. Found by chance, Thyestes is captured and brought back to Mycenae. Aegisthus murders Atreus on Thyeste's return, and Thyeste takes possession of the throne of Mycenae, forcing Agamemnon and Menelaus into exile: they are entrusted in turn to the king of Sicyone, Polyphides, who entrusts them to Œnée the Etolian. As adults, they returned to their homeland, overthrew Thyestes and forced him into exile - he fled to Cythera. The two brothers take the daughters of the Spartan king Tyndare as their wives: Agamemnon marries Clytemnestra, after killing her first husband (Tantalus, son of Thyestes) and her newborn son. Menelaus marries Helen after a contest.

Husband of Helen and king of Sparta

Helen was the daughter of Leda and Zeus, and her putative father was Leda's husband, Tyndare, king of Sparta. When Helen reached marriageable age, her beauty was such that all the chieftains of Greece vied for her hand; Apollodorus counts 31 suitors. Faced with this crowd, Tyndare feared that if he chose one of them, the others would rebel. But Odysseus promised him, on condition that he helped him win Penelope's hand, to provide him with the means to ward off any riot. Tyndare agreed, and Odysseus suggested that all suitors should swear an oath to defend their chosen husband, should he suffer any injustice from another because of his marriage. So Tyndare made the suitors swear an oath; he chose Menelaus as Helen's husband and obtained Penelope's hand in marriage to Odysseus from Icarios. When Tyndare's two sons, Castor and Pollux, were deified, Tyndare brought Menelaus to Sparta and entrusted him with the Spartan throne. Hesiod tells us that Menelaus was chosen because of his wealth.

From the union of Helen and Menelaus came Hermione and Nicostratus. But Menelaus also had other children: Megapenthes with his slave Piéris and Xénodamos with the nymph Cnossia.

A deceived husband

Pâris, to whom Aphrodite has promised Hélène, sails to Greece, where he is well received in Sparta by Ménélas and sees Hélène for the first time. Nine days later, Menelaus must leave for Crete to attend the funeral of his grandfather, Catrea. He orders Hélène to do everything in her power to please their Trojan guest... Aphrodite reunites the two lovers that evening, and the next day they flee, stealing most of Menelaus' wealth. Iris comes to inform Menelaus of his misfortune. He leaves to confer with his brother Agamemnon and the wise Nestor, and the three of them decide to bring together all the Achaean chiefs, reminding them of Tyndare's oath, to launch a vast military expedition against Troy. Menelaus sets off on a tour of his allies to gather together as many Greek warriors as possible, but some kings balk, such as Ulysses, who pretends to be mad, and Cyniras of Cyprus, who uses a trick to get out of it.

In the Achaean army, Menelaus manages to gather sixty ships filled with warriors from Sparta, Pharis, Messa, Brysées, Augée, Amyclée, Hélos, Laa and Oetile.

The Trojan War

Before the entire Greek army lands, Ulysses and Menelaus are sent on an embassy to claim Helen and try to halt hostilities. But the Trojans, urged on by Antimachus, refuse and even try to kill the emissaries. Ulysses and Menelaus are able to leave thanks to Anténor.

The Iliad describes at length his duel with Paris. Spotting his rival in the fray, Menelaus pounces on him like a lion, but Paris flees, only to be harshly rebuked by Hector for his cowardice in starting the war in the first place. Paris then agrees to a duel with Menelaus, with Helen as the prize to bring an end to hostilities. To guarantee the duel's outcome, Priam exits through the Sealed Gates and leaves the safe city for the plain of the confrontation. Menelaus quickly outclassed Paris, but his spear sank into his opponent's shield and he broke his sword. He then seizes Paris, pulling him by his helmet back to his camp, when Aphrodite frees Paris by untying his chin strap and lifting his protégé into a cloud. Shortly afterwards, Pandaros only slightly injures Menelaus, thanks to Athena's protection, and is healed by Machaon.

Menelaus fights under the protection of two goddesses: Hera and Athena. He kills eight Trojan warriors in battle: Scamandrios, Pylémènès, Pisandre, Dolops, Thoas, Euphorbe, Hyperénor, Podès. His aristia takes place in Canto XVII, but he kills far fewer warriors than the main heroes. He ranks behind Achilles (72), Patroclus (54), Teucros son of Télamon (30), Ajax son of Télamon (28), Léitos (20), Diomède (18), Agamemnon (16), Ajax son of Oïlée (14), Idoménée (13) and Ulysse (12).

Patroclus' death is a particular blow to him. He is the first of the Greek warriors to run to the body he is defending in Euphorbia. At the games celebrating Patroclus' funeral, Menelaus takes part in the chariot race. He finishes behind Diomedes and Antiloque, Nestor's son, who has tricked his way past him. After the finish line, he challenges Antilochus for second place, but relents after Antilochus apologizes and finally gives up his prize. He wins the javelin throw.

He is one of the heroes who break into the Trojan horse, and then, with Ulysses, enters the palace of Deiphobe (Helen's new husband since the death of Pâris), thanks to Helen, who opens the doors and finds his wife. Although Menelaus wants to kill her at the time, he soon relents in the face of his wife's charms, eventually taking her back with him.

In the story of The Sack of Troy by Arctinos of Miletus, Menelaus kills Deiphobe and takes back his wife Helen. Ajax, son of Oileus, drags Cassandra out of Athena's temple and rapes her; the gods plan to punish him by turning him to stone, but Ajax takes refuge in Athena's temple. Later, when the Greeks return home, Athena causes him to perish at sea. Neoptolemos kills Astyanax, Hector's son, and takes his wife Andromache captive. The Greeks sacrifice Priam's daughter Polyxene at Achilles' grave to appease his angry spirit.

Aristotle is astonished that nowhere in the Iliad does Homer mention a concubine sleeping with Menelaus, even though he gave wives to everyone, even Nestor and Phoenix, his elders. According to Aristotle, in their youth, these two characters had hardly subjected their bodies to the excesses of drunkenness, nor to the disorders born of sensuality or gluttony, so much so that, quite naturally, they had remained very vigorous well into their old age, if we may think that the Spartan had great respect for Helen, his lawful wife.

The return

After the sack of Troy, Menelaus quarrels with his brother, urging the Achaeans to return home immediately, while Agamemnon wishes to sacrifice to the gods first. Menelaus is one of the first to return home, accompanied by Nestor and Helen. He stopped at Cape Sounion to bury his pilot, then Zeus provoked a storm that sent some of his ships to Crete, and Menelaus' ship to the coast of Egypt. His return journey took 8 years, through the countries of the eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus, Libya, Phoenicia) and especially Egypt. His pilot Canopos is buried at Canope. In his tragedy Helen, Euripides writes that he found the real Helen, who had been kept out of the conflict throughout the Trojan War; Dion of Pruse alludes to this in his 11th Discourse. Herodotus reports that Menelaus ruthlessly took Helen from her hosts. His last stop was the island of Pharos, where he was held up for 20 days by the gods. The goddess Idotheus advised him to capture his father Proteus for interrogation. Menelaus and his companions cunningly seize the god, who first changes into a variety of animals before telling Menelaus that, if he wants to return home, he must first sacrifice to Zeus, as he should have done before leaving Troy. Proteus also informs him of his brother's death, to whom he erects a cenotaph before setting sail. He then makes his way safely to the coast of Greece.

Although the return journey was long, it was less difficult than that of Ulysses: Menelaus returned home with a ship filled with gold and gifts. He returns to Sparta on the very day Orestes murders his mother Clytemnestra and Aegisthe. He then lives quietly with Helen, in his palace amidst the fabulous treasures he has brought back from his journey. Later, he receives Telemachus, who has come to seek information about his father Odysseus. Telemachus arrives in Sparta on the very day of Hermione's double wedding to Neoptolemos, the son of Achilles and Megapentheus, and the daughter of the Spartan Alector. Menelaus had promised Hermione to Achilles' son at the end of the Trojan War, even though she had been betrothed to Orestes since childhood. Orestes killed Neoptolemos to finally win Hermione back.

In the Odyssey, Proteus prophesies that Menelaus will be led by the gods to the Champs-Elysées. A later legend tells of Menelaus and Helen being immolated in Tauris by Iphigenia.

Homeric epithets

The epithets used by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey for Menelaus are :

Physical portrait

His physical appearance is as impressive as that of most Greek heroes. Anténor remembers him when he came to Troy with Ulysses: "When both mingled with the assembled Trojans, Menelaus was of a higher stature; but, if they sat down, Ulysses seemed to be the more majestic". Homer insists on the blond tint of his hair (throughout the Iliad and Odyssey, this is the most common epithet), which he undoubtedly wears long like other Greeks, giving him the appearance of a lion's mane.

Homer refers to Menelaus' "strong thighs" and "beautiful ankles", and compares his thighs to ivory.

Moral description

In his choice of epithets, Homer emphasizes Menelaus' warrior character ("beloved of Ares", "like Ares", "good at giving the battle cry", "famous for his spear", "the valiant"). In fact, he holds his own in battle, is even compared to a lion when he sees Paris in his grasp, and would have killed his rival had not Aphrodite interfered, but it's true that Paris is a relatively weak fighter, which allows his brother Hector to scold him.

On several occasions, Menelaus shows himself to be more reckless than he is worth: when he wants to confront Hector alone, his brother has to calm him down, as his defeat seems certain, and when Diomedes looks for another hero to infiltrate the Trojans, Agamemnon still fears for his life.

His warrior skills are therefore average, well above the average of all fighters, but without reaching those of the best. Apollo chooses to excite Hector by mocking him for backing down before Menelaus, a warrior "hitherto without strength". This mediocrity was already commented on in antiquity by Plato in The Banquet.

His voice has a certain strength, as his war cry is said to be "famous". He expresses himself well and clearly, but without reaching the eloquence of Ulysses, who captivates his audience.

More generally, despite his leading role in the origins of the Trojan conflict, Menelaus plays a secondary role to that of his brother and the other heroes. It's true that, among the Achaean kings, he is neither the greatest (Agamemnon is), nor the strongest (Ajax), nor the bravest (Achilles), nor the most cunning (Ulysses), nor the wisest (Nestor). Unlike the other heroes, who brood over their grudges for a long time, Menelaus is just as quick to take exception to Antiloque cheating him in the chariot race, before forgiving him almost instantly after a few fine words. This "softness" of character has often been noted, associated with an eternal supporting role.

His position is also made difficult by the inevitable ridiculousness of his situation. He is one of literature's most famous deceived husbands, and, as in later centuries, the Greeks of the time were not above irony. Hypénor paid with his life for having mocked him as "the most dishonored of the Greeks". Throughout the conflict, Menelaus carries the guilt of having dragged the Greeks into this terrible and dishonorable adventure. His reunion with Helen is another example: after a brief outburst of anger, he is almost immediately entranced by her charms. He then resumes his life with Helen with unexpected ease for a warrior from the Iliad. Ironic contempt prevails among the various commentators.

In the time of Pausanias, the Lacedaemonians remembered a house belonging to Menelaus: "Outside the Dromos, near the statue of Hercules, you will find a house which was once Menelaus', and which now belongs to a private individual". Near Mycenae, a temple dedicated to Hera was said to contain the shield Menelaus took from Euphorbia before Troy.

Above all, a heroic cult was worshipped in Therapne, a neighboring town to Sparta, where a temple was erected over his tomb, shared with that of Helen. His cult was still alive in the 2nd century, as Athenagoras of Athens reports. A small ruined ancient temple on the hill of Therapné, 5 km southeast of Sparta, has been identified as the Menelaion, dated to the 5th century BC thanks to votive offerings to Helen.

Pausanias also reports the existence near Gythio of two statues dedicated to Praxidice and Thetis, believed to have been erected by Menelaus opposite the island where Paris and Helen fell in love.

Menelaus appears in most of the countless works based on the Trojan cycle in general, and the story of Helen in particular.

Ancient theater

Menelaus is featured in several ancient tragedies:

Antique painting

Pausanias describes a painting by Polygnotus, now lost, which was in the Lesché des Cnidiens, a building in Delphi. Next to the scene in which the Trojan princess Cassandra, then clinging to the statue of Pallas, is threatened by Ajax, son of Oileus, are Menelaus and his brother Agamemnon, both wearing helmets. Menelaus wears a shield adorned with a dragon which appeared during the sacrifice in Aulide, and which was taken for a prodigy.

Sculpture

The Loggia dei Lanzi in Florence's Piazza della Signoria boasts a famous sculptural group entitled Menelaus Supporting the Body of Patroclus. This is a 17th-century artistic reconstruction by Pietro Tacca and Lodovico Salvetti of a 3rd-century BC antique bust discovered in Rome in the 15th century and known as the Pasquino, which can be seen in Rome's Piazza Pasquino.

Opera

La Belle Hélène, opéra-bouffe by Jacques Offenbach (1864): in keeping with the spirit of the times, the role of Ménélas as the unintelligent cuckold is emphasized.

Cinema

Menelaus has been interpreted in films by, among others:

Video Games

Menelaus appears as a non-playable character in the video game Warriors: Legends of Troy, released in 2011.

Sources

1. Menelaus
2. Ménélas
3. Selon certaines traditions, Ménélas, Agamemnon et Anaxibie seraient les enfants de Plisthène, lui-même fils d'Atrée : voir Catalogue des femmes [détail des éditions], fr. 137b Most [lire en ligne].
4. Velleius Paterculus, Historia Romana 1,1,3
5. Euripides, Andromache 629-631
6. Homer: Odyssee im Projekt Gutenberg-DE
7. ^ Grimal, s.v. Menelaus.
8. ^ Dares Phrygius, 13
9. 1 2 3 Любкер Ф. Menelaus // Реальный словарь классических древностей по Любкеру / под ред. Ф. Ф. Зелинский, А. И. Георгиевский, М. С. Куторга, Ф. Гельбке, П. В. Никитин, В. А. Канский, пер. А. Д. Вейсман, Ф. Гельбке, Л. А. Георгиевский, А. И. Давиденков, В. А. Канский, П. В. Никитин, И. А. Смирнов, Э. А. Верт, О. Ю. Клеменчич, Н. В. Рубинский — СПб.: Общество классической филологии и педагогики, 1885. — С. 855—856.
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