Together with Agamemnon, since their uncle Thyestes killed their father and intended to do the same with them. The brothers took refuge with the Spartan king Tyndareus.

Tyndareus had a daughter, the beautiful Elena. In fact, her father was Zeus, who, turning into a swan, seduced either Helen’s mother, Leda, or the goddess Nemesis herself. Be that as it may, from this proximity an egg appeared, from which a girl of extraordinary beauty hatched - Elena.

The young beauty attracted the richest and most influential suitors in Greece. Menelaus was among them. And he defeated his very, very worthy opponents. How it was? Here is an excerpt from the myth, retold by F. F. Zelinsky.

Helen chooses Menelaus

Tyndara's house is full of guests from all over Hellas: now for the first time the name of Sparta, his modest capital on the banks of the green Eurotas in the south-eastern Peloponnese, resounds far and wide. She owed this glory not to the exploits of her king, but to the beauty of her princess, Helen. She knows this; father and mother are subordinate to her; her husband will be the one she chooses. Yes, but still who? There were many suitors, over thirty. Let us note some of them, some of them familiar to us, some of whom are worth getting to know. We recognize Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, the glorious Epigon; another Epigon, Thersands, son of Polyneices; the Athenian Menestheus, who took the Thesian throne; Philoctetes, the son of Peant, who rendered the dying service to Heracles, both Telamonides, Ayantes and Teucer. Of the new ones, our eyes will be fixed on the clever king of the island of Ithaca, Odysseus; son of Nestor of Pylos Antilochos; another Ayant, son of Oileus from Locris, neighboring Parnassus; the Thessalian Protesilaus, who did not suspect that he would pay with his life for this matchmaking; Menelaus, son of Atreus (the elder Atrid, Agamemnon, is also here, but not among the suitors, but as the husband of the bride’s elder sister, Clytemnestra); finally, Patroclus, a close friend of the absent Achilles.

More than thirty suitors, the flower of Hellenic youth.

It is, of course, honorable; the world will not yet remember such a meeting. But it is also unprofitable: the guests live at the expense of the owner, emptying his barns, storerooms and stalls with daily feasts. If this is inconvenient for him, let him resolve the matter as quickly as possible. But solving it is scary: you will make one person happy, you will offend more than thirty, ardent and vindictive young people. How can we be here? There is no outcome, but the days are passing.

No, the outcome has been found, and it was found by the smartest bunch of suitors in the whole bunch, Odysseus. He soon became convinced that Elena's choice was unlikely to fall on him. Let's say he was very smart and knew it, but that's not what young beauties usually need, and he couldn't compete with others in brilliance; and its small rocky Ithaca, a remote island of the Ionian Sea, is unlikely to seduce the Spartan princess. And, to tell the truth, what use is beauty to him above the human lot? He needs a wife who is faithful, friendly, and thrifty; He saw such a person in the person of the daughter of Icarius, Tyndareus’s brother - quiet, affectionate and, in her own way, also beautiful Penelope. And so he goes to Tindar and says to him: “Get me your niece Penelope, and I will show you a way out of the difficulty in which we all, no matter how many suitors we have, will turn out to be not your enemies, but your allies.”

Tindar happily agreed.

But,” he asked, “what kind of solution is this?”

Bind everyone with an oath that no matter who your daughter chooses, we will help him against anyone who turns out to be his offender in the matter of marriage.

What if they don’t agree to take an oath?

How can they disagree? After all, everyone considers himself the intended lucky one, the future chosen one of your daughter; and therefore, an oath - useful for oneself.

Odysseus was right. More than one, like Tyndareus, was worried at the thought that, if successful, all the rejected suitors would conspire against him; the idea of ​​an oath was therefore accepted with enthusiasm. It was given after the sacrifice, in the most solemn atmosphere. After her, Elena was brought into the mansion. She had a choice long ago decided, and one that fully corresponded to the wishes of her family: entering the mansion, she offered her hand to Menelaus, the brother of her son-in-law Agamemnon. It was only an engagement; After her, the suitors left - it would have been cruel to demand that they witness the happiness of their victorious rival.

Odysseus also left, but not alone: ​​Tindar gave him the opportunity to kidnap his niece. Icarius, however, was on time, set up a pursuit and overtook the fugitives. Turning to his daughter, he asked her who she intended to follow, her father or her kidnapper. Penelope, instead of answering, blushed and covered her face, moving the edges of her coverlet. Here Icarius’s anger cooled; he blessed the modest fugitive and ordered an idol of Shyness to be placed at the meeting place. Subsequently, others began to imitate the example of Odysseus, and the custom of “bride kidnapping” arose in Sparta.

When Tyndara's house was clear of noisy guests, preparations began for the wedding of Menelaus and Helen; the guests were relatives of the bride and groom and eminent citizens of Sparta. Agamemnon was then, after the death of Atreus, the king of Mycenae, and not only of Mycenae, but of all Argolis: Argos also went to him, since Adrastus, having lost his only son in the Epigonian campaign, died childless. True, there was also Diomedes, the son of his second son-in-law Tydeus, who was still not allowed by circumstances to return to Calydon; and Agamemnon willingly allowed him to live with him, taking advantage of the abusive services of this incomparable knight. Menelaus, his younger brother, now, thanks to his marriage to Helen, became the heir to the Spartan throne: both of Tyndara's sons, the Argonauts Polydeuces and Castor, were childless and soon died. Thus the strength and power of Agamemnon grew in the Peloponnese.

The gods were not guests at the Spartan wedding, but Zeus watched it with understandable participation. Things worked out so peacefully, like a family. Elena marries her son-in-law's brother - what will be the fatal significance of the daughter of Nemesis? His wife, monogamous Hera, was also pleased with Elena’s choice, which strengthened family ties and subordinated the aspirations of the heart to considerations of state power. Pallas, the patroness of everything reasonably calculated and executed, was also pleased. But Aphrodite was very unhappy. Being herself the goddess of beauty and love, she saw in Helen, the most beautiful of mortals, her chosen one, like a second earthly Aphrodite. Menelaus was a efficient, honest and handsome knight, but nothing more: Helen chose him not out of personal attraction, but because he was Agamemnon’s brother and that the family wanted it. “You don’t know love yet, my dear,” she thought, “but I will make sure that you know it.” And she decided to dissolve this marriage, which did not take place according to her laws.

But so far everything was fine. The wedding took place, the young people remained to live in Sparta, Tyndareus soon ceded royal power to Menelaus. The serene life of Menelaus and Helen continued for about ten years. They had a daughter, Hermione. Hermione was nine years old when the Trojan prince Paris came to Sparta. Paris's actions were guided by the goddess of love Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world as his wife as a reward for the fact that in a dispute about the beauty of the goddesses (the bone of contention) he gave her preference over Athena and Hera. Menelaus warmly received his dear guest, arranged a ceremonial dinner in his honor and introduced him to his wife. Paris fell in love with Helen at first sight, she also thought he was cute. At this time, Menelaus went to Crete to participate in the funeral of his maternal grandfather Katreus. In the absence of her husband, enchanted by young Paris and his seductive speeches, Elena left her daughter, husband, homeland and sailed with him to Troy. Paris also took with him the treasures of Menelaus.

When Menelaus returned home and found out everything, he turned to his brother Agamamnon for help. He called on all the Achaean kings to unite to avenge the insult of Menelaus.

When the Greek army arrived at Troy, it was first decided to try to resolve the issue peacefully. Homer's Iliad talks about it like this:

“Having established a camp, the Greeks sent Menelaus and Odysseus to the city to negotiate the extradition of Helen and the treasures stolen with her from the house of Menelaus. The noble and wise Antenor, one of the most honorable Trojan elders, received the ambassadors in his home and shared a meal with them. Having learned why the Achaean ambassadors came, Priam called the entire Trojan people to a meeting. Menelaus and Odysseus came out in front of the meeting of the Trojans and announced what the Achaeans demanded from King Priam and the citizens of Troy. Odysseus's speech made a strong impression on the assembled people, and when he finished, Antenor recognized the demands of the Greeks as fair, and the people decided to return Helen and the treasures stolen from Menelaus to the ambassadors. Paris resisted the decision of the people with all his might; he was supported by the other sons of Priam, and Antimachus even proposed to seize Menelaus and put him to death. Priam, Hector, and the majority of citizens opposed this; Most of the people still agreed with Antenor and demanded that Helen be returned to Menelaus along with the treasures stolen from him by Paris. But at the end of the meeting, the soothsayer Helen, one of the sons of Priam, stood up and confused the minds of the Trojans, announcing that the gods promised the sons of Ilion intercession and help in the upcoming war. The Trojans believed Helen and kept Helen, and sent the ambassadors who threatened them with revenge and war from the city.”

Thus began the Trojan War. It turned out to be long and difficult for both sides.

At the beginning of the tenth year of the war, protracted, inconclusive battles sowed disappointment and murmur in the fighting armies. It was proposed to decide the outcome of the war through a duel between Menelaus and Paris.

As it turned out, Menelaus was opposed not only by Paris, but also by Aphrodite, who kept her favorite. And yet, Menelaus defeated Paris and would certainly have killed him if Aphrodite had not enveloped Paris in a cloud and carried him to a safe place outside the walls of Troy.

This duel is very interestingly described in Homer's Iliad. Here is this passage, retold by Georg Scholz:

The duel between Menelaus and Paris

“And when both armies drew closer, Paris stepped forward from the ranks of the Trojans; he had a bow hanging over his shoulders, covered with leopard skin, a sword at his hip, and two sharp spears in his hands. Raising those spears high, he began to challenge the bravest of the Achaeans to single combat with him. When Menelaus saw him proudly speaking before the army, he rejoiced, as a hungry lion rejoices when he unexpectedly stumbles upon a tasty prey, an antlered deer or a mountain chamois; He immediately plotted to take revenge on the kidnapper and quickly, fully armed, jumped from the chariot to the ground. But as soon as Paris noticed him, he turned pale with fear and rushed back into the ranks of the Trojans as quickly as a traveler jumps back when he suddenly sees an echidna in front of him. The courageous Hector was indignant at his brother’s timidity and began to reproach and disgrace him with bitter words: “Pitiful Paris, a hero only in appearance, a woman-lover! It would be better for you not to be born or die celibate! It would be better for you than to serve as a reproach and shame for the whole world! Do you hear, the Achaeans mock you and say that you are very beautiful in appearance, but you have neither strength nor courage. Coward! After all, you had the courage to sail overseas, to a foreign land, and kidnap the beauty, sister and daughter-in-law of powerful warriors - why didn’t you now go out to fight Menelaus! If only you knew whose wife you kidnapped, neither the cithara nor the gift of Aphrodite - lush curls and beauty - would help you. The Trojan people are timid, otherwise they should have stoned you long ago for the troubles you brought upon them!” Ashamed, Paris answered him: “Hector, you have the right to blaspheme me! Your heart is unyielding and unloving towards me; but do not discredit the gifts of Aphrodite: the gifts of the immortals are blessed. If you want me to go out into battle, tell both the Achaeans and the Trojans to calm down: I will go out in front of the army and fight Menelaus. Whichever of us wins, let him take Elena and all the treasures. Then you will make peace: you will rule Troy peacefully, and let the Achaeans sail back to Achaia.”

Hector was delighted at these words from his brother, came forward in front of the army and calmed the Trojans. The Achaeans, seeing Hector, began to aim spears and stones at him; but Agamemnon loudly exclaimed to them: “Stop, Argovians! Don't throw spears, sons of Achaia! Hector wants to talk to us." The Achaeans stopped and fell silent, and Hector stood in the middle between the two hostile armies and announced Paris’s proposal. The Achaeans stood in silence, and finally Menelaus broke the silence and said: “Listen now to me: my heart, more than any of you, is languishing with sadness. It seems that the end of the troubles we are enduring because of the enmity between me and Paris is now near; one of us - the one whom fate dooms - must perish; You, without delay, reconcile and put an end to the many years of war. Bring, Trojans, two lambs: a white one as a sacrifice to the Sun, a black one as a sacrifice to Mother Earth; We, the Achaeans, will slaughter the third - Kronidas Zeus. Summon Elder Priam here too - let him himself seal our oath, let it be immutable: his sons are proud and treacherous.”

Thus spoke Menelaus, and the Trojans and Achaeans were filled with joy, hoping for a speedy end to the battle that was exhausting for both peoples. The warriors got off their chariots, took off their armor and laid them on the ground. Hector sent two heralds to the city to bring sacrificial lambs and call Priam. Agamemnon ordered Talthybius to bring a lamb from the Achaean camp.

Elder Priam was horrified at the news of the duel, but ordered the horses to be harnessed to the chariot. And when the horses were harnessed, Priam, together with Antenor, the most honorable of the Trojan elders, mounted the chariot and drove the horses through the Scaean gate into the field. Approaching the army, they got off the chariot and walked between the ranks of the Trojans and Achaeans. King Agamemnon and Odysseus immediately stood up to meet them; The messengers brought sacrificial animals, mixed wine in one bowl and sprinkled the mixture on the hands of the kings. Here Agamemnon drew a sharp knife, which he always had hanging from the scabbard of his sword, and cut a strand of wool from the heads of the lambs: the messengers divided the cut strand between the leaders of the Trojans and Achaeans. After that, raising his hands, Agamemnon called out to the gods: “Powerful Zeus, glorious, great! You, Helios, are all-seeing and all-hearing! Rivers, Earth and you, underground gods, punishers of oath-crimes! Be all of you witnesses and keep our oath. If Paris kills Menelaus, let him keep Helen and all the treasures; we will then sail back to Argos. If Menelaus kills Paris, the citizens of Troy must return Helen and all the wealth and pay the Argovians the proper penalty - such that the memory of her will be preserved until our later descendants. And if Priam and his sons do not want to pay the fine, I will stay here and will not put down the sword until I achieve what I want.”

After these words, he cut the larynxes of the sacrificial animal with a knife and, overwhelmed with dying trepidation, laid them on the ground. Drawing wine from the cup with a goblet, everyone began to pour it onto the sacrifice, offering loud prayers to the gods:

“You, glorious Zeus,” said the Trojans and Achaeans, “and all of you, immortal gods! Let the brains of those who break our oath spill over the earth, like this wine, for them and for their children.” After this, Elder Priam addressed both armies with a speech: “Listen to my word, Trojans and Achaeans; I will leave here, I will return again to the hilly Ilion - I do not have the strength to watch how my son begins to fight with King Menelaus. Zeus and other immortals know which of the two is destined for a mortal end in this battle.” Having said this, he placed the sacrificial lambs on the chariot and, mounting it together with Antenor, drove the horses back to Ilion.

Then Hector and Odysseus began to measure the place of the battle and put lots in their helmets in order to decide who would be the first to throw a spear at the enemy. The people raised their hands to the gods and called out to them: “Powerful, glorious Zeus! Which of these two is the culprit of all strife and troubles - let him, defeated, descend into the region of Hades; Grant us peace and strong friendship.” This is how the Trojans and Achaeans prayed. And Hector, turning away, shook the lot in his helmet at this time; and the lot of Paris fell out of his helmet. The warriors sat down in rows, each near his horse and his armor; The fighters began to prepare for battle. Fully armed, they stepped into the middle of the battlefield - their menacing eyes shone with anger; They came together closely and, shaking their spears, stood in the indicated places. Paris was the first to launch his spear and hit Menelaus on the shield, but did not penetrate the shield: the spear bent, hitting hard copper. Then Menelaus raised his spear. “Omnipotent Zeus! - he exclaimed. - Help me punish the one who insulted me! Let our later descendants be horrified and not dare to repay affection and good-natured hospitality with evil.” With these words, he threw a spear and hit Paris with it on the shiny shield: the spear pierced the shield, and the armor, and the tunic on Paris’s body; He himself, however, avoided death by leaning to the side. Menelaus quickly drew his sword and struck the enemy’s helmet with it; but the sword broke on the helmet, split into pieces and fell out of the fighter’s hands. “Zeus, evil-wisher, why did you deprive me of victory?” - Menelaus exclaimed, raising his gaze to the sky, and rushed again at the enemy, grabbed him by the lush-maned helmet and dragged him with him to the ranks of the Achaeans. Here he would have destroyed the enemy and would have gained great glory for himself if Aphrodite had not saved Priam’s son: she tore off the straps that tightly tied the helmet under Paris’s chin and freed him. There was only one helmet and remained in the strong hand of Menelaus. Full of anger, Menelaus threw him to the ranks of the Danaans - they raised him; the hero himself rushed again at Paris. But Aphrodite dressed her favorite in a dark cloud and, invisible, carried him away to his bedchamber full of incense, then brought Helen to him, still standing on the Skeian tower along with the other Trojan women. Entering the bedchamber, Elena sat down opposite her husband, turned her eyes away from him and began to reproach him: “Have you returned from the battle? Oh, it would be better for you to die at the hands of the mighty husband who was once my husband! Didn't you yourself boast before that you were stronger than Menelaus and would defeat him in battle? Well, go ahead and challenge him to a fight again. No, however, it’s better to lie here and don’t dare fight Menelaus, otherwise his spear will subdue you.” Paris answered her: “Don’t sadden my heart with reproaches. Today Menelaus defeated me thanks to the help of Athena; the time will come and victory will be mine; and the gods protect me.”

While Paris was in Helen's house, Menelaus, like a predatory beast, prowled through the ranks of the Trojan army, looking around to see if he saw the enemy somewhere; but none of the Trojans and none of the allies could point out Paris to him. No one would hide him now out of friendship: all the Trojans began to hate him like death. Finally, Agamemnon exclaimed in a loud voice: “Hear me, Trojans and Danaans and you allies! Victory, undoubtedly, remained on the side of Menelaus; So, give us the Argovian Helen with all the wealth stolen from Menelaus and pay us the due penalty immediately.” To these words of King Agamemnon, the Achaeans responded with loud praise to him, but the Trojans did not say a word.”

An arrow flew out from the Trojan army and wounded Menelaus. This made the continuation of the war inevitable.

Finally, Troy was conquered. Menelaus got his Helen. How did they meet? What happened between them? This is an excerpt from the myth retold by F. F. Zelinsky:

Menelaus and Helen

“The anger of the Spartan king against his unfaithful wife, already softened by her beauty at the first meeting, disappeared completely with further communication. It was impossible to apply the usual yardstick to the daughter of Nemesis: just as the years spent in Troy slipped without a trace over her without touching her, so in her character she stood above human law. She wanted to become the wife of Menelaus again and became her again - and it was not she who was in his captivity, but he who was in captivity with her.

However, for now, both of them were in captivity of a whimsical goddess, who decided to keep them away from both her old and her new homeland. The storm that separated Menelaus's ship from the others soon passed; but when the sky cleared, neither Menelaus nor his skillful pilot knew where they were or where to go. They took a direction at random in order to get somewhere, to some people and learn further from them; and, indeed, they saw populated cities, grazing cattle, cultivated fields, but the people did not understand their language and had no idea about Hellas and Troy. Some greeted them hospitably, while others had to escape in a hasty flight. Sometimes need forced swimmers to turn into sea robbers and, with a sudden raid on a seaside village, provide themselves with food for the coming days. So days, months, years passed - nine full years. Everyone was tired and wild, and there was still no end in sight.

Finally, fate took pity on the wanderers: in the country that sheltered them, they recognized Egypt, the ancient homeland of Danae, the ancestor of the Argive kings. Although hospitality was not one of the primordial qualities of his people, the lesson once given by Hercules to Busirides did not go unnoticed: the Egyptian king received the Hellenic wanderers cordially and showed them the path that they should follow in order to get home. With joy in their hearts, they moved on, reached the island of Pharos - suddenly the weather changed, a sharp north wind blew, there was no way to continue the journey. The swimmers wandered inactively around the deserted island; they remembered the distant Aulid days. The supplies given by the hospitable king quickly ran out; The sailors began to fish, partly to kill boredom, partly to feed themselves. But the wind remained the same; no one could predict the end of the disaster.

With longing in his soul, Menelaus wandered along the dull shore of the flat island. Suddenly he sees - among the foam of the waves crashing on the rocks, a girl's fair-haired head appears, behind her shoulders, chest - and suddenly an indescribable beauty stands in front of him. There is a wreath of seaweed on her hair, sea water flows from her blue dress; comes up to the hero, puts his hand on his shoulder: “What are you thinking about? Can't I help the trouble? He told her everything. She shook her head. “Obviously,” he says, “some god is angry with you, but I don’t know which one, for what and how to appease him; here we need someone smarter than poor Idothea.” “Who is this?” - asked Menelaus. - “My father, Proteus.” - “So lead me to him, I will beg him.” Idothea laughed: “So he will listen to you! No, this requires cunning. Listen: take three reliable comrades with you and bring them here; In the meantime, I’ll go get down to business.”

Fulfilling her will, Menelaus brought with him three of his best sailors and began to wait for the affectionate nymph to appear. And indeed, she soon emerged from her underwater chamber again and brought with her four walrus skins. “My father,” she said, “will soon come out here from the depths of the sea to bask in the sun with his herd of walruses. If he recognizes you as people, he will immediately disappear, and then everything will perish. But I will cover you with these skins, and he will take you for walruses. Having counted his flock, he takes a nap; then you pounce on him and hold him tightly. Do you hear? Hold him tightly and don’t let him go, no matter what he does, no matter how much he scares you. He cannot harm you, but he can scare you: don’t be cowards1.”

With these words, she put a walrus skin on each of them. But the matter turned out to be not very easy. Finding himself in the skin of a sea monster, Menelaus almost suffocated: he had never inhaled such a stench in his entire life. I had to call Idothea again. She laughed: “Yes, yes, it’s more difficult than taking Troy!” Fortunately, I have a remedy for this too.” Diving into her underwater tower, she took out a bottle of ambrosia and smeared the edge under everyone’s nose. Immediately the stench passed; It seemed to the Achaeans that they were in the garden of Zeus, in the flower garden of the Hesperides. And they patiently began to wait for the arrival of the prophetic sea elder.

And so he came - short stature, cunning eyes, long gray beard; behind him is his herd of walruses; are positioned around our fake walruses, with their muzzles buried in the sand and dozing. The old man, apparently, is also getting sleepy; however, he fulfills his duty, begins to count his company, whether there are any deserters - everything is fine, even as if there are extra ones; sits down on the sand, his chest buried in his beard, his nose in a walrus mustache, his eyes under thick eyelashes. Sleeping.

Menelaus, who had observed everything told through the eye holes of his walrus skin, quietly crawled out from under it and signaled to his comrades to follow his example. They had already taken the ropes with them; rushing together at the old man, they began to knit him. The matter, however, turned out to be difficult. The old man opened his eyes - he quickly realized his position - and the next moment under the hands of the Achaeans it was no longer the old man, but a lion - a huge, angry one, with his mane raised. One of them jumped back in fear, but the others, remembering Idothea’s words, did not let go of the monster: they knew that this transformation was only a deception for the eyes, that the imaginary lion had no more strength than the old old man. Seeing that the lion had no effect, Proteus suddenly turned into a dolphin to jump into the sea to escape from the enemy. But he failed to jump: the ropes held him by the fins and tail, and Menelaus’s comrades, in addition, sat down on him, one astride his back, the other on his flat muzzle. To get rid of these unpleasant horsemen, Proteus suddenly became a smooth serpent, and at first things went well. Both Achaeans rolled onto the sand, and he managed to slip out of the ropes. But Menelaus, grabbing him by the throat, began to strangle him so cruelly that he soon wilted. And suddenly the snake spread out like a stream of water, which gradually began to flow down the sloping shore into the sea. But the hero did not allow himself to be embarrassed by this trick: instantly he made a deep furrow in the soft sand with his fifth, water collected in this furrow, and it was impossible to flow further. An ordinary puddle formed; Our swimmers sit along its edges and watch what will happen next. The puddle became muddy, boiled, splashed out like a fountain - and the fountain became a seagull with outstretched wings, ready to take flight. And this, however, failed: both the wings and legs of the seagull ended up in the tenacious hands of the Achaeans; No matter how she floundered, she could not free herself. She rested on the ground and seemed to have grown to it; the wings became spreading branches, and in ONE instant, before the surprised eyes of the Achaeans stood a huge poplar, the green top of which rustled merrily under the gusts of the north wind. It was unpleasant; Of course, Proteus could not escape in this form, but he could, if he wished, starve out his opponents. "Bring the axe!" - Menelaus shouted to one of his comrades. Poplar, apparently, was frightened: he cowered, hissed and suddenly became fire. "Skin him!" - Menelaus shouted - and the free son of the ether under the walrus skin, as if in an oven, lost his agility and began to humbly lick its wet surface. He did not like this activity: having exhausted the circle of his seven transformations, he again took on his former appearance as an old sea man. “I see,” he said gloomily, “that my worthless daughter taught you; tell me what you want!”

Menelaus posed his question: “How did you anger the gods? - asked Proteus. - Because you are always in a senseless hurry. This is what you did at Troy; your brother told you that before departure you must make a sacrifice to the immortal gods; and you didn't have the patience. But he, having brought the hecatomb, was already in his homeland a few days later; True, he died immediately at the hands of his wicked wife, but the gods are already innocent of this. And you...” “Wait,” Menelaus shouted, turning pale, “did you say that my brother, Agamemnon, died at the hands of his wife? How did this happen?

And Proteus told him what we already know - about the bloody font prepared by Clytemnestra in Mycenae for her returning husband, about her criminal reign, about how Orestes grows up as an exile in a foreign land - this was even before his revenge. Then he continued. “And now again, when you had the hope of returning to Hellas, you did not think about making a suitable sacrifice to the immortal gods. Return to Egypt, fulfill your duty, and then the gentle south wind will guide you across the Libyan Sea to the shores of the Peloponnese.”

Menelaus followed the elder's advice, and his wish came true. But what he heard about the fate of his brother made him first go to Mycenae. He arrived there the day after Orestes' revenge; He buried Clytemnestra and Aegisthus and established a temporary ruling council of elders until the purification and return of the rightful heir Orestes. Only after this did he return to Sparta, where he took the reins of government from the hands of the elderly Tyndara. In fulfillment of his word given at Troy, he married his daughter Hermione to Neoptolemus; more will be told about this marriage. In general, his further life was peaceful and happy; Having lived to a ripe old age, he, without having experienced death, was transferred by the gods to the Elysian Fields, where he enjoyed eternal bliss with other favorites of the gods.

But Elena no longer followed him there: she was given to him only as an earthly wife. At the same time, the gods decided, on the day of the great reconciliation, to create both strength above strength and beauty above beauty - to create Achilles and Helen, so that a great war would arise and the burden of Mother Earth would be eased. This task was completed; now both of them, the son of Peleus and the daughter of Nemesis, were settled together on the White Island, which is at the very entrance to Pontus Euxinus.”

Helen is a Spartan queen in Greek mythology, the most beautiful of women. According to the most popular version of the myth, Helen was the daughter of the mortal woman Leda and the god Zeus, who appeared to Leda in the form of a beautiful swan. From this union Leda gave birth to an egg from which Helena emerged. According to another version of the myth, Leda only kept an egg laid by the goddess of retribution Nemesis from her marriage to Zeus and found by a shepherd. When a girl emerged from the egg, Leda raised her as her daughter. In her youth, Helen was kidnapped by Theseus and Pirithous, but when they went to the kingdom of Hades for Persephone, Helen was freed and brought back by her brothers Dioscuri.

The rumor about Helen's beauty spreads throughout Greece and several dozen famous heroes come to woo her, including Odysseus, Menelaus, Diomedes, both Ajaxes, and Patroclus. Helen's earthly father Tyndareus, the king of Sparta, in order to avoid offense among the suitors, on the advice of Odysseus, binds all of Helen's suitors with an oath to further protect the honor of her future husband. After this, Tyndareus chooses Menelaus as Elena's husband. This choice was clearly influenced by the fact that Clytaemestra (another daughter of Tyndareus) was married to Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, king of Mycenae.

Soon Tyndareus ceded royal power in Sparta to Menelaus and his daughter Helen. In her marriage to Menelaus, Helen gave birth to a daughter, Hermione. The serene life of Menelaus and Helen lasted about 10 years, until the Trojan prince Paris arrived in Sparta, to whom Aphrodite promised the most beautiful of women (Helen) as a reward for the fact that Paris recognized Aphrodite as the most beautiful of the goddesses. Paris, taking advantage of the absence of Menelaus, takes Helen to Troy. According to the most popular version of the myth, Aphrodite instilled in Helen a love for Paris that Helen could not resist. There was another version of the myth, expressed by the ancient Greek poet Stesichor. When he wrote a song about the abduction of Helen by Paris, he went blind that same night. The poet prayed to the gods asking for healing. Then Elena appeared to him in a dream and said that this was a punishment for writing such unkind poems about her. Stesichorus then composed a new chant - that Paris did not take Helen to Troy at all, but only her ghost, but the gods transferred the real Helen to Egypt, and she remained there, faithful to Menelaus, until the very end of the war. After this, Stesichorus regained his sight. The Greek playwright Euripides relied on this version of the myth in the tragedy “Helen”, and among modern writers, for example, Henry Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang in the novel “The Dream of the World”.

Arriving in Troy, Helen won the hearts of the Trojans with her beauty. Soon Menelaus and Odysseus arrive in Troy to return Helen peacefully, but the Trojans refuse to hand over Helen and a war begins that lasts 10 years.

Pierre Delrome. Hector, Helen and Paris. Hector calls on Paris to join the fight

In Homer's Iliad, Helen is burdened by her position, because... the spell of Aphrodite, which caused love for Paris, has already dissipated. In the 4th song of the Odyssey, Helen tells how during the war she helped Odysseus, who secretly entered the city:

Throwing the drug into the wine and ordering the wine to be spread,
This is how Helen, born of Zeus, began to speak:
235 "King Menelaus Atreid, pet of Zeus, and all of you,
Children of brave men! At will, Zeus sends
People have both evil and good, for everything is possible for Kronid.
Sitting here in the high hall, feast in joy, conversation
Amuse yourself, but I would like to tell you something suitable.
240 Labors of all Odysseus, in the suffering of a strong spirit,
I can neither tell you nor list them in detail.
But I’ll tell you what action he fearlessly dared to take.
In the distant Trojan region, where you, the Achaeans, suffered so much.
Having beaten his own body in a terribly shameful way,
245 Having covered your shoulders with pathetic rubble, like a slave,
He made his way into the wide-street city of hostile men.
Having hidden himself in such a way, he was like a completely different husband -
The beggar had never been seen near the courts before.
Having accepted his image, he went to Ilion, suspicious
250 Without arousing anyone. Only I recognized him immediately
She began to ask, but he cunningly avoided answering.
Only when I washed it and rubbed it with oil,
She dressed him in a dress and swore a great oath to him,
That only then will I hand over Odysseus to the Trojans when he
255 He will return to his camp, to the fast-flying Achaean ships, -
Only then did he reveal to me the whole plan of the cunning Achaeans.
In the city, many Trojans were beaten with long-bladed copper,
He returned to the Achaeans, bringing them knowledge of many things.
The other Trojan women wept loudly. But full of joy
260 There was my heart: for a long time I was eager to leave
Home again and mourned the blindness that
Aphrodite sent me, taking me away from my homeland,
Forcing her to leave her daughter, the marriage bedroom, and her husband,
Who could compete with everyone in spirit and appearance."

Also during the siege of Troy, Helen helps Odysseus and Diomedes steal a wooden statue of the goddess Athena from a local temple.

After the capture of Troy, Menelaus is looking for Helen with a sword in his hand to execute her for treason, but when he sees Helen, shining with her former beauty, he lets go of the sword and forgives her.

In the Egyptian version of the myth, Menelaus arrives with the ghost of Helen in Egypt to find the real Helen. The ghost of Helen ascends to heaven, and the true Helen returns to Menelaus.
After her death, Helen was transferred to the island of Levka at the mouth of the Danube, where she was united in an eternal union with Achilles (according to one of the myths, Helen and Achilles met on the Trojan Plain shortly before the death of Achilles). However, another myth looks more plausible, according to which Achilles united in eternal union with Medea on the islands of the blessed. Passionate and strong Medea is much more similar to Penthesilea, once beloved by Achilles, than Helen, submissive to fate. Henry Rider Haggard, relying on information about the meeting of Odysseus and Helen in Troy, in the novel “The Dream of the World,” forever connects the fate of Helen with another hero of the Trojan War - Odysseus.

Menelaus (Μενέλαος), in Greek mythology, the king of Sparta, the son of Atreus and Aerope, the husband of Helen, the younger brother of Agamemnon. The brothers expelled by Thyestes fled from Mycenae to Sparta, to Tyndareus, whose daughter, Helen, Menelaus married and inherited the throne of his father-in-law (Apollodorus, II 16). The serene life of Menelaus with Helen lasted about ten years; their daughter Hermione was nine years old when the Trojan prince Paris came to Sparta. Menelaus at this time went to Crete to participate in the funeral of his maternal grandfather Catreus. Having learned about the kidnapping of his wife and treasures by Paris, Menelaus and Odysseus went to Troy (Ilion) and demanded the extradition of the kidnapped wife, but to no avail.

Returning home, Menelaus, with the help of Agamemnon, gathered friendly kings for the Ilion campaign, and he himself deployed sixty ships, recruiting warriors in Lacedaemon, Amyclae and other lands of Hellas. In addition, after the abduction of his wife by Paris, Menelaus gathered all her former suitors, bound by a vow of mutual assistance, and began preparations together with his brother Agamemnon for the Trojan War. In relation to Agamemnon, he considered himself subordinate and recognized his supreme power in everything.

At the walls of Troy, Menelaus, with the help of Hera and Athena, showed himself to be a valiant warrior and a reasonable adviser. When Paris announced a challenge to single combat, Menelaus happily agreed and rushed at the enemy so fiercely that the latter became frightened and began to retreat. Hector shamed Paris, and the single combat took place: Menelaus grabbed Paris by the helmet and dragged him to the Achaean squads, but Aphrodite saved her favorite (Homer, Iliad, III 324-382). The victorious side began to demand the extradition of Helen and the treasures taken with her, but Pandarus, who emerged from the ranks of the Trojans, wounded Menelaus and thereby eliminated the possibility of a truce. Later, Menelaus is challenged to single combat with Hector, but at the request of his friends he abandons this dangerous plan; in the same way, Antilochus kept him from competing with Aeneas. When Patroclus fell, Menelaus was among those who defended the body of the slain hero (Apollodorus, XVII 1 - 69, 553-581, 702-761). When the wooden horse was built, Menelaus, along with other Greek warriors, ended up in the city of Troy.

Menelaus immediately went to the house of Deiphobus, where Helen lived. There he and Odysseus entered into a bloody battle, and which of them killed Deiphobus remains unknown. Menelaus intended to execute his wife for treason, but her divine beauty shook his resolve, he lowered his sword and led Helen to the ships, completely forgiving her. Before returning, Menelaus, who believed that Athena helped the Trojans too much, refused to make a sacrifice to the goddess, which displeased Agamemnon and the brothers parted in a quarrel. Menelaus was caught in a storm sent by Athena, the storm washed his five ships to the coast of Egypt, carrying the rest of the fleet to Crete. During his eight-year wanderings, Menelaus ends up in Cyprus, Phenicia and Egypt, where he acquires great treasures (Homer, Odyssey, III 276-312).

Having wandered around the East for eight years, Menelaus stayed for some time on the island of Pharos and suffered hardships until, on the advice of Eidothea, her father, the sea elder Proteus, helped him sail to his homeland. The last stage of Menelaus' return to Sparta after an eighteen-year absence, according to epic tradition, proceeded without complications. Warned by Proteus about Aegisthus' murder of Agamemnon, Menelaus hurries to take revenge on Aegisthus, but Agamemnon's son Orestes, who killed Aegisthus and Clytaemestra, precedes him. Menelaus only makes it in time for their funeral (Homer, Odyssey, III 301-312, IV 546, 584). Returning to Sparta, Menelaus and Helen lived in Lacedaemon in peace, harmony and contentment until the day when they - hand in hand - went to the Isles of the Blessed in Elysium. According to another version, they ended up in Tauris, where Iphigenia sacrificed them both to Artemis. The tomb of Menelaus was shown in Therapne, where his sanctuary was, and a game was held in honor of his play (Pausanias, III 14, 6). In historical times, a maiden choir performed a ritual epithalamium at the burial place of Menelaus and Helen, similar to that attested in one of the idylls of the poet of the third century BC Theocritus.



Menelaus Menelaus

(Menelaus, Μενελαος). Son of Atreus, husband of the beautiful Helen, father of Hermione, younger brother of Agamemnon, king of Sparta. Paris (see Paris) took away Helen, the wife of Menelaus, and this was the reason for the Trojan War. During the war, Menelaus entered into single combat with Paris, who was saved by Aphrodite, covering him with a cloud. After the death of Paris, Helen married his brother Deiphobus, who was killed by Menelaus during the capture of Troy. Helen subsequently reconciles with Menelaus, sails with him from Troy and, after 8 years of wandering along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, they return to Sparta, where they live out their lives in peace and wealth.

(Source: “A Brief Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities.” M. Korsh. St. Petersburg, edition by A. S. Suvorin, 1894.)

MENELAU

Μενέλαος in Greek mythology, the son of A Gray and Aerops, Brother Agamemnon. After killing Atreus Aegisthomus M. and Agamemnon were forced to flee from Mycenae. They found shelter in Sparta with the king Tyndarea, who married Agamemnon Clytaemestra and helped him regain the royal throne in Mycenae (Tzetz., Chil. I 456-465). M., chosen from several dozen of the most noble heroes of all Hellas as his wife Elena(whose earthly father was Tyndareus, and heavenly Zeus), Tyndareus soon ceded royal power in Sparta (Apollod. epit. II 16). M.'s serene life with Elena lasted about ten years; their daughters Hermione was nine years old when the Trojan prince came to Sparta Paris. M. at this time went to Crete to participate in the funeral of his maternal grandfather Katreya. Having learned about the kidnapping of his wife and treasures by Paris, M. called for help from all her former suitors, bound by a joint oath to protect the honor of her husband, and he himself deployed a militia on 60 ships (Not. II. II 581-590). Before the start of hostilities, M., together with Odysseus went as ambassadors to Troy, trying to resolve the conflict peacefully, but Paris and his supporters refused to return Helen and the treasures, and war became inevitable (Apollod. epit. Ill 28). In the single combat with Paris, M. clearly has the upper hand, and only the intervention of the goddess Aphrodite saves M.’s opponent (Not. P. III 324-382). Soon M. was wounded Pandarus an arrow from a bow (IV 112-147). Once again M. shows valor, defending the body of the murdered man from the Trojans. Patroclus(XVII 1-69, 553-581, 702-761; a sculptural group of the 2nd century BC is known, depicting M. with the corpse of Patroclus, also represented by a large number of later copies). M. was one of the Greek warriors who took refuge in a wooden horse, and on the night of the fall of Troy he killed the Trojan prince Deiphobus, who became Helen’s husband after the death of Paris (Apollod. epit. V 22). Immediately after the victory over Troy, M., together with Helen returned to him, sailed to his homeland, but already off the coast of the Peloponnese he fell into a terrible storm, which threw him to the shores of Crete. During his eight-year wanderings, M. ends up in Cyprus, Phenicia and Egypt, where he acquires great treasures (Note. Od. Ill 276-312). The last episode of M.’s wanderings is connected with the island of Pharos at the mouth of the Nile: from the sea elder Proteus, with the help of his daughter Eidothea, M. receives a prediction about his future and about ways to return to his homeland. M. is also associated with Egypt by another version of the myth, according to which only the ghost of Helen was in Troy, but she herself, by the will of Zeus, was transferred to the banks of the Nile and waited here in the domain of Proteus for her husband (Eur. He1. 1-760). The last stage of M.'s return to Sparta after an eighteen-year absence, according to epic tradition, proceeded without complications. Warned by Proteus about the murder of Agamemnon by Aegisthus, M. hurries to take revenge on Aegisthus, but Agamemnon’s son is ahead of him Orestes, Having killed Aegisthus and Clytemestra, M. only makes it to their funeral (Not. Od. III 301-312, IV 546 next, 584 next). After many years of quiet life with Helen, upon returning to Sparta, M., as the son-in-law of Zeus, was awarded a settlement on the Champs Elysees, where ancient tradition placed the legendary heroes of the past (IV 561-569). Later authors name the names of several sons of M., born to him in the absence of Helen by concubines (Apollod. Ill 11, 1"); with one of them (Megapenthos) a version of the legend about the expulsion of Helen from Sparta after M. was transferred to the monastery is associated In contrast to the image of Helen, which goes back to the oldest plant deity, the image of M. is the fruit of a heroic legend, possibly based on some historical memories of the Mycenaean era. According to legend (Paus. VIII 23, 4), there was an old plane tree in Arcadia. , planted by M. when he was gathering an army for the campaign near Troy (the Arcadians put up, according to the Homeric catalog, a militia for 60 ships. Not. II. II 603-614) In Sparta they showed the house in which M. and Helen once lived (). Paus. Ill 14, 6); apparently, in historical times, a maiden choir performed the ritual epithalamium of Helen, similar to that of the 3rd century BC poet.
V. N. Yarkho.

(Source: “Myths of the Peoples of the World.”)

Menelaus

King of Sparta. Husband of Helen the Beautiful, daughter of Leda and Zeus. The son of the Mycenaean king Atreus and Aeropa, the brother of Agamemnon, married to Helen's sister Clytemnestra. He organized a military campaign near Troy to return Helen, kidnapped by the Trojan Paris - this campaign became known as the Trojan War. Elena gave birth to his daughter Hermione. Father of Megapenta (from a slave). See more details about it.

(Source: “Myths of Ancient Greece. Dictionary-reference book.” EdwART, 2009.)

Synonyms:

See what "Menelaus" is in other dictionaries:

Menelaus- Menelaus. Roman marble copy of a Greek original c. 230 BC: Menelaus with the body of Patroclus. Loggia dei Lanzi. Florence. Menelaus. Roman marble copy of a Greek original c. 230 BC: Menelaus with the body of Patroclus. Loggia dei Lanzi... ... Encyclopedic Dictionary "World History"

Me, husband. Star. ed. Report: Menelaevich, Menelaevna. Origin: (Greek personal name Menelaos Menelaus. From menos strength, power and laos people.) Dictionary of personal names. Menelaus I, M. Star. rare Report: Menelaevich, Menelaevna. [Greek personal name Menelaos Menelaus... Dictionary of personal names

Brother of Agamemnon, king of Sparta, husband of Helen who fled with Paris; one of the heroes of the Trojan War, after which he wandered around different countries for 8 years due to storms off the coast of Phenicia, Egypt and Libya. Dictionary of foreign words included in... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

- (MevelaoV) son of Atreus, younger brother of Agamemnon. The brothers expelled by Thyestes fled from Mycenae to Sparta, to Tyndareus, whose daughter, Helen, M. married, inheriting the throne of his father-in-law. When Paris took Helen away, M. and Odysseus went to Ilion and demanded... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

In Greek mythology, participant in the Trojan War, king of Sparta, husband of Helen; organized a campaign near Troy to return Helen, kidnapped by the Trojan Paris... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

- (foreigner) deceived husband (an allusion to Menelaus, the husband of “beautiful Helen”). Wed. The idea of ​​​​turning such a matodore as Prince Peter Biberstein into Menelaus... greatly worried Pavel Pavlych... Markevich. From Petersburg. life. Why didn’t Pavel Pavlych get in... ... Michelson's Large Explanatory and Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)

Noun, number of synonyms: 1 hero (80) ASIS Dictionary of Synonyms. V.N. Trishin. 2013… Synonym dictionary

- (ancient Greek Μενέλαος) the legendary hero of the Homeric epic “Iliad”, the husband of Helen. Called fair-haired (IV, 183). Menelaus was the son of Atreus (according to Plisthenes) and Aerope, the younger brother of Agamemnon. Menelaus and Agamemnon, expelled by Thyestes, fled ... Wikipedia

Menelaus- 1. The younger brother of the Spartan king Agamemnon and the husband of Helen. In the fighting of the Trojan War, his image is insignificant compared to other heroes, but it was he who recaptured the corpse of Patroclus from the enemies; he was also among the warriors who took refuge in the wooden... ... Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book.

The formidable ruler of Sparta, who spent 10 years to return his unfaithful wife, is a symbol of perseverance, pride and stubbornness. Menelaus grew up among royalty and won the heart of the most beautiful woman on his first try. Therefore, the man could not forgive the insult inflicted by the romantic young man. The result was a many-year war that devastated Troy and its entire surrounding area.

Origin story

The image of a deceived husband, as Menelaus appears in the modern interpretation of the Trojan War, differs from Greek mythology. Such a transformation of the hero’s characteristics is easy to explain.

On the territory of Ancient Greece, the name of Menelaus was no longer associated with the siege of the city of Troy, which is described in the Iliad, but with the further adventures of the character that happened to the king of Sparta during his journey back home.

After their uncle's invasion of Mycenae, the brothers had to leave the city and move to Sparta. While the young people were visiting King Tyndareus, Menelaus met the daughter of the ruler of Sparta -. The beautiful girl charmed the exile, but Tyndareus did not dare to give his daughter in marriage. In addition, many Greek heroes were already courting Helen.

The king of Sparta allowed the beauty to decide her own fate on her own. And the girl, to the surprise of those around her, chose Menelaus. Shortly after the wedding, Tyndareus died, leaving the throne to his beloved son-in-law. Menelaus lived in a peaceful and calm environment for 10 years. A year after the wedding, the couple had a daughter, Hermione.

Everything changed when Menelaus crossed the threshold of his house. From the first minutes, the son of Priam charmed both the king and Helen the Beautiful. But the man, who had never yet had to doubt his wife’s fidelity, did not attach any importance to the beauty’s interest.

The death of his grandfather forced Menelaus to leave his home and go to Crete. After returning from the funeral, the king received unpleasant news. The new friend and beloved wife fled to Troy. Menelaus equipped a military detachment and went to the domain. Threats, requests and exhortations had no effect. Elena was not given away. The humiliated and upset husband had no choice but to return home.

Together with his brother, Menelaus assembled an army consisting of friendly kings, mercenaries and Helen's former suitors (the men swore to protect the beauty, whom she would not prefer as a husband). The inhabitants of Olympus also rushed to the aid of the king of Sparta - and sided with the woman’s legal husband. Despite the fact that Menelaus was personally offended, Agamemnon was entrusted with leading military actions.

During the Trojan War, the king of Sparta showed himself to be a valiant hero and a cold-blooded strategist. The man took part in the battles and gladly accepted Paris's challenge to a duel. Angry at the betrayal, Menelaus furiously attacked his enemy and quickly defeated the pampered Paris. But she intervened and took the ward back beyond the walls of Troy.

Feeling his own superiority, Menelaus enters into the fight for his wife with renewed vigor. According to the rules of the duel, Paris must return Elena after a lost battle, but the young man violates the agreement. The topic of truce is finally closed by the spear launched by Pandarus and wounding Menelaus in the shoulder.

The long-term confrontation brought many losses to both sides. Close associates of the king of Sparta died. Menelaus experienced death no less and even protected his friend’s body from abuse by the Trojans.

After the fall of Troy and the capture of the city, the devastated and exhausted Menelaus sets out in search of Helen of Troy to punish the infidel. But the wife, whose beauty has not faded even after 10 years, again charms the man. Menelaus takes the woman with him back to Sparta.

Before setting sail for his homeland, the angry king quarrels with his beloved brother. Menelaus, who still has not forgiven Athena for helping the Trojans, does not make a sacrifice to the goddess. Such an offense angers Agamemnon. However, the goddess did not like such neglect. As a result, Menelaus' ships do not find the desired course and end up in Egypt, Cyprus and Phenicia.

For almost 8 years, the king of Sparta reaches his home, making stops in unfamiliar countries and enduring hunger. Having set foot on the familiar shore, Menelaus learns terrible news. While the man was away, his beloved older brother died.

The only consolation for the hero was Elena. The beauty spent the rest of her life in humility, without leaving her husband. When the time came to die, Menelaus and Helen went to the Isles of the Blessed in Elysium (in other sources, the couple was sacrificed). In honor of the valiant king of Sparta, descendants established sports competitions.

Film adaptations

In 1971, Greek director Michalis Cacoyannis created a film based on the work of Euripides. The film "The Trojan Women" tells about the events that occurred during the Trojan War. The role of Elena the Beautiful's distraught husband was played by actor Patrick Magee. The image created by the artist did not impress critics and viewers.

Menelaus played by James Callis is recognized as a more developed and realistic character. The film “Helen of Troy” (2003) reveals in detail the events preceding the Trojan War. The two-part drama shows the story through the eyes of the culprit of the conflict.

The popular film adaptation of Homer's Iliad was released in 2004. The film "Troy" is recognized as one of the most expensive films in the world. The role of the deceived husband went to the actor.

• The meaning of the name "Menelaus" is to stand still, to resist.

• “Menelaus with the Body of Patroclus” is the most famous sculpture depicting the king of Sparta. Only a copy of the work of art has survived to this day.
• In addition to his legitimate daughter, Menelaus had sons Nicostratus and Pleistenus. The boys' mothers were slaves who served in the palace.