MENELAUS

(Menelaus, ????"????). The son of Atreus, the husband of the beautiful Helen, the father of Hermione, the younger brother of Agamemnon, the 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 combat with Paris, who was saved by Aphrodite, covered 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, they return to Sparta, where they live out their lives in peace and wealth.

Brief Dictionary of Mythology and Antiquities. 2012

See also interpretations, synonyms, meanings of the word and what is MENELAY in Russian in dictionaries, encyclopedias and reference books:

MENELAUS
(2 Mac 4:23) - the high priest of the Jews during the time of the Maccabees. Having taken away the high priesthood from Jason, the brother of Onias, he caused many disasters to the Jews. Died...
MENELAUS
- King of Sparta. Husband of Helen the Beautiful, daughter of Leda and Zeus. The son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Aeropa, brother of Agamemnon, married to ...
MENELAUS
In Greek mythology, the son of Atreus and Aeropa, brother of Agamemnon, After the murder of Atreus by Aegisthus, Menelaus and Agamemnon were forced to flee from ...
MENELAUS in the Dictionary-Reference Who's Who in the Ancient World:
1) The younger brother of the Spartan king Agamemnon and the husband of Helen. In combat Trojan War his image is insignificant compared to others ...
MENELAUS in the Lexicon of Sex:
in Greek mythology, the king of Sparta, the husband of the beautiful Helen. For the sake of the return of his wife, kidnapped by the Trojan Paris, he achieved the performance of the united Greek. troops in...
MENELAUS in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary:
in Greek mythology, a participant in the Trojan War, the king of Sparta, the husband of Helen; organized a campaign near Troy in order to return the stolen by the Trojan Paris ...
MENELAUS in encyclopedic dictionary Brockhaus and Euphron:
(????????) - son of Atreus, younger brother of Agamemnon. The brothers expelled by Thyestes fled from Mycenae to Sparta, to Tyndareus, on whose daughter, ...
MENELAUS
MENELAUS, in Greek. mythology participant in the Trojan War, king of Sparta, husband of Helen; organized a campaign near Troy in order to return the stolen by the Trojan Paris ...
MENELAUS in the Big Russian Encyclopedic Dictionary:
MENELAUS of Alexandria (1-2 centuries), other - Greek. mathematician and astronomer. Tr. by spherical geometry and trigonometry ("Sphere", book. ...
MENELAUS in the Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron:
(????????) ? son of Atreus, younger brother of Agamemnon. The brothers expelled by Thyestes fled from Mycenae to Sparta, to Tyndareus, on whose daughter, ...
MENELAUS in the dictionary of Synonyms of the Russian language.
MENELAUS in Modern explanatory dictionary, TSB:
in Greek mythology, a participant in the Trojan War, the king of Sparta, the husband of Helen; organized a campaign near Troy in order to return Helen abducted by the Trojan Paris. …
BERIA in the Bible Encyclopedia of Nicephorus:
(2 Mac 13:4) - A Syrian city between Hieropolis and Antioch, in which, on the orders of Antiochus Eupator, the unworthy high priest Menelaus was executed. …
2 MAC 5
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. Old Testament. The second book of Maccabees. Chapter 5 Chapters: 1 2 3 4 ...
2 MAC 4 in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. Old Testament. The second book of Maccabees. Chapter 4 Chapters: 1 2 3 4 ...
2 MAC 13 in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. Old Testament. The second book of Maccabees. Chapter 13 Chapters: 1 2 3 4 ...
2 MAC 11 in the Orthodox Encyclopedia Tree:
Open Orthodox Encyclopedia "TREE". Bible. Old Testament. The second book of Maccabees. Chapter 11 Chapters: 1 2 3 4 ...
EGISF in the Dictionary-Reference Myths of Ancient Greece:
(Aegistus) - the son of Fiesta and his daughter Pelopia, who abandoned the child. He was brought up at the court of his uncle Atreus, king of Mycenae, who ...
ELENA in the Dictionary-Reference Myths of Ancient Greece:
- the most beautiful of women. The daughter of Leda and Zeus, who took the form of a swan, the sister of the Dioscuri and Clytemnestra (Castor and Clytemnestra were children of ...
GLAVK in the Dictionary-Reference Myths of Ancient Greece:
1) sea deity, son of Poseidon. According to the myth, he was a fisherman from Anthedon in Boeotia. He drank a witch's potion, after which he ended up in ...
ELENA in the Directory of Characters and Cult Objects of Greek Mythology:
In Greek mythology, the Spartan queen, the most beautiful of women. The ancient tradition calls Zeus the father of Helena, Leda or Nemesis the mother. IN …
DEMETRIUS I in the Directory of Characters and Cult Objects of Greek Mythology:
Poliorketes King of Asia in 306-301. BC King of Macedonia in 294-287. BC Son of Antigonus I Cyclops. Genus. …
EURIPIDES in the Directory of Characters and Cult Objects of Greek Mythology:
Euripides is the third among the most famous | Greek tragedians Greek tragedians, whose dramas have survived in part. He was born according to the usual instructions in 480 before ...

Spartan king.

This is one of the central figures of the Homeric epic - the husband of the woman who started the Trojan War, and, moreover, the man who did everything to make this war take place. However, no one ever reproached him for this. Menelaus acted in accordance with international law and the laws of male honor, in addition, he did everything possible to first resolve the issue peacefully. In the Trojan War, he was one of the best fighters. No less courageously he fought with fate.

The fate of Menelaus was hard to envy. As a young man, he was forced to flee from his native Mycenae with his brother, since their uncle Fiesta killed their father and intended to do the same with them. The brothers found refuge with the Spartan king Tyndareus. In Sparta, what happened to Menelaus was what he mistakenly considered happiness: he married the most beautiful woman in the world, the step-daughter of Tyndareus (Helen himself, who was carried away by the wife of Tyndareus, was the father of Elena). Elena loved Menelaus, bore him a daughter, and after the death of Tyndareus, she elevated her husband to the royal throne. However, Menelaus did not have long to enjoy family happiness and peaceful rule.

Menelaus and Helen, a screenshot of the Warriors: Legend of Troy computer game.

Painting "Menelaus and Elena the Beautiful", Jan Styka.

One day, guests from distant Troy appeared in Sparta: the king's son Paris, accompanied by his cousin Aeneas. The steps of Paris were directed by the goddess of love, 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, he gave her preference over and. Menelaus cordially received dear guests, arranged a ceremonial dinner in their honor and introduced them to his wife. Paris fell in love with Elena at first sight, she also seemed pretty. Then everything went on as usual, and Menelaus himself unwittingly contributed to this. One fine day, he apologized to the guests that he was forced to leave them: he needs to go to Crete, since his grandfather died there; He ordered Elena to fulfill all the wishes of the guests. Not without the influence of Aphrodite, Elena interpreted this mandate, perhaps too broadly. Fascinated by young Paris and his seductive speeches, Helen left her husband, daughter, homeland and sailed with him to Troy.

When, returning from Crete, Menelaus learned that his wife was missing, he did not doubt for a minute that Paris had kidnapped her. This was also evidenced by the fact that, together with Elena, his entire royal treasury disappeared. This was a gross insult to the king, spouse, man, and, moreover, a violation of the sacred laws of hospitality. Therefore, Menelaus went to his brother Agamemnon, who ruled in Mycenae after the death of Fiesta, and asked him for advice and help. Agamemnon advised him to personally visit Troy and demand that Priam and Paris return Helen, and in case of refusal to threaten them with war. Menelaus took with him a sophisticated, eloquent intermediary - Odysseus, but this did not help either. Paris was ready to return only the treasury, but he did not want to talk about Elena. Then Agamemnon called on all the Achaean kings to unite in order to avenge the insult to Menelaus, and declared war on Priam.

The military expedition, led by the mighty Mycenaean king, was reassuring with glory and booty, so soon a hundred thousandth army with more than a thousand ships was concentrated in the Aulis harbor, ready to move on Troy. Menelaus brought with him six thousand warriors, representing an independent army within the framework of the united army, which stood out not so much in numbers as in courage and determination. What is the leader, such is the army: and if Menelaus did not stand out among the Achaeans by strength, then he set an example for them with his calm courage and (which is no less important in war) self-discipline.

A shot from the movie Troy (2004): the Achaean brothers Menelaus (actor Brendan Gleeson) and Agamemnon (Brian Cox).

During the ten years of the Trojan War, Menelaus accomplished many feats. But three of them remained forever in the memory of descendants, and the Lacedaemonians sang about them at campfires on camping halts centuries later. First of all, it was the duel of Menelaus with Paris at the beginning of the tenth year of the war. When protracted inconclusive battles sowed disappointment and grumbling in the fighting armies, when ordinary soldiers began to say that if the leaders have scores among themselves, then let them settle them themselves, Menelaus without hesitation accepted the challenge of Paris to fight not for life, but for death.

This duel was to decide the outcome of the war. As it turned out, Menelaus was opposed not only by Paris, but also by Aphrodite, who kept her pet. Nevertheless, Menelaus did not lose heart and eventually 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. His second feat was to save the body of the fallen Patroclus, friend. The third - participation in the assault on the fortified palace of Priam. Menelaus was one of the elite fighters who entered Troy, hiding in a huge wooden horse, and took the royal palace with a daring attack. There, Menelaus killed, among others, Priam's son, who married Elena after the death of Paris, and regained his wife with his own sword.

Just as on the battlefield, Menelaus excelled at the council of war. He spoke briefly and to the point, always keeping in mind the interests of the entire Achaean army. Menelaus unconditionally recognized the authority of the commander-in-chief and always supported him, and the point here is not only that Agamemnon was his brother. He treated the rest of the military leaders and his soldiers in a friendly way, recognizing that they were fighting primarily for his cause and his honor.

Painting "Telemachus, Menelaus and Helen", Jean-Jacques Lagrene the Younger.

You can read about the long return of Menelaus to his homeland after the capture of Troy in the article "".

Articles about Agamemnon, Odysseus, and other Achaean heroes contain brief references to archaeological research into palaces-castles, in which, according to Homer, the heroes lived. However, nothing similar has been found in Sparta; only the existence of an Achaean settlement of medium size has been proven. We don't even know the exact boundaries historic city Sparta, since it was not surrounded by walls (“the city walls of Sparta were the breasts of the men of Lacedaemon”); the city disappeared almost without a trace. And yet the city of Sparta exists, although it has practically nothing in common with ancient Sparta, since it was founded only in 1834.

Menelaus was often depicted by ancient and later artists, usually in the company of Agamemnon or Helen. In addition to numerous depictions of the scenes Menelaus Pursuing Helen, Menelaus and Helena, the Wedding of Menelaus and Helena, etc., the most famous on vases is the Pergamon sculptural group Menelaus with the Body of Patroclus (3rd century BC) , which has come down to us in several Roman copies.

Menelaus appears in any of the countless works of art dedicated to the Trojan War. But he does not always look like a positive hero - such as he is shown in the Iliad or Homer's Odyssey. The Romans, who considered themselves descendants of the Trojans, belittled the image of Menelaus, just like Euripides in his works of the Peloponnesian War, in order to belittle the Spartans in his face.

"Menelaus with the body of Patroclus" - a marble copy of the 1st century AD. e. from a lost Pergamon sculpture, fragments of which were discovered in Rome in the 16th century and immediately acquired by the Tuscan Duke Cosimo de' Medici. He commissioned Pietro Tacca and Lodovico Salvetti to carry out the "restoration" of the disfigured sculpture; the result of their efforts was placed in one of the niches of the Ponte Vecchio. Today it stands in the loggia of Lanzi in Piazza della Signoria.

In 1771, Anton Mengs, being dissatisfied with the mannerist "restoration" of the 16th-century sculptors, decided to correct their flaws and made a plaster version of the sculptural group. Another version of the same heroic composition, originating from the mausoleum of Augustus, appeared in the Medici collection from the 16th century under the name of Ajax; it can be seen in the Palazzo Pitti. The famous Roman statue of Pasquino seems to have originally illustrated the same subject.

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 Elena'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. Among them was Menelaus. And he defeated his very, very worthy rivals. How it was? Here is an excerpt from the myth, retold by F. F. Zelinsky.

Helena chooses Menelaus

The house of Tyndar is full of guests from all parts of Hellas: now for the first time the name of Sparta, its modest capital on the banks of the green Eurotas in the southeastern Peloponnese, thundered everywhere. She owed this glory not to the exploits of her king, but to the beauty of her princess, Elena. She knows about it; father and mother are subordinate to her; her husband will be the one she chooses. Yes, but who is it? There were many suitors, more than thirty. Let us note some of them, partly familiar to us, partly those that are worth getting to know. We recognize Diomedes, the son of Tydeus, the glorious Epigon; another Epigonus, Thersandus, son of Polyneices; the Athenian Menestheus, who took the throne of Fesey; Philoctetes, the son of Peant, who rendered Hercules a dying service, both Telamonides, Ayantes and Teucer. Of the new ones, our eyes will be stopped by the clever king of the island of Ithaca, Odysseus; son of Nestor of Pylos Antilochus; another Ayanthus, 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 the Hellenic youth.

It is, of course, honorable; the world will not yet remember such a gathering. But it is also unprofitable: guests live at the expense of the owner, devastating his barns, pantries and stalls with daily feasts. If it is inconvenient for him, let him decide the matter as soon as possible. And it is scary to solve it: you will make one happy, you will offend more than thirty, ardent and vindictive young people. How to be here? There is no way out, but the days go by.

No, the outcome has been found, and the smartest in the whole gathering of suitors, Odysseus, found it. He soon became convinced that Elena's choice was unlikely to fall on him. Suppose he was very clever and knew this, but young beauties usually do not need this, and in brilliance he could not compete with others; and his little rocky Ithaca, a remote island of the Ionian Sea, is unlikely to seduce the Spartan princess. And, to tell the truth, why does he need beauty above the human share? He needs a faithful, friendly, economic wife; such he saw for himself in the face of the daughter of Icarius, Tyndare's brother, - quiet, affectionate, and in her own way also beautiful Penelope. And so he goes to Tyndar and says to him: "Get me your niece Penelope, and I will show you such a way out of the difficulty, in which all of us, no matter how many suitors we are, will turn out to be your allies, not enemies."

Tyndar gladly agreed.

But, he asked, what is the way out?

Bind everyone with an oath that we, whoever your daughter chooses, will help him against anyone who turns out to be his offender in marriage.

And if they do not agree to take an oath?

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

Odysseus was right. Not one, like Tyndareus, worried at the thought that, if successful, all the rejected suitors would plot against him; the idea of an oath was therefore enthusiastically received. It was given after the sacrifice, in the most solemn atmosphere. After her, Elena was introduced into the mansion. That choice had long been decided, moreover, one that fully corresponded to the desire of her family: entering the mansion, she gave her hand to Menelaus, the brother of her son-in-law Agamemnon. It was only an engagement; after her, the suitors parted - it would be cruel to demand from them that they be witnesses of the happiness of their victorious rival.

Odysseus also left, but not alone: Tyndar gave him the opportunity to kidnap his niece. Icarius, however, missed in 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, pushing back the edges of her veil. Here the anger of Icarius cooled; he blessed the modest fugitive and ordered the idol of Shame to be placed at the meeting place. Subsequently, others began to imitate the example of Odysseus, and in Sparta the custom of "kidnapping brides" arose.

When Tyndar'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 the whole Argolis: after all, Argos also went to him, since Adrastus, having lost his only son in the campaign of the Epigones, died childless. True, Diomedes, the son of his second brother-in-law Tydeus, was still there, and circumstances still prevented him from returning to Calydon; and Agamemnon willingly allowed him to live with him, using the swearing services of this incomparable knight. Menelaus, his younger brother, now, thanks to his marriage to Elena, became the heir to the Spartan throne: both sons of Tyndar, the Argonauts Polydeuces and Castor, were childless and soon died. So the strength and power of Agamemnon grew in the Peloponnese.

The gods were not guests of the Spartan wedding, but Zeus followed her with understandable participation. So peacefully, family affairs developed. Elena marries her son-in-law's brother - what will be the fateful significance of the daughter of Nemesis? His wife, single-married 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 Elena, the most beautiful of mortals, her chosen one, as if the second earthly Aphrodite. Menelaus was a sensible, honest and handsome knight, but no more: Elena chose him not out of personal attraction, but because he was the brother of Agamemnon and that the family wanted it. You don't know love yet, my dear, she thought, but I will make you know it. And she decided to terminate this marriage that did not take place according to her laws.

But so far everything has been fine. The wedding was played, the young remained to live in Sparta, Tyndareus soon yielded to Menelaus royal power. For about ten years, the serene life of Menelaus and Elena continued. They had a daughter, Hermione. Hermione was nine years old when the Trojan prince Paris appeared in Sparta. The actions of Paris were directed by the goddess of love Aphrodite, who promised him the most beautiful woman in the world as a wife as a reward for the fact that in a dispute about the beauty of the goddesses (the apple of discord), he gave her preference over Athena and Hera. Menelaus cordially received the dear guest, arranged a ceremonial dinner in his honor and introduced him to his wife. Paris fell in love with Elena at first sight, she also seemed pretty. At this time, Menelaus went to Crete to participate in the funeral of his maternal grandfather Katreya. In the absence of her husband, fascinated by the young Paris and his seductive speeches, Elena left her daughter, her husband, her homeland and sailed with him to Troy. Paris 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 in order to avenge the insult to Menelaus.

When the Greek army arrived at Troy, it was first decided to try to settle the issue peacefully. Homer's Iliad describes this as follows:

“Having arranged the camp, the Greeks sent Menelaus and Odysseus to the city to negotiate the extradition of Elena and the treasures stolen with her from Menelaev’s house. The noble and wise Antenor, one of the most honored Trojan elders, received the ambassadors in his dwelling 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 went out in front of a meeting of Trojans and announced what the Achaeans were demanding from King Priam and the citizens of Troy. Odysseus' 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 Elena and the treasures stolen from Menelaus to the ambassadors. Paris with all his might opposed the decision of the people; he was supported by the other sons of Priam, and Antimachus even suggested that Menelaus be seized and put to death. This was opposed by Priam, and Hector, and most of the citizens; 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, got 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 the ambassadors who threatened them with revenge and war were expelled 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 in the fighting armies, prolonged inconclusive battles sowed disillusionment and murmurings. It was proposed to decide the outcome of the war with the help of a duel between Menelaus and Paris.

As it turned out, Menelaus was opposed not only by Paris, but also by Aphrodite, who kept her pet. 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 the passage, retold by Georg Scholz:

Duel of Menelaus with Paris

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

Hector rejoiced at these words of his brother, stepped forward in front of the army and reassured the Trojans. The Achaeans, seeing Hector, began to aim at him with spears and stones; but Agamemnon loudly exclaimed to them: “Stop, Argovians! Throw no 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 the offer of Paris. The Achaeans stood in silence, finally Menelaus broke the silence and said: “Now listen to me too: my heart is more sad than any of you. It seems that now the end of the troubles we endure because of the enmity between me and Paris is near; one of us - the one whom fate will doom - must perish; you, without delay, reconcile and put an end to many years of war. Carry, Trojans, two lambs: white - as a sacrifice to the Sun, black - as a sacrifice to Mother Earth; we, the Achaeans, will kill the third - Kronida Zeus. Call here the elder Priam - let him himself seal our oath, may it be immutable: his sons are proud and treacherous.

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

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 honored of the Trojan elders, mounted the chariot and sent the horses through the Scaean gate into the field. Approaching the army, they got off the chariot and went 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 hands of the kings with that mixture. Then Agamemnon drew a sharp knife, which he always hung with the scabbard of his sword, and cut off a lock 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, all-seeing and all-hearing! Rivers, Earth and you, underground gods, punishers of perjury! Be all of you witnesses and keep our oath. If Paris slays Menelaus, let him keep Helen and all the treasures; we will then sail back to Argos. If Menelaus slays Paris, the citizens of Troy must return Helen and all the wealth and pay the Argovians a proper fine - such that her memory is preserved until our later descendants. And if Priam and his sons do not wish to pay a fine, I will stay here and will not lay down my sword until I achieve what I want.

After these words, he cut the larynx of the sacrificial animal with a knife and, seized with death trembling, laid them on the ground. Scooping wine from the cup with a goblet, everyone began to pour it on the victim, offering loud prayers to the gods:

“You, glorious Zeus,” said the Trojans and Achaeans, “and all of you, immortal gods! Let the brains of the violators of our oath spill over the earth like this wine - for them, and for their children. After that, the elder Priam addressed a speech to both armies: “Hear my word, Trojans and Achaeans; I will leave here, I will return again to hilly Ilion - I do not have the strength to watch how my son will fight with King Menelaus. Zeus and other immortals know which of the two is destined for death in this battle. Having said this, he placed sacrificial lambs on the chariot and, having mounted 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 the helmet - 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 so called to them: “Powerful, glorious Zeus! Which of the two is the culprit of all strife and misfortune - let him, amazed, descend into the region of Hades; you grant us peace and strong friendship. This is how the Trojans and Achaeans prayed. And Hector, turning away, was shaking the lot in the helmet; and the lot of Paris fell out of the helmet. The warriors sat 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 formidable eyes shone with anger; they came together closely and, brandishing their spears, stood on specified places. The first one launched Paris's spear and hit Menelaus on the shield, but did not break through the shield: the spear bent, hitting hard copper. Then Menelaus raised his spear. "Almighty Zeus! he exclaimed. Help me punish the one who offended me! Let our later descendants be horrified and do not dare to repay kindness and good-natured hospitality with evil. With these words, he threw a spear and hit Paris with it in a shiny shield: the spear pierced the shield, and the armor, and the chiton on the body of Paris; he himself escaped, however, death by leaning aside. Menelaus swiftly drew his sword and struck it on the helmet of the enemy; but the sword shattered against the helmet, broke into pieces and fell out of the hands of the fighter. “Zeus, evil-wisher, why did you deprive me of victory?” - Menelaus exclaimed, raising his eyes to the sky, and rushed again at the enemy, grabbed him by the lush-maned helmet and dragged him to the ranks of the Achaeans. Here he would have destroyed the enemy, and would have gained great glory for himself if he had not saved Priam's son Aphrodite: she broke off the straps with which the helmet was tightly tied under the chin of Paris, and freed him. The helmet alone 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 back to Paris. But Aphrodite dressed her beloved in a dark cloud and, invisible, carried him away to a bedchamber full of incense, then brought Helen to him, who was still standing on the Skeian tower along with other Trojans. 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 a mighty husband, who was my husband before! Didn't you yourself boast before that you are stronger than Menelaus and will defeat him in battle? Well, go ahead, challenge him to fight again. No, however, it’s better to lie here and don’t dare to fight Menelaus, otherwise his spear will tame you.” Paris answered her: “Don’t sadden me with reproaches. Today Menelaus defeated me thanks to the help of Athena; the time will come, and the 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 could see the enemy anywhere; but none of the Trojans and none of the allies could point Paris to him. No one would hide him now out of friendship: he became hated by all the Trojans, as mortal death. Finally, Agamemnon exclaimed in a loud voice: “Listen to me, Trojans with Danaans and you, allies! Victory, no doubt, remained on the side of Menelaus; so give us Elena of Argovian with all the wealth stolen from Menelaus and pay us immediately the due penalty. 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 of the Trojan army, which 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? About this fragment of the myth in the retelling of F. F. Zelinsky:

Menelaus and Helen

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

However, for now, both of them were in captivity of the whimsical goddess, who decided to keep them away from both her old and her new homeland. The storm that tore off the ship of Menelaus from the others soon raged; but when the sky cleared, neither Menelaus nor his skillful helmsman knew where they were or where they should go. They took the direction at random in order to get at least somewhere, to some people and learn further from them; and indeed they saw populated cities, grazing cattle, cultivated fields, but people did not understand their language and had no idea about Hellas and Troy. Some of them were greeted hospitably, others had to be saved in a hasty flight. Sometimes need forced swimmers to turn into sea robbers and, by a sudden raid on a seaside village, provide themselves with food for the coming days. Days, months, years passed like that - 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 kings of Argos. Although hospitality did not belong to the primordial qualities of his people, nevertheless, 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 over the deserted island; they remembered the distant days of Aulis. The supplies given by the hospitable king quickly ran out; 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 also wandered along the dull shore of a flat island. Suddenly he sees - among the foam of waves crashing against the rocks, the fair-haired head of a girl is shown, behind her shoulders, chest - and suddenly an indescribable beauty stands in front of him. There is a wreath of algae on her hair, dripping from her blue dress sea water; approaches the hero, puts his hand on his shoulder: “What are you thinking about? Can I help the trouble? He told her everything. She shook her head. “Obviously,” he says, “some god is angry with you, but what kind, for what and how to propitiate him, I don’t know; it requires someone smarter than poor Idofei.” "Who is this?" - Menelaus asked. - "My father, Proteus." - "So lead me to him, I will beg him." Idothea laughed: “So he will obey you! No, this is where the trick is needed. Listen: take three reliable comrades with you and bring them here; In the meantime, I'll get down to business."

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

With these words, she put on each walrus skin. But the matter was 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 on Idothea again. She laughed: “Yes, yes, this is more difficult than taking Troy! Fortunately, I have a tool for this too. Diving into her underwater chamber, she took out a bottle of ambrosia from there and anointed the edge of each under the 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 - small in stature, sly eyes, a long gray beard; behind him is a herd of his walruses; are located around our fake walruses, buried their muzzles in the sand and doze. The old man, apparently, is also tending to sleep; however, he fulfills his duty, he begins to consider his company, if there are any deserters - everything is safe, even, as if there are superfluous ones; sits on the sand, his chest sunk in a beard, his nose in a walrus mustache, his eyes under thick eyelashes. Asleep.

Menelaus, who watched 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, proved to be difficult. The old man opened his eyes, quickly understood his situation, and the next moment, under the hands of the Achaeans, there was no longer an old man, but a lion - huge, angry, with a raised mane. One of them jumped back in fright, but the others, remembering the words of Idothea, did not let the monster out of their hands: they knew that this transformation was only a deception for the eyes, that the imaginary lion had no more strength than the former old man. Seeing that the lion did not work, Proteus suddenly turned into a dolphin in order to escape from the enemy by jumping into the sea. But he failed to jump: the ropes held him by the fins and tail, and the comrades of Menelaus, in addition, sat on him, one astride his back, the other on his flat muzzle. To get rid of these unpleasant riders, Proteus suddenly became a smooth snake, and at first things did not go badly. Both Achaeans rolled onto the sand, and he managed to slip out of the ropes. But on the other hand, Menelaus, grabbing him by the throat, began to strangle him so cruelly that he soon wilted. And suddenly the kite broke into a stream of water, which began to gradually flow down the sloping shore into the sea. But the hero did not let himself be embarrassed by this cunning: he instantly made a fifth deep furrow in the soft sand, the water gathered in this furrow, it was impossible to flow further. An ordinary puddle formed; our swimmers sit along its edges and see what will happen next. The puddle became muddied, boiled, splashed like a fountain - and the fountain became a seagull with outstretched wings, ready to fly up. And this, however, failed: both the wings and legs of the gull 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 as if rooted to it; the wings became spreading branches, and in an instant, before the astonished eyes of the Achaeans, there stood a huge poplar tree, the green top of which rustled merrily under the gusts of the north wind. It was unpleasant; Of course, it was impossible for Proteus to run in this form, but he could, if he wished, starve out his opponents. "Bring the axe!" shouted Menelaus to one of his comrades. Poplar, apparently, was frightened: he cringed, hissed and suddenly became fire. "Skin him!" - Menelaus shouted - and the free son of 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 occupation: having exhausted the circle of his seven transformations, he again took on his former appearance of a sea old man. “I see,” he said gloomily, “that my worthless daughter has taught you; tell me what you need!"

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

And Proteus told him what we already know - about the bloody font prepared by Clytemnestra in Mycenae for her returned 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 the hope of returning to Hellas flashed on you, you did not think about making a proper sacrifice to the immortal gods. Return to Egypt, fulfill your duty, and then the gentle south wind will direct 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 go to Mycenae first. He arrived there the day after Orest's vengeance; Clytemnestra and Aegisthus he buried and established temporarily ruling council elders until the purification and return of the legitimate heir Orestes. Only after that did he return to Sparta, where he took over the reins of government from the hands of the aged Tyndar. He gave his daughter Hermione, in fulfillment of the word given under Troy, to Neoptolemus; more about this marriage will be told. In general, his later life was peaceful and happy; having lived to a ripe old age, he, not having experienced death, was transferred by the gods to the Champs Elysees, where he enjoyed eternal bliss with other favorites of the gods.

But Elena did not follow him there: she was given to him only as an earthly spouse. 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 in order to create Great War and the burden of Mother Earth was lightened. This task was completed; now both of them, and 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.

Elena - in Greek mythology, the Spartan queen, 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 Elena 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 released and brought back by her brothers Dioscuri.

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

Soon Tyndareus ceded the royal power in Sparta to Menelaus and his daughter Helen. In a marriage with 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 inspired Helen with a love for Paris, which Helen could not resist. There was another version of the myth, expressed by the ancient Greek poet Stesichorus. When he wrote a hymn about the abduction of Helen by Paris, he went blind that very night. The poet prayed to the gods for healing. Then Elena appeared to him in a dream and said that this was a punishment for the fact that he composed such unkind verses about her. Stesichorus then composed a new hymn - that Paris did not take Elena to Troy, but only her ghost, while the gods transferred the real Elena to Egypt, and she remained there, faithful to Menelaus, until the very end of the war. After this, Stesichorus received his sight. The Greek playwright Euripides relied on this version of the myth in the tragedy "Helen", and from the writers of modern times, 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 extradite Helen and a war begins that lasts 10 years.

Pierre Delrome. Hector, Helen and Paris. Hector urges Paris to fight

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

Throwing the drug into the wine and ordering the wine to spread,
Thus began Helen, born of Zeus, to speak:
235 "King Menelaus Atreid, pet of Zeus, and all of you,
Children of brave men! At will, Zeus sends
People are both evil and good, for everything is possible for Kronid.
Sitting here in the high hall, feast in fun, conversation
Amuse yourself, and I would like to tell you the right one.
240 Feats of all Odysseus, in the suffering of a firm spirit,
I can't tell or list them in detail.
But I will tell you what act he dared to fearlessly
In the distant Trojan region, where you, the Achaeans, suffered like that.
Having beaten his body in the most shameful way,
245 With a miserable rag, like a slave, dressing his shoulders,
In the wide-street city of hostile husbands, he made his way.
Hiding himself like that, he was completely like a husband to another -
The beggar, as never before, was seen near the courts.
Having taken the image, he went to Ilion, suspicious
250 Not arousing in anyone. I just recognized him right away.
She began to ask, but he cunningly evaded the answers.
Only when I washed it and rubbed it with oil,
She put on a dress and swore a great oath to him,
That only then will I give Odysseus to the Trojans when he
255 He will return to the camp to himself, to the fleeting Achaean ships, -
Only then did he reveal to me the whole plan of the cunning Achaeans.
There are many Trojans in the city, having beaten them with long-bladed brass,
He returned to the Achaeans, bringing them knowledge of many things.
The other Trojan women sobbed loudly. But full of joy
260 It was my heart: for a long time I was eager to leave
Home again and grieved for the blindness
Aphrodite sent me, taking me away from my homeland,
Throw forcing both the daughter, and the marriage bedroom, and the 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.

Menelaus, after the capture of Troy, is looking for Elena with a sword in his hand to execute her for treason, but at the sight of Elena, shining with her former beauty, he releases the sword from his hands and forgives her.

In the Egyptian version of the myth, Menelaus arrives with Helen's ghost in Egypt to find the real Helen. The ghost of Helen ascends to heaven, and the true Helen returns to Menelaus.
After her death, Helena was transferred to the island of Leuka at the mouth of the Danube, where she joined the 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, on the islands of the blessed, Achilles was united by an eternal union with Medea. The passionate and strong Medea is much more similar to Penthesilea, once loved by Achilles, than Elena, obedient to fate. Henry Rider Haggard, relying on information about the meeting of Odysseus and Helen in Troy, in the novel "The Dream of Peace" forever connects the fate of Helen with another hero of the Trojan War - Odysseus.

MENELAUS

- King of Sparta. Husband of Helen the Beautiful, daughter of Leda and Zeus. The son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Aeropa, brother of Agamemnon, married to Helen's sister Clytemnestra. He organized a military campaign near Troy in order to return Helen abducted by the Trojan Paris - this campaign became known as the Trojan War. Elena bore him a daughter, Hermione. Megapent's father (from a slave). See about it in more detail.

Myths of Ancient Greece, dictionary-reference book. 2012