Menelaus ( dr. Greek Μενέλᾱος , dor. Μενέλᾱς , ion. -att. Μενέλεως ) is the legendary hero of the Homeric epos " Iliad ", Elena’s husband. It is called fair-haired (IV, 183) [7] . Menelaus was the son of Atreus (according to version, Pliesphenes) and Aeropa , the younger brother of Agamemnon .
| Menelaus | |
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| Floor | |
| Father | |
| Mother | |
| Brothers and sisters | and |
| Spouse | |
| Children | , , , , , , and |
Expelled by Fiesta, Menelaus and Agamemnon fled from Mycenae to Sparta , to Tyndareus , whose daughter, Elena , Menelaus married [8] , inheriting the throne of the father-in-law. They had a daughter, Hermione . [9] During the abduction of Helen, Menelaus visited Crete. [10]
Content
- 1 Trojan War
- 2 Return to Greece
- 3 Sources
- 4 See also
Trojan War
When Paris took Elena away, Menelaus and Odysseus went to Ilion (Troy) and demanded the extradition of the abducted wife, but to no avail.
Upon returning home, Menelaus, with the help of Agamemnon, gathered friendly kings on the Ionian campaign, and set up 60 ships himself [11] , recruiting warriors in Lacedaemon , Amiklah, and other cities. Gathering the army, he planted a plane tree near Mount Kafiy in Arcadia [12] . According to the Iliad, he killed 7 Trojans named after him. In total, he killed 8 soldiers [13] . He killed Euphorb [14] , a shield that he took away from Euphorb, he later dedicated to the temple of Hera near Mycenae [15] .
Before Ilion, Menelaus, with the help of Hera and Athena , proved himself a valiant warrior and a reasonable adviser. When Paris announced the challenge to combat, Menelaus joyfully agreed and so violently rushed at the enemy that the latter was frightened and began to retreat. Hector shamed Paris, and the martial arts took place: Menelaus grabbed Paris by the helmet and led him to the Achaean squads, but Aphrodite saved her beloved. The victorious side began to demand the surrender of Elena and the treasures taken with her, but Pandar , speaking from the ranks of the Trojans, wounded Menelaus and thereby eliminated the possibility of a truce. Later, Menelaus is summoned to combat Hector, but at the request of his friends leaves this dangerous plan; likewise, Antilochus kept him from competing with Aeneas . When Patroclus fell, Menelaus was among those who defended the body of the murdered hero. In funeral games according to Patroclus he won in javelin throwing [16] . In the games of Achilles, he won the chariot races [17] .
When the wooden horse was built, Menelaus, together with others [18] , was introduced to the city of Troy and was one of the first to start a decisive battle on the streets of Troy, which led to the fall of the latter. Depicted in the painting Polygnot at Delphi among the participants in the capture of Troy with a dragon on the shield [19] .
Return to Greece
After the capture of Troy, Athena caused a quarrel between Agamemnon and Menelaus [20] . On the way back, I fell into a storm, landed at Cape Sounia, then to Crete, wandered through Libya, Phenicia, Cyprus and arrived in Egypt with only 5 ships [21] . Having traveled 8 years in the East, he was detained for some time on the island of Faros and suffered hunger, until, on the advice of Idofei , her father Proteus helped him to sail home. Stories about the stay of Menelaus in Libya are associated with the Cyrene colonization [22] . Menelaus was named after the harbor at Ardanida (Cyrenaica). According to another version, Menelaus married an imperial daughter in Egypt; from his words, the Egyptians wrote the history of the Trojan War on the stelae [23] .
Returning to his homeland, he lived with Elena in Lacedaemon, and after his death he was transferred to Elysium . Telemachus visits in Sparta Menelaus and Elena [24] . Hera made him immortal, and he arrived on the Elysian fields with Elena. His house was shown in Sparta [25] . The tombs of Menelaus and Helen were shown in Ferapna , where his sanctuary was and took place in honor of his game [26] . In relation to Agamemnon, he considered himself subordinate, recognizing his supreme power in everything.
The protagonist in the tragedies of Sophocles “Eant”, Euripides “Iphigenia in Awlide”, “Trojans”, “Elena”, “Orest”, “Andromache”, the comedy of Alexis “Menelaus”. Among the Spartans, the name Menelaus does not occur [27] .
Sources
- ↑ 1 2 3 Lubker F. Menelaus // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities according to Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - P. 855–856.
- ↑ Lubker F. Agamemnon // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities according to Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - P. 43.
- ↑ Lubker F. Helena // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities by Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - P. 597.
- ↑ German National Library , Berlin State Library , Bavarian State Library , etc. Record # 1019103213 // General Normative Control (GND) - 2012—2016.
- ↑ Hermione // Encyclopedic Dictionary - St. Petersburg. : Brockhaus - Efron , 1893. - T. VIIIa. - S. 539.
- ↑ Lubker F. Hermione // The Real Dictionary of Classical Antiquities by Lubker / Ed. F.F. Zelinsky , L.A. Georgievsky , M.S. Kutorg , etc. - St. Petersburg. : Society of Classical Philology and Pedagogy , 1885. - S. 617.
- ↑ Myths of the peoples of the world . M., 1991-92. In 2 t. T. 2. S.138-139
- ↑ Gigin. Myths 81
- ↑ Pseudo-Apollodorus. Mythological library III 2, 2 on
- ↑ Tset. Before Homer 99-101 // Losev A.F. Mythology of the Greeks and Romans. M., 1996. P.156
- ↑ Homer. Iliad II 587; Pseudo-Apollodorus. Mythological library E III 12; Gigin. Myths 97
- ↑ Pausanias. Description of Hellas VIII 23, 4
- ↑ Gigin. Myths 114
- ↑ Gigin. Myths 112
- ↑ Ovid. Metamorphoses XV 164; Pausanias. Description of Hellas II 17, 3, see comment: and in other temples
- ↑ Gigin. Myths 273
- ↑ Quintus of Smyrna. After Homer IV 610-615
- ↑ Gigin. Myths 108; Quintus of Smyrna. After Homer XII 338; Trifiodor. The capture of Ilion 163; Virgil. Aeneid II 264
- ↑ Pausanias. Description of Hellas X 26, 3
- ↑ Geghy of Trezensky. Returns, synopsis
- ↑ Pseudo-Apollodorus. Mythological library E VI 1; VI 29
- ↑ Malkin I. Myth and territory in the Spartan Mediterranean. Cambridge UP. 2003. P.56
- ↑ Dion. Trojan Speech 38, 135
- ↑ Homer. Odyssey IV
- ↑ Pausanias. Description of Hellas III 14, 6
- ↑ Pausanias. Description of Hellas III 19, 9
- ↑ Malkin I. Myth and territory in the Spartan Mediterranean. Cambridge UP. 2003. P.46
See also
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to Menelaus
- Menelaus theorem