View source for Menelaus

{{short description|King of Sparta, husband of Helen of Troy}}
{{other uses|Menelaus (disambiguation) }}
{{Infobox deity
| type = Greek
| member_of = the [[Achaeans (Homer)|Achaeans]]
| image = Brogi, Giacomo (1822-1881) - n. 4140 - Roma - Vaticano - Menelao - Busto in marmo.jpg
| caption = Marble bust of Menelaus, [[Vatican Museums]]
| alt = Menelaus
| siblings = [[Agamemnon]]
| name = Menelaus
| offspring = [[Hermione (mythology)|Hermione]], [[Nicostratus (mythology)|Nicostratus]], [[Megapenthes (son of Menelaus)|Megapenthes]], [[Pleisthenes]], [[Aethiolas]]
| consort = [[Helen of Troy|Helen]]
| parents = [[Atreus]] and [[Aerope]]
| deity_of = King of Sparta
}}

In [[Greek mythology]], '''Menelaus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɛ|n|ə|ˈ|l|eɪ|.|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Μενέλαος}}, ''Menélaos'')<ref>Grimal, s.v. Menelaus.</ref> was a [[Greeks|Greek]] king of [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] (pre-[[Dorians|Dorian]]) [[Sparta]]. According to the ''[[Iliad]]'', the [[Trojan War]] began as a result of Menelaus's wife, [[Helen of Troy|Helen]], fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]]. Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of the Greek army, under his elder brother [[Agamemnon]], king of [[Mycenae]]. Prominent in both the ''Iliad'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'', Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and [[Greek tragedy]], the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of [[Atreus]].

== Description ==
[[File:Menelaus captures Helen in Troy (cropped).jpg|thumb|Menelaus captures [[Helen of Troy|Helen]] in Troy, detail of fresco in [[Pompeii]]]]In the account of [[Dares Phrygius|Dares the Phrygian]], Menelaus was described as "of moderate stature, auburn-haired, and handsome. He had a pleasing personality."<ref>[[Dares Phrygius]], [https://www.theoi.com/Text/DaresPhrygius.html 13]</ref>

== Family ==
Menelaus was a descendant of [[Pelops]] son of [[Tantalus]].<ref>For a discussion of the house of Tantalus see Gantz, pp. 531&ndash;556. For Menelaus's genealogy see, Grimal, p. 526, Table 2, and p. 534, Table 13.</ref> He was the younger brother of [[Agamemnon]], and the husband of [[Helen of Troy]]. According to the usual version of the story, followed by the ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'' of [[Homer]], Agamemnon and Menelaus were the sons of [[Atreus]], king of [[Mycenae]], and [[Aerope]], daughter of the [[Cretan]] king [[Catreus]].<ref>Grimal, s.v. Menelaus; Hard, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA355 355], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA507 507], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA508 508]; Collard and Cropp 2008a, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-dramatic_fragments/2008/pb_LCL504.517.xml p. 517]; Gantz, p. 552; Parada, s.v. Menelaus; [[Euripides]], ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+Hel.+390 390&ndash;392], ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=57514F65526E804C8BAABD84924B4C06?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0116 16]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#97 97];  [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.Epit+E.3.12 E.3.12]; Scholia on ''[[Iliad]]'' 1.7  (citing "Homer" = [[Hesiod]] ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.227.xml fr. 137a Most]) and Scholia on [[Tzetzes]]'s ''Exegesis in Iliadem'' 1.122 (citing "Homer" = [[Hesiod]] ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.227.xml fr. 137c Most]). They are also the sons of Atreus, in the ''[[Iliad]]'' and ''[[Odyssey]]'', see for example ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+11.131 11.131], ''[[Odyssey]]''  [http://nlp.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Hom.+Od.+4.462 4.462], although Aerope is not mentioned (see Gantz, p. 522). See also [[Euripides]], ''[[Iphigenia in Tauris]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Eur.+It.+1 4&ndash;5], (Atreus as father, no mention of mother); Hesiod ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.229.xml fr. 138 Most] [= fr. 195 MW], and [[Sophocles]], ''[[Ajax (play)|Ajax]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Soph.+Aj.+1295 1295&ndash;1297] (Aerope as mother, no mention of father).</ref> However, according to another tradition, Agamemnon and Menelaus were the sons of Atreus's son [[Pleisthenes]], with their mother being Aerope, [[Cleolla]], or Eriphyle. According to this tradition Pleisthenes died young, with Agamemnon and Menelaus being raised by Atreus.<ref>Hard, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA355 355], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA508 508]; Collard and Cropp 2008a, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-dramatic_fragments/2008/pb_LCL504.517.xml p. 517]; Collard and Cropp 2008b, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-dramatic_fragments/2008/pb_LCL506.79.xml p. 79]; Gantz, pp. 552&ndash;553; Parada, s.v. Menelaus. For Aerope as mother see: [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.2.2 3.2.2]; [[Dictys Cretensis]], [http://www.theoi.com/Text/DictysCretensis1.html 1.1]; Scholia on ''[[Iliad]]'' 1.7  (citing "Hesiod" = [[Hesiod]] ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.227.xml fr. 137a Most]) and Scholia on [[Tzetzes]]'s ''Exegesis in Iliadem'' 1.122 (citing "Hesiod" = [[Hesiod]] ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.227.xml fr. 137c Most]). For Cleolla, see [[Tzetzes]], ''Exegesis in Iliadem'' 1.122 (citing "Hesiod, Aeschylus, and some others" = [[Hesiod]] ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.227.xml fr. 137b Most]). For Eriphyle see Gantz, p. 553 (citing Scholia on [[Euripides]] ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'' 4).</ref> Agamemnon and Menelaus had a sister [[Anaxibia]] (or [[Astyoche]]) who married [[Strophius]], the son of [[Crisus]].<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA566 p. 566]; Gantz, p. 223; Parada, s.vv. Anaxibia 4, Astyoche 6. For Anaxibia as the sister's name see [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.29.4 2.29.4]; [[Dictys Cretensis]], [http://www.theoi.com/Text/DictysCretensis1.html 1.1]; [[Tzetzes]], ''Exegesis in Iliadem'' 1.122 (= [[Hesiod]] ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.227.xml fr. 137b Most]); Scholia on [[Tzetzes]]'s ''Exegesis in Iliadem'' 1.122 (= [[Hesiod]] ''[[Catalogue of Women]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-catalogue_women/2018/pb_LCL503.227.xml fr. 137c Most]). For Astyoche, as the sister's name, see [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/206#117 117].</ref>

According to the ''Odyssey'', Menelaus had only one child by Helen, a daughter named [[Hermione (mythology)|Hermione]]; and an illegitimate son, [[Megapenthes (son of Menelaus)|Megapenthes]], by a slave.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA441 p. 441]; Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA529 p. 529]; Frazer's [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.11.1 note 1 to Apollodorus 3.11.1]; [[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:4.1-4.48 4.11&ndash;14]. See also [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.146-3.190 3.175]; [[Sophocles]], ''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/sophocles-electra/1994/pb_LCL020.215.xml 539]. For a genealogical table containing children of Menelaus, see Grimal, p. 534, Table 13.</ref> Other sources mention other sons of Menelaus by either Helen, or slaves. A scholiast on [[Sophocles]]'s ''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]'' quotes [[Hesiod]] as saying that after Hermione, Helen also bore Menelaus a son [[Nicostratus (mythology)|Nicostratus]],<ref>Frazer's [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.11.1 note 1 to Apollodorus 3.11.1]; Gantz, p. 322; Scholia on [[Sophocles]]'s ''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]'' 539a [= [[Hesiod]] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-other_fragments/2018/pb_LCL503.357.xml fr. 248 Most] = 175 MW; *9 H]. See also [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.11.1 3.11.1]. Compare [[Cinaethon]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/cinaethon-testmonia_fragments/2003/pb_LCL497.255.xml fr. 3] [= [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] ap. schol. (D) ''Iliad'' 3.175], which seems to understand Nicostratus as being the son of Helen and Menelaus, see Gantz. According to Frazer,  the scholiast on ''Iliad'' 3.175 mentions Nicostratus as a son of Helen (see also Gantz, p. 573).</ref> while according to a ''[[Cypria]]'' fragment, Menelaus and Helen had a son [[Pleisthenes]].<ref>Collar and Cropp 2008b, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/euripides-dramatic_fragments/2008/pb_LCL506.79.xml p. 79 n. 1]; Gantz, pp. 322 (which says that "the implication of our scholiast source is that this child was in lieu of Nikostratos"), 573 (which says this Pleisthenes "seems nowhere else mentioned").</ref> The mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], tells us that Megapenthes's mother was a slave "[[Pieris (mythology)|Pieris]], an Aetolian, or, according to [[Acusilaus]], ... [[Tereis]]", and that Menelaus had another illegitimate son Xenodamas by another slave girl, Cnossia,<ref>Grimal, s.v. Menelaus; Parada, s.v. Menelaus; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.11.1 3.11.1]. According to Grimal, Cnossia was presumably a slave whose name indicated she was born in [[Cnossos]] on [[Crete]]. Such ethnics were a common way of naming slaves, see Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA529 p. 529].</ref> while according to the geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], Megapenthes ''and'' Nicostratus were sons of Menelaus by a slave.<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.18.6 2.18.6], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.19.9 3.19.9]. Fowler, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA529 p. 529], notes that the name 'Tereis' is unique and possibly "corrupt".</ref> The scholiast on ''Iliad'' 3.175 mentions Nicostratus and [[Aethiolas]] as two sons of Helen (by Menelaus?) worshipped by the [[Lacedaemonians]] and another son of Helen by Menelaus, Maraphius, from whom descended the Persian Maraphions.<ref>Frazer's [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.11.1 note 1 to Apollodorus 3.11.1], see also Grimal, s.v. Menelaus; Gantz, p. 573.</ref>

== Mythology ==

===Accession and reign===
Although early authors, such as [[Aeschylus]], refer in passing to Menelaus's early life, detailed sources are quite late, post-dating 5th-century BC Greek [[tragedy]].<ref>The chief sources for Menelaus's life before the Trojan War are [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]]'s ''Fabulae'' and the Epitome of the ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]''.</ref> According to these sources, Menelaus's father, [[Atreus]], had been feuding with his brother [[Thyestes]] over the throne of [[Mycenae]]. After a back-and-forth struggle that featured [[adultery]], [[incest]], and [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]], Thyestes gained the throne after his son [[Aegisthus]] murdered [[Atreus]]. As a result, Atreus's sons, Menelaus and [[Agamemnon]], went into exile. They first stayed with King [[Polypheides]] of [[Sicyon]], and later with King [[Oeneus]] of [[Calydon]]. But when they thought the time was ripe to dethrone Mycenae's hostile ruler, they returned. Assisted by King [[Tyndareus]] of [[Sparta]], they drove Thyestes away, and Agamemnon took the [[throne]] for himself.

When it was time for [[Tyndareus]]'s stepdaughter [[Helen of Troy|Helen]] to marry, [[Suitors of Helen|many kings and princes]] came to seek her hand. Among the contenders were [[Odysseus]], [[Menestheus]], [[Ajax the Great]], [[Patroclus]], and [[Idomeneus]]. Most offered opulent gifts. Tyndareus would accept none of the gifts, nor would he send any of the suitors away for fear of offending them and giving grounds for a quarrel. Odysseus promised to solve the problem in a satisfactory manner if Tyndareus would support him in his courting of Tyndareus's niece [[Penelope]], the daughter of [[Icarius (Spartan)|Icarius]]. Tyndareus readily agreed, and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband in any quarrel. Then it was decreed that straws were to be drawn for Helen's hand. The suitor who won was Menelaus (Tyndareus, not to displease the mighty Agamemnon offered him another of his daughters, [[Clytaemnestra]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mythologia.8m.com/trojanwar1.html |title=Τρωικοσ Πολεμοσ - Ελληνικη Μυθολογια Και Πολιτισμοσ |access-date=2011-10-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111001224939/http://www.mythologia.8m.com/trojanwar1.html |archive-date=2011-10-01 }}</ref> The rest of the suitors swore their oaths, and Helen and Menelaus were married, Menelaus becoming a ruler of Sparta with Helen after Tyndareus and [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]] abdicated the thrones.

Their supposed palace (ἀνάκτορον) has been discovered (the excavations started in 1926 and continued until 1995) in [[Pellana]], [[Laconia]], to the north-west of modern (and classical) Sparta.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.asxetos.gr/pedia/lexika/elliniko-lexiko/diavlitikos-23440.html|title=Διαβλητικός|last=admin}}</ref> Other archaeologists consider that [[Pellana]] is too far away from other Mycenaean centres to have been the "capital of Menelaus".<ref>Mee & Spawforth (2001), p. 229</ref>

According to tradition Menelaus founded the port-city [[Menelai Portus]] on the coast of [[Marmarica]] in Northern Africa.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:id=menelai-portus-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Menelai Portus]</ref>

{{s-start}}
{{s-reg}}
{{s-bef
| before = [[Tyndareus]]<br>(second reign)
}} 
{{s-ttl
| title = [[List of kings of Sparta|King of Sparta]]
}} 
{{s-aft
| after = [[Orestes]]
}}
{{s-end}}

===Trojan War===
{{Main article|Trojan War}}

[[Image:Helen Menelaus Louvre G424.jpg|right|thumb|Menelaus regains Helen, detail of an Attic red-figure crater, c. 450–440 BC, found in [[Gnatia]] (now Egnazia, [[Italy]]).]]
{{Trojan War}}
According to legend, in return for awarding her a golden apple inscribed "to the fairest," [[Aphrodite]] promised [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] the most beautiful woman in all the world. After concluding a diplomatic mission to Sparta during the latter part of which Menelaus was absent to attend the funeral of his maternal grandfather [[Catreus]] in [[Crete]], Paris ran off to Troy with Helen despite his brother [[Hector]]'s prohibition. Invoking the oath of [[Tyndareus]], Menelaus and [[Agamemnon]] raised a fleet of a thousand ships and went to Troy to secure Helen's return; the Trojans refused, providing a ''[[casus belli]]'' for the [[Trojan War]].

[[Homer]]'s ''[[Iliad]]'' is the most comprehensive source for Menelaus's exploits during the Trojan War. In Book 3, Menelaus challenges Paris to a duel for Helen's return. Menelaus soundly beats Paris, but before he can kill him and claim victory, Aphrodite spirits Paris away inside the walls of Troy. In Book 4, while the Greeks and Trojans squabble over the duel's winner, [[Athena]] inspires the Trojan [[Pandarus]] to shoot Menelaus with his bow and arrow. However, Athena never intended for Menelaus to die and she protects him from the arrow of Pandarus.<ref>{{Cite book|title = The Iliad of Homer|last1 = Homer|publisher = University of Chicago Press|year = 2011|isbn = 9780226470498|location = Chicago|pages = 116–17|last2 = Lattimore|first2 = Richmond|last3 = Martin|first3 = Richard}}</ref> Menelaus is wounded in the abdomen, and the fighting resumes. Later, in Book 17, Homer gives Menelaus an extended ''[[aristeia]]'' as the hero retrieves the corpse of Patroclus from the battlefield.

According to [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], Menelaus killed eight men in the war, and was one of the Greeks hidden inside the [[Trojan Horse]]. During the sack of Troy, Menelaus killed [[Deiphobus]], who had married Helen after the death of Paris.

There are four versions of Menelaus's and Helen's reunion on the night of the sack of Troy:
*Menelaus sought out Helen in the conquered city. Raging at her infidelity, he raised his sword to kill her, but as he saw her weeping at his feet, begging for her life, Menelaus's wrath instantly left him. He took pity on her and decided to take her back as his wife.
*Menelaus resolved to kill Helen, but her irresistible beauty prompted him to drop his sword and take her back to his ship "to punish her at Sparta", as he claimed.<ref>''Andromache'', 629–31.</ref>
*According to the ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'', Menelaus raised his sword in front of the [[temple]] in the central square of Troy to kill her, but his wrath went away when he saw her rending her clothes in anguish, revealing her naked breasts.
*A similar version by [[Stesichorus]] in "Ilion's Conquest" narrated that Menelaus surrendered her to his soldiers to stone her to death, but when she ripped the front of her robes, the Achaean warriors were stunned by her beauty and the stones fell harmlessly from their hands as they stared at her.

===After the war===
[[File:Patroclus corpse MAN Firenze.jpg|thumb|Menelaus and [[Meriones (mythology)|Meriones]] lifting [[Patroclus]]'s corpse on a cart while [[Odysseus]] looks on; [[alabaster]] urn, [[Etruscan art]]work from [[Volterra]], 2nd century BC]]
Book 4 of the ''Odyssey'' provides an account of Menelaus's return from Troy and his homelife in Sparta. When visited by Odysseus's son [[Telemachus]], Menelaus recounts his voyage home. As happened to many Greeks, Menelaus's homebound fleet was blown by storms to Crete and Egypt where they were becalmed, unable to sail away. They trapped [[Proteus]] and forced him to reveal how to make the voyage home. Once back in Sparta, he and Helen are shown to be reconciled and have a harmonious married life—he holding no grudge at her having run away with a lover and she feeling no restraint in telling anecdotes of her life inside besieged Troy. Menelaus does seem to be pained that he and Helen have no male heir, and is shown to be fond of [[Megapenthes (son of Menelaus)|Megapenthes]] and [[Nicostratus (mythology)|Nicostratus]], his sons by slave women. According to Euripides's ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'', Menelaus is reunited with Helen after death, on the [[Fortunate Isles|Isle of the Blessed]].<ref>Line 1675.</ref>

==In vase painting==
Menelaus appears in Greek vase painting in the 6th to 4th centuries BC, such as: Menelaus's reception of Paris at Sparta; his retrieval of Patroclus's corpse; and his reunion with Helen.<ref>Woodford 1993.</ref>

==In Greek tragedy==
Menelaus appears as a character in a number of 5th-century Greek tragedies: [[Sophocles]]'s ''[[Ajax (Sophocles)|Ajax]]'', and [[Euripides]]'s ''[[Andromache (play)|Andromache]]'', ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'', ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'', ''[[Iphigenia at Aulis]]'', and ''[[The Trojan Women]]''.

==See also==
* [[1647 Menelaus]], Jovian asteroid
* [[USS Menelaus (ARL-13)|USS ''Menelaus'' (ARL-13)]]
* [[Menelaus_(crater)|Menelaus (lunar crater)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Collard, Christopher and Martin Cropp (2008a), ''Euripides Fragments: Aegeus&ndash;Meleanger'',  [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 504, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99625-0}}. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL504/2008/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* Collard, Christopher and Martin Cropp (2008b), ''Euripides Fragments: Oedipus-Chrysippus: Other Fragments'',  [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 506, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99631-1}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL506/2009/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Dictys Cretensis]], ''The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian'', translated by R. M. Frazer (Jr.). Indiana University Press. 1966.
* [[Euripides]], ''[[Andromache (play)|Andromache]]'' in ''Euripides: Children of Heracles. Hippolytus. Andromache. Hecuba'', edited and translated by David Kovacs, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 484. Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 1995. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99533-8}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL484/1995/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Euripides]], ''[[Helen (play)|Helen]]'', translated by E. P. Coleridge in  ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Volume 2. New York. Random House. 1938. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg014.perseus-eng1:1-30 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Euripides]], ''[[Iphigenia in Tauris]]'', translated by Robert Potter in ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Volume 2. New York. Random House. 1938. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.01.0112 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Euripides]], ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'', translated by E. P. Coleridge in ''The Complete Greek Drama'', edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill, Jr. Volume 1. New York. Random House. 1938. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg016.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* Fowler, R. L., ''Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary'', Oxford University Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0198147411}}.
* [[Timothy Gantz|Gantz, Timothy]], ''Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
* Grimal, Pierre, ''The Dictionary of Classical Mythology'', Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. {{ISBN|978-0-631-20102-1}}.
* Hard, Robin, ''The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology"'', Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
* [[Homer]], ''The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, MA., [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Homer]], ''The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes''. Cambridge, MA., [[Harvard University Press]]; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus, Gaius Julius]], ''[[Fabulae]]'', in ''The Myths of Hyginus'', edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at ToposText].
* [[Glenn W. Most|Most, G.W.]], ''Hesiod: The Shield, Catalogue of Women, Other Fragments'', [[Loeb Classical Library]], No. 503, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 2007, 2018. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99721-9}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL503/2018/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* Parada, Carlos, ''Genealogical Guide to Greek Mythology'', Jonsered, Paul Åströms Förlag, 1993. {{ISBN|978-91-7081-062-6}}.
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes.'' Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes, John]], ''Allegories of the Iliad'' translated by Goldwyn, Adam J. and Kokkini, Dimitra. Dumbarton Oaks Medieval Library, Harvard University Press, 2015. {{ISBN|978-0-674-96785-4}}
* [[Sophocles]], ''The Ajax of Sophocles. Edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb'', [[Richard Claverhouse Jebb|Sir Richard Jebb]]. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1893 [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0011.tlg003.perseus-eng1:1-35 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Sophocles]], ''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]'' in ''Sophocles. Ajax. Electra. Oedipus Tyrannus'', Edited and translated by [[Hugh Lloyd-Jones]], [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 20, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 1994. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99557-4}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL020/1994/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
* [[Martin Litchfield West|West, M. L.]], ''Greek Epic Fragments: From the Seventh to the Fifth Centuries BC'', edited and translated by Martin L. West, [[Loeb Classical Library]] No. 497, Cambridge, Massachusetts, [[Harvard University Press]], 2003.  {{ISBN|978-0-674-99605-2}}. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL497/2003/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].

==External links==
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Menelaus}}
* {{Commons category inline}}

{{Characters in the Iliad}}
{{Characters in the Odyssey}}
{{Kings of Sparta}}

{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Achaean Leaders]]
[[Category:Greek mythological heroes]]
[[Category:Mythological kings of Sparta]]
[[Category:Characters in the Odyssey]]
[[Category:Laconian mythology]]
[[Category:Atreidai]]