About Menelaus     When Thyestes murdered Atreus, the two youths, Menelaus and Agamemnon, flee to Tyndareus in Sparta.  Agamemnon marries Clytemnestra and out of all the suitors Helen chooses Menelaus. She marries him after all the suitors agree to stand by the one who is selected.  Menelaus succeeds Tyndareus as king of Lacedaemon.  The theft of Helen by Paris leads Menelaus to get the support of the Greek leaders, who had made the oath to stand by Helen's choice, for a war against Troy.  At Troy, Menelaus, under the protection of Hera and Athena, proves himself a brave and capable warrior, a wise adviser, and, while not the equal of his brother, one of the most prominent leaders among the Greek.  At the capture of Troy, Menelaus goes to the house of Deiphobus, whom Helen had married after the death of Paris, kills him, and takes Helen away to the ships.  Reconciliation between them follows and they sail for home.  But they were driven from their course to wander among the countries of the east for eight years.  When finally reaching home again Menelaus lives out a happy life with Helen. Back to Family Tree Back to Literature Index