The hero who stole Helen from Menelaus. Myths and legends

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, Helena 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 came to 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 at all, 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 strong 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 Achilles' death). 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.

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, something happened to Menelaus that 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 son of the king 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 do not even know the exact boundaries of the historical city of 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 pursues Helen”, “Menelaus and Helen”, “The wedding of Menelaus and Helen”, 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 fiction dealing with 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.

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

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

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

The hero who stole Helen from Menelaus. Myths and legends

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

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