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Backstory on Menelaus.
Menelaus is a descendant of the house of Atreus, a bad lot who never really came good until (inevitably) Athena got involved. To understand the air of sorrow that hangs around him, knowing the history is very useful. I think Men. sees the curse of the House of Atreus unfolding before his eyes as men die because of his woman problems, and feels an intense responsibility, hence his attempt to sort things out once and for allk in Bk. 3. Note also that this story comes from the beginning of the war, as does a lot of the beginning of the Iliad...
The house begins with Tantalus, who was on first-name terms with the gods, but decided to test their omniscience by cooking and serving up his son Pelops at a feast of the Olympians. Nobody was fooled, except Demeter, who eat the poor boy's shoulder.
Tantalus ends badly shortly thereafter (very shortly thereafter - the wheels of Zeus grind quickly and they grind exceeding small), and Pelops is reconstituted, sans one shoulder (cheers, Demeter), which is replaced by ivory. Not generally a terrible lot, Pelops wins the hand of Hippodamia through deceit and conquers great swathes of Southern Greece, renaming it the Peloponnesus. When Myrtilus, his co-conspirator, asks for his reward, he throws him into the sea, and receives his curse.
Said curse seems a bit shit, as Pelops has many strapping children, intermarrying them with the powerful dynasty of Perseus in Mycaenae. Two of these, Atreus and Thyestes, are sent to rule Midea, a city in the kingdom of Sthenelus (I think but am not sure that this is the grandfather of the Sthenelus who is Diomedes' right hand in the Iliad).
Now, when Eurystheus, the fellow who set Hercules his tasks, was finally killed by Iolaus (Yes, that Iolaus), Thyestes and Atreus, his cousins, became co-kings of Mycenae, at this point the preeminent city state. A very complicated series of events follow. In short - Thyestes is exiled by Atreus, who then finds out that Thyestes was shagging his (Atreus' wife). He invites Thyestes back, kills his sons and serves them up as a meal of reconciliation. Them having revealed that Thyestes has eaten his own sons, he exiles him again.
Thyestes unknowingly rapes his daughter. Never mind. Atreus, meanwhile, falls out of love with his adulterous wife, leaves her and shacks up with (ta-da) Thyestes' daughter. She bears Thyestes' child, attempts to kill it but the wain is saved by Atreus, labouring under the belief that the kid *is* his son.
You can see where this is going, can't you? Aegisthus, the son (not, IIRC, that Aegisthus, who is his son and thus Agamemnon and Menelaus' cousin) kills Atreus and restores Thyestes to the throne, briefly before it is seized in a rather fatal manner by Agamemnon and Menelaus.
This is one reason why nobody can ever remember which is king of Sparta and which is king of Mycenae.
Anwyay, Menelaus. Not much to say. Less storied brother of Agamemnon. Chosen by Helen at the great convocation of heroes at the court of Tyndareus, and as such one of the four people most directly involved in the beginning of the Trojan War.
Later, Paris arrives on a goodwill mission from Troy (Paris is a flighty type - spends a long time being a shepherd as well), having been promised Helen by Aphrodite (who, lest we forget, was competing for a golden apple thrown by Eris at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, the parents of Achilles. God, I love that). Menelaus has to go away on a military mission, and returnds to find Helen and Paris gone, thus violating not only his wife but also his guest-friendship (xenia - this is a big, big thing. See Glaucus and Diomedes).
Now, fortunately Odysseus, in order to prevent war breaking out between the Greeks over who got to shag Helen (answer: Paris), brokered a deal whereby everybody agreed to unite against anyone who failed to respect the ultimately victorious suitor's marriage. This is why it is important to have any contract you write examoned by a third party, as it meant that despite his best efforts he was summoned to Troy, along with everyone else.
Menelaus fights with valour if no great competence at Troy, is lost at sea on the return journey, wrestles Proteus, and ultimately retrieves Helen (arguably - Stesichorus and subsequently Euripides claim that she was never there at all, but that's another story). Declining the chance to kill her, he instead reconciles and returns to Sparta. It's my fond belief that this act of forgiveness is what saves his side of the family from the horrible consequences of the curse of the house of Atreus.
Well, that and being married to a godess.
Anyone want to hear my "Helen is a Godess" theory? |
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