Menelaus is the son of Atreus who is the king of Greek, the younger brother of Agamemnon who is the high king of the Mycenae, and the younger brother of Anaxibia. Menelaus exiled from Mycenae when Atreus was killed by his brother Thyestes’s son Aegisthus and when Thyestes became the king of Mycenae. Menelaus is also the husband of Helen: When so many suitors from different places wanted to marry the gorgeous Helen, one suitor called Odysseus suggested Tyndareus—the king of Sparta—using the method of throwing ring to decide which person would marry Helen. The handsome Menelaus was chosen. Then with the aid of Tyndareus, Menelaus went back to Mycenae and drove its hostile ruler Thyestes to an island called Cythera. Menelaus later officially married Helen and became the king of Sparta after the death of Tyndareus based upon the law. 

       “Ten years later, Menelaus received Paris—a handsome Trojan and the brother of brave warrior Hector— as a guest in his palace. However, Menelaus had to sail to Crete in order to attend the funeral of Catreus, who is the mother of Menelaus’s father, Atreus. “Paris and Helen then became lovers due to the absence of Menelaus. They then sailed back to Troy together and left little Hermione— 9-year-old daughter of Menelaus—alone.

  After realizing the betray of his wife when he came back, Menelaus was angry. He convinced Agamemnon to wage war toward Troy at any cost, even including sacrificing Agamemnon’s daughter Iphigenia to Artemis. Because those suitors of Helen once achieved an agreement that they will protect and help Helen’s husband as much as they can, Menelaus gathered lots of powerful allies. However, Menelaus had the last peaceful try: he went to Troy together with Odysseus and tried to claim Helen back. Though being hospitably treated by a Trojan elder called Antenor, Menelaus did not achieve his purpose. A Trojan called Antimachus insisted that Helen should stay at Troy with Paris; He even suggested the Trojan citizens killing Menelaus and Odysseus.

       Menelaus was now in a fury. The ten-year-long Trojan War started. Menelaus killed thousands of Trojan together with Agamemnon and other strong warriors. They almost overwhelmed Trojans. In the middle of the Trojan War, both sides agreed that Menelaus and Paris would have a duel to solve the problem related to Helen. As a result, they set up a temporary truce and agreed that nobody should hurt the enemy during the duel. When the duel began, Paris lost his chance to kill Menelaus as he hit Menelaus’s pauldron. In Menelaus’s turn, as soon as he was stabbing his spear into Paris helmet, the god of love Aphrodite quickly saved Paris by pulling Paris out, hiding him in the mist, and returning to the Troy. Hera, the god who favor the Greek, made a Trojan warrior called Pandarus break the truce by guiding him to shoot at Menelaus. Menelaus was shallowly wounded and was later healed by Machaon. The war then started again. 

       This time, more gods were involved in the war. When Ares, the god of war who favors Trojans, noticed that Trojans could not handle the force from Greek, he came down from Olympus to fight against Greeks. Apollo saved a warrior called Athena by bringing him to Apollo’s sanction and healing him. Pallas Athena, a more powerful god who favors Greeks, on the other hand, came down to help a Greek warrior called Diomedes when he could not fight with Ares.

        The battle lasted for years.

       When the Trojans were finally defeated, and when Menelaus’s force finally reached the house where Deiphobus has married Helen after the death of Paris, Menelaus arrested Deiphobus and cut him into pieces brutally. Menelaus finally got his wife, Helen. When Menelaus met Proteus, a seer knowing everything, in Egypt, he heard that he had offended the gods by sacking Troy. Consequently, he wandered around the Mediterranean areas for eight years in order to appease the god. Then he finally brought Helen back to home. 

Menelaus and Helen led a pleasant life in their palace for the rest of their lives. When Menelaus died, the god Hara made him immortal.

Reference

Leiden, B(2005), Menelaus, Brill’s new Pauly.

Parada, C(1997), Menelaus, General Guide to Greek Mythology Characters,http://www.maicar.com/GML/index.html

Spawforth, A., Eidinow, E., & Hornblower, S. (n.d.). The Oxford classical dictionary(4th ed. / general editors, Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth assistant editor, Esther Eidinow.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Smith, W(1870), Menelaus, ENCYCLOPEDIA MYTHICA, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology,  https://pantheon.org/articles/m/menelaus.html