Menelaus in the Ancient Sources: 147 Passages in Greek & English

Hesiod (2)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.68The suitors of HelenThe best-preserved passage of the Catalogue lists the heroes who came to woo Helen, each with his gifts, from Philoctetes and the sons of Amphiaraus to Odysseus, Menestheus, Aias and Idomeneus. Tyndareus sends none away and receives no gift, and the passage ends with the birth of Hermione.
Hesiod, Fragments 1.69–71The Trojan War and the house of AtreusA long papyrus fragment tells how the gods were divided by strife and how Zeus planned storm and tempest over the boundless earth. The shorter fragments cover Agamemnon and Menelaus and the fate of Iphigeneia.

Homer (37)

Homer, Iliad 4.73–219Pandarus breaks the truce and wounds MenelausAthena goes down in the likeness of Laodocus and persuades Pandarus to shoot at Menelaus. The arrow passes through belt and corselet and draws blood, and Agamemnon, in dread, says that the broken oath will bring ruin on Troy. Talthybius is sent for Machaon, who sucks the blood from the wound and spreads soothing drugs upon it.
Homer, Iliad 13.576–672Helenus and Menelaus; Paris kills EuchenorHelenus kills Deipyrus with a great sword stroke, and Menelaus pins Helenus' hand to his bow with a spear. Menelaus kills Peisander, and Meriones kills Harpalion, the son of Pylaemenes, who is mourned by the Paphlagonians. Paris, angry at Harpalion's death, kills Euchenor.
Homer, Iliad 17.1–107Menelaus kills Euphorbus and guards the bodyMenelaus stands over the fallen Patroclus like a cow over her first calf and warns Euphorbus to keep away. Euphorbus boasts that he will avenge his brother, but Menelaus kills him with a spear through the neck and begins to strip his armour. Apollo, in the likeness of Mentes, urges Hector to go after the horses of Achilles, and Menelaus withdraws before him and calls on Ajax.
Homer, Odyssey 4.1–112Telemachus at the house of MenelausTelemachus and Peisistratus arrive at the house of Menelaus in Lacedaemon while a wedding feast is being held for his daughter and for his son by a slave woman. Menelaus' squire Eteoneus asks whether to take the strangers in, and Menelaus rebukes him, and they are bathed and fed. Menelaus speaks of his own wanderings and of his grief for Odysseus.
Homer, Iliad 17.543–655Athena rouses Menelaus; Ajax prays for lightAthena comes down in the likeness of Phoenix and puts strength into Menelaus, who kills Podes, a friend of Hector. Apollo, in the likeness of Phaenops, rouses Hector, and Zeus shakes the aegis and gives the Trojans the upper hand. Ajax prays that Zeus lift the mist from his men, asking only to die in the light of day, and Zeus scatters the mist, whereupon Menelaus is told to look for Antilochus and send him to Achilles.
Homer, Odyssey 4.113–232Helen recognises TelemachusTelemachus weeps for his father at Menelaus' words, and Menelaus wonders who the young man is. Helen comes in with her maids and says that she has never seen such a likeness to Odysseus' son, and Peisistratus tells them that this is Telemachus. To quiet their grief, Helen drops into the wine a drug that brings forgetfulness of pain, which she had from the Egyptian woman Polydamna.
Homer, Odyssey 15.92–181Menelaus' gifts; the omen of the eagleMenelaus prepares a feast, and Helen brings out a robe of her own weaving as a keepsake for Telemachus' bride. As he prepares to go, Menelaus gives him a mixing-bowl and cup. An eagle flies by on the right, carrying a white goose from the farmyard, and Helen interprets the omen as meaning that Odysseus will come home and take vengeance.
Homer, Iliad 17.656–761Antilochus is sent to Achilles; the body is carried offMenelaus looks for Antilochus and sends him to tell Achilles that Patroclus is dead and that Hector has his armour. Antilochus runs weeping to the ships while Menelaus and Meriones lift the body and the two Ajaxes hold off Hector and Aeneas. The Trojans press after them like hounds on a boar, and the two Ajaxes cover the retreat like a wooded ridge that checks a flood.
Homer, Odyssey 3.201–328Nestor tells of Agamemnon's deathTelemachus wishes that the gods would give him such vengeance, and Nestor tells how Aegisthus seduced Clytemnestra while Agamemnon was away and killed the king on his return. Orestes came home in the eighth year and killed Aegisthus. Nestor tells of Menelaus' stormy journey home, and urges Telemachus to go to Menelaus in Sparta, offering his sons as guides.
Homer, Odyssey 15.1–91Athena goes to SpartaAthena goes to Lacedaemon and finds Telemachus sleepless, with Peisistratus sleeping near, and tells him to go home at once, since the suitors are plotting to ambush him. She tells him to land at the first point of Ithaca and send the ship on to the city, and to go to Eumaeus' hut. At dawn he tells Menelaus that he must go, and Menelaus offers him a tour of Greece, but Telemachus refuses.
Homer, Iliad 3.1–110The armies advance; Hector shames ParisThe Trojans advance with a clamour like cranes, while the Achaeans march in silence. Paris steps out and challenges the best of the Achaeans, but shrinks back when he sees Menelaus, and Hector rebukes him until he offers to fight Menelaus alone for Helen and the treasure. Hector halts the Trojan ranks, and Menelaus accepts the challenge and asks that Priam come to swear the oaths.
Homer, Iliad 3.383–461Aphrodite brings Helen to ParisAphrodite sets Paris in his fragrant chamber and, in the likeness of an old woman, summons Helen, who knows the goddess by her neck, breasts and eyes and reproaches her. Helen obeys when the goddess threatens her, speaks scornfully to Paris, and then goes to bed with him. Menelaus ranges through the host looking for Paris, and Agamemnon declares that the victory is Menelaus's and demands Helen and the treasure.

25 more passages of Homer that name Menelaus

Apollodorus (6)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.3.1–35Paris and Helen; the muster at Aulis and the landing at TroyParis judges the contest of the three goddesses, carries off Helen, and Menelaus and Agamemnon call the Greek kings to arms; Odysseus's feigned madness is exposed and Palamedes is framed. The section gives the catalogue of the Greek fleet at Aulis, the omen of the snake and sparrows, the failed first landing in Mysia and the healing of Telephus, and the sacrifice of Iphigenia. After Tenedos and the abandonment of Philoctetes, Protesilaus is the first to die at Troy, Achilles takes many nearby cities, and the Trojan allies are listed.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.6.1–29The returns from Troy: Nauplius, Agamemnon's murder and OrestesThe Greeks quarrel at an assembly over whether to leave at once, and the section follows the returns: Calchas and Mopsus at Colophon, the storm at Tenos in which Ajax dies, Nauplius's false beacon at Caphereus, Neoptolemus in Molossia, and the fates of Demophon and Phyllis, Podalirius and the Locrian maidens. Agamemnon is murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, and Orestes avenges him, is tried at Athens, and brings the image of Artemis from the Taurians. The section ends with Menelaus's wanderings and his return to Sparta.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.11.1–2Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri) and the children of MenelausMenelaus has Hermione by Helen and sons by other women. Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, carry off the daughters of Leucippus, and a quarrel over a cattle raid with Idas and Lynceus ends with Castor killed, Lynceus and Idas dead, and Pollux taken up by Zeus. Pollux refuses immortality without his brother, so they share their time between gods and mortals, and Menelaus inherits the kingdom of Sparta.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.2.1–16Tantalus, Pelops and the house of AtreusThe Epitome describes the punishment of Tantalus in Hades, Pelops' revival after being boiled at the gods' banquet, and his winning of Hippodamia from Oenomaus with the help of the charioteer Myrtilus, whom he then drowns. It follows the sons of Pelops: Atreus and Thyestes quarrel over the kingdom of Mycenae because of the golden lamb, Atreus serves Thyestes his own sons, and Aegisthus, born to Thyestes by his daughter, kills Atreus. It ends with Agamemnon, Menelaus and the children of Agamemnon.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.4.1–7The Iliad in brief: Achilles' anger, Patroclus and HectorThe Epitome gives a short account of the events of the Iliad: Achilles withdraws from the fighting because of the quarrel over Briseis, Paris and Menelaus fight a single combat, and Hector drives the Greeks back to the ships. Patroclus, wearing Achilles' armour, is killed by Hector. Achilles takes up Hephaestus's new armour, kills Hector and drags his body, holds games for Patroclus, and Priam ransoms Hector's body.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.2.1–2Catreus, Althaemenes and NaupliusAn oracle tells Catreus that one of his children will kill him, and his son Althaemenes leaves Crete for Rhodes with his sister Apemosyne, whom he later kicks to death when she says Hermes took her by trickery. Catreus gives his daughters Aerope and Clymene to Nauplius to sell abroad; Aerope marries Plisthenes and becomes the mother of Agamemnon and Menelaus, and Clymene marries Nauplius. In old age Catreus goes to Rhodes and is killed unknowingly by Althaemenes, who then vanishes into a chasm.

Aeschylus (3)

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 583–680Second episode (cont.): Clytaemestra's message and the loss of MenelausThe Chorus admit that Clytaemestra has proved them wrong, and she says that she raised a cry of triumph when the beacon came. She sends the Herald to tell her husband that she has been faithful. The Chorus ask about Menelaus, and the Herald tells how a storm sent by the gods wrecked the fleet and that Menelaus has not come back and is not known to be alive.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 40–175Parodos (1): the army sails and the omen of the eaglesThe Chorus of old men of Argos recall that it is now the tenth year since Menelaus and Agamemnon sailed against Troy, and say that they are too old to fight and wait at home. They ask Clytaemestra why sacrifices are burning on every altar, then tell of the omen seen as the army set out, two eagles devouring a pregnant hare. They tell how the seer Calchas read it as the capture of Troy and warned that Artemis was angry, and they pray that she will not hold back the fleet with contrary winds.
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 355–474First stasimon: Zeus, Paris and HelenThe Chorus thank Zeus and Night for the net in which Troy was caught, and say that Zeus punishes those who offend against the laws of hospitality, as Paris did. They sing of Helen's flight, the grief that she left behind in the house of Menelaus, and the ashes of the war dead returned from Troy. They end with the anger of the people against the sons of Atreus and their own fear of excessive glory.

Sophocles (4)

Sophocles, Ajax 1093–1162Teucer defies MenelausTeucer answers that Ajax was not Menelaus' subordinate, but came to Troy of his own will, and says that Menelaus has no right to forbid his burial. The two exchange insults, and Teucer says that the body will be buried at once. Menelaus says that it would be a disgrace to argue when he has the power to use force, and leaves.
Sophocles, Ajax 1040–1092Menelaus forbids the burialThe Chorus warn Teucer that Menelaus is approaching. Menelaus orders Teucer not to bury Ajax, who he says was a traitor who wished to kill the whole army and now lies where the gods turned his outrage on animals. He says that a state needs fear and respect for authority, and that the body will be cast out on the sand.
Sophocles, Electra 472–557First stasimon; Clytaemnestra defends the killing of AgamemnonThe Chorus say that Justice will come, since the dream means that the murder will be avenged, and recall the old chariot race of Pelops, the source of the curse on the house. Clytaemnestra comes out and complains that Electra runs loose when Aegisthus is away and slanders her. She defends her killing of Agamemnon by saying that he sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia, and Electra asks leave to answer her.
Sophocles, Electra 558–633Second episode: Electra answers her motherElectra answers that Agamemnon killed a stag sacred to Artemis and was compelled to sacrifice his daughter for that, and not for Menelaus' sake, so that Clytaemnestra had no right to kill him. She says that her mother did it for her lover, with whom she now has children, while she has cast out Orestes and made Electra a servant. Clytaemnestra threatens her with punishment when Aegisthus returns, and prepares to sacrifice.

Euripides (73)

Euripides, Orestes 1549–1620Ninth episode: Menelaus returns; Orestes threatens Hermione from the roofMenelaus arrives in haste, vowing that those who destroyed his wife must die. Orestes appears on the roof with Hermione at the point of his sword and threatens to hurl down a coping-stone. When Menelaus demands the body of Helen, Orestes threatens to kill the girl and burn the house.
Euripides, Orestes 380–447Second episode: Orestes tells Menelaus of his plightOrestes tells Menelaus who he is and asks him for protection, and Menelaus is shocked by his wasted look. Orestes says that he is tormented by his conscience and by the Furies, and that Apollo commanded the deed. He tells how the city shuns him and will vote today whether he is stoned.
Euripides, Helen 553–596Fourth episode: Menelaus and Helen fail to recognize each otherMenelaus and Helen marvel at their likeness to those they love, and Helen claims him as her husband. He refuses to believe her, since his wife is hidden in the cave. She tells him that the Helen at Troy was a phantom made by Hera, but he leaves, saying that he will not be persuaded by her, and she cries out in despair.
Euripides, Helen 625–693Fourth episode: Helen and Menelaus are reunitedHelen and Menelaus embrace and rejoice, and the Chorus prays for their happiness. Menelaus asks how she was taken from his home, and Helen tells how Hera sent her to Egypt in revenge for the judgment of Paris. She tells of her mother's hanging, and of their daughter Hermione's unmarried state.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 303–333First episode: Menelaus seizes Agamemnon's letterMenelaus has stopped the old servant on the road and taken the letter from him, and when the old man refuses to let go, Menelaus threatens to beat him with his staff. The old man calls for Agamemnon, who comes out and angrily asks what is going on. Menelaus says that he has read the letter and will not give it up until he has shown its contents to the whole army.
Euripides, Helen 437–475Third episode: the Old Woman turns Menelaus awayAn Old Woman at the gate orders Menelaus away, since her master kills Greeks. In answer to his questions she tells him that the land is Egypt and the king is Theoclymenus, son of Proteus. She then says that Helen, daughter of Zeus, is in the house, and he asks whether his wife was taken from the cave.
Euripides, Helen 808–841Fourth episode: Helen and Menelaus plan to win over TheonoeMenelaus refuses to flee without his wife, and Helen says that the only hope is that Theoclymenus should not learn of his arrival. She says that Theonoe knows everything and will tell her brother, and proposes to supplicate her. They swear to die together if Theonoe refuses.
Euripides, Helen 761–807Fourth episode: Menelaus' seven years at sea; Helen warns him of the kingHelen asks how Menelaus escaped from Troy, and he says that he spent seven years sailing after the ten at Troy. She warns him to flee, since Theoclymenus lives here and wishes to marry her. Helen tells him that she has kept herself untouched and has taken refuge at the tomb.
Euripides, Helen 1030–1084Fifth episode: Helen and Menelaus devise the false-death planThe Chorus Leader says that lawlessness never prospers, and Helen turns to Menelaus to plan their escape. They reject killing the king or taking a chariot, and Helen proposes to say that Menelaus is dead. She will ask Theoclymenus for a ship in which to give him a funeral at sea, and Menelaus will act as the survivor who brings the news.
Euripides, Helen 1230–1277Sixth episode: Helen asks for a funeral at seaHelen offers to make peace with Theoclymenus and asks to perform a funeral for her husband, though there is no body to bury. She explains that in Greece the dead lost at sea are honored with offerings let down into the sea. Menelaus, as the stranger, lists what is required: a blood-offering, a couch, bronze arms and a ship with rowers.
Euripides, Orestes 448–490Second episode: Tyndareus arrives in mourningOrestes asks Menelaus to share his good fortune with his friends, and the Chorus announces Tyndareus, in mourning for Clytemnestra. Orestes shrinks from facing the old man who nursed him. Tyndareus greets Menelaus and, seeing Orestes, asks whether he is speaking to that godless wretch.
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 473–527First episode: Menelaus relents but Agamemnon fears the armyMenelaus swears by Pelops and Atreus that he will speak the truth, says that the sight of his brother in tears has made him pity him, and withdraws his former demands, asking whether he could not find another bride. The Chorus Leader calls it a generous speech, and Agamemnon thanks him. Agamemnon answers that the whole army will force him to the sacrifice, once Calchas and Odysseus reveal the oracle.

61 more passages of Euripides that name Menelaus

Theocritus (1)

Theocritus, Idylls 18.1–58Idyll 18: Helen's wedding songTwelve Spartan maidens sing outside the bridal chamber on the wedding night of Helen and Menelaus. They praise Helen, tease Menelaus for sleeping too early, and wish the pair children and lasting happiness. They promise to return at dawn and sing again.

Aristophanes (1)

Aristophanes, Thesmophoriazusae 846–1000Episode: the Helen parody and a choral hymnLeft under the guard of the woman Critylla, Mnesilochus decides to act the part of Helen from Euripides' Helen, and Euripides arrives as Menelaus. Critylla sees through the performance and drives Euripides off, and a Policeman has Mnesilochus tied to a plank under the guard of a Scythian archer. The chorus then sing a hymn to the gods of the festival.

Pausanias (10)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.25.1–11Delphi: the Cnidian Lesche and Polygnotus' painting of Troy after its capture (1)Pausanias describes the building dedicated by the Cnidians at Delphi, called the Lesche or Club-room, with its paintings by Polygnotus. On the right wall the painting shows Troy after its capture and the Greeks setting sail, with Menelaus' crew and the pilot Phrontis, then Helen and her handmaids, Helenus, the wounded Meges and Lycomedes, Aethra and Demophon, and the captive Trojan women, Andromache, Medisicaste and Polyxena, with Nestor.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.23.1–9Alea, Caphyae and Condylea: the Scieria, Menelaus' plane-tree and the Strangled ArtemisPausanias describes Alea, with its sanctuaries of Ephesian Artemis, Athena Alea and Dionysus, where women are scourged at the Scieria festival. He follows the water of the Orchomenian plain through the dyke of Caphyae and down a chasm to rise at Nasi as the Tragus. At Caphyae he notes the sanctuaries of Poseidon and Artemis Cnacalesia, the plane-tree of Menelaus and, at Condylea, the grove of Artemis, who is called the Strangled One because the Caphyans stoned children who tied a rope round her image.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.26.1–9Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of Troy after its capture (2): captive women, Epeus, Ajax and NeoptolemusPausanias continues the Polygnotus painting of Troy with the captive women Clymene, Creusa, Aristomache and Xenodice, and Epeus razing the wall with the Wooden Horse. He describes Ajax son of Oileus swearing an oath beside Cassandra and the image of Athena, the sons of Atreus, and Neoptolemus slaying Elasus and Astynous. He explains the bronze corselets of old, then Laodice, Medusa and a woman with a child.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.19.1–13Amyclae and Therapne: Hyacinth’s tomb, Helen and the White IslePausanias describes the image of the Amyclaean Apollo, standing on an altar said to hold the tomb of Hyacinth and carved with reliefs, and the sanctuary of Alexandra and Dionysus Psilax at Amyclae. He then follows the road to Therapne past the sanctuaries of Zeus, Cotylean Aesculapius and Ares Theritas, and gives the Rhodian story of Helen’s hanging and the tale from Crotona and Himera of Leonymus and the White Isle.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.18.1–9Argos: the road from Mycenae, the tomb of Thyestes and the kings of ArgosOn the road to Argos are a shrine of Perseus, the tomb of Thyestes with its ram, the sanctuary of Mysian Demeter, the river Inachus and an altar of the Sun. Pausanias explains the division of the Argive kingdom among the lines of Anaxagoras, Bias and Melampus, then the rule of Orestes and Tisamenus and the return of the Heraclids, who drove out Tisamenus and the descendants of Nestor.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.1.1–9Laconia: the early kings from Lelex to the sons of AristodemusPausanias opens the Laconian book with the early kings, Lelex, Myles, Eurotas and Lacedaemon, who named Sparta after his wife, then Amyclas, whose son Hyacinth is buried at Amyclae, and Oebalus, Tyndareus and the Tyndarid line to Orestes. He recounts the Heraclid return and the death of Aristodemus, whose twin sons Procles and Eurysthenes founded the two royal houses, and Theras’ colony on Thera.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.22.1–13Laconian coast: Cranae, Helos, Acriae, Geronthrae, Asopus and BoeaePausanias describes the stone of Orestes near Gythium, Cranae and Migonium, then Trinasus, Helos and Acriae with its temple of the Mother of the Gods. He then describes Geronthrae, Marius and Asopus, with its giant bones and the cape Onugnathus, and finally Boeae, founded by Boeus, where a hare led the settlers to a myrtle sacred to Artemis Saviour.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.8.1–11Olympia: the early celebrations and the order in which the contests were addedPausanias lists those said to have held the games, from Clymenus, Endymion and Pelops to Augeas and Hercules, and the champions Hercules crowned. After the lapse before Iphitus, the contests were revived piecemeal, and he lists them with their first Olympiad and winner, from the foot-race of Coroebus to the later boys’ contests, races of armed men, chariots and foals.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.18.1–8Olympia: the Chest of Cypselus, second and third fieldsPausanias describes the second field of the chest, with Night nursing Death and Sleep, Justice and Injustice, Idas and Marpessa, Alcmena, Menelaus and Helen, Medea, the Muses, Atlas and Hercules, and Perseus pursued by the Gorgons. The third field shows armies meeting, which he reads as the migration of Melas to Corinth.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.53.1–11Tegea: Apollo, God of Streets, the sons of Tegeates and the sanctuaries of the cityPausanias explains why Tegea has images of Apollo, God of Streets: Apollo and Artemis took vengeance on those who ignored Latona, and Limon killed his brother Scephrus, for which the festival rite re-enacts a pursuit by the priestess of Artemis. He reports the migration of Cydon, Archedius and Gortys to Crete and the Cretan version of those names. He lists the Tegean tribes, the temples of Demeter and the Maid, Paphian Aphrodite, Dionysus and Apollo with an image by Chirisophus, the Common Hearth, and the high place of Clarian Zeus, then the roads to Laconia and their sanctuaries.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (6)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 6.1–115Calchas sends for NeoptolemusAt an assembly Menelaus laments the slain and proposes that the Argives sail home. Calchas answers that victory is at hand and that Tydeus' son and Odysseus must fetch Achilles' son from Scyros. Menelaus asks Odysseus to go, and the assembly breaks up for its meal.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.465–595Funeral games: leaping, javelin, chariot-race and horse-raceAgapenor wins the long jump and Euryalus the javelin, and no one dares box against Aias. Menelaus wins the chariot-race, in which Thoas and Eurypylus are thrown from their cars, and the text breaks off in the middle of the race. Agamemnon then wins the horse-race with Sthenelus second, and Thetis gives gifts to all the riders, while Odysseus is kept out by his wound.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.297–414Aeneas escapes; Menelaus and HelenAeneas, seeing Troy burning, carries his father Anchises on his shoulders and leads his son out through the fire, guided by Aphrodite. Calchas tells the Argives to spare him because he is fated to found a great city by the Tiber. Menelaus kills Deiphobus in Helen's chamber and finds Helen, but Aphrodite strikes the sword from his hand and fills him with love, and his brother urges him not to kill her.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.121–227Menelaus and Helen; Achilles' ghostA harper sings the story of the war at the Argives' feast before they sleep. Helen asks Menelaus to forgive her, he tells her to forget the past, and the two are reconciled. Achilles' ghost appears to Neoptolemus in a dream, advising him to be kind and honourable, and demands that Polyxeina be sacrificed at his tomb or he will raise storms against the fleet.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.333–455The madness of AiasThetis and the Nereids plunge back into the sea, where Cymothoe curses Prometheus. Aias, furious at the verdict, will not eat or sleep and arms himself in the night, and Athena strikes him with madness to spare Odysseus. Menelaus fears for the army, but Aias slaughters the flocks in the plain, thinking them Argives, and taunts a slain ram as if it were Odysseus.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.1–120The spoil of TroyThe Argives plunder Troy. Menelaus leads Helen from the burning city, and Cassandra falls to Agamemnon, Andromache to Neoptolemus and Hecuba to Odysseus. Xanthus mourns with his Nymphs, and the Argives sacrifice and feast at the ships.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 15.1–16.35Dithyrambs 15–16: the sons of Antenor; Heracles and DeianeiraTheano, priestess of Athena, opens the temple doors to the Greek envoys Odysseus and Menelaus, and the sons of Antenor lead them to the Trojan assembly, where Menelaus speaks of Insolence and Justice. In the next song the poet prays to Apollo, and sings how Heracles, after burning Oechalia, sacrifices at the cape of Cenaean Zeus. A god then weaves a cruel device for Deianeira when she learns that Iole is to come to the house as a bride, and she takes the fatal gift of Nessus.

Epic Cycle (3)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 5.1–38CypriaProclus' summary of the Cypria opens with Zeus planning the Trojan War with Themis, the quarrel of the three goddesses, Alexandrus, Helen and the gathering of the Greeks at Aulis. The fragments cover the earth burdened by men, the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, Helen's birth to Nemesis, Castor and Polydeuces, and Alexandrus carrying Helen to Ilium.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 9.1–10.2Returns and TelegonyProclus' summary of the Returns begins with Athena causing a quarrel between Agamemnon and Menelaus about the voyage from Troy. The fragments mention Medea and Aeson, Heracles at Themiscyra, and Telemachus marrying Circe. The Telegony, in two books, has Odysseus sailing to Elis after the suitors are buried, and the author says that Odysseus had a son Telegonus by Calypso.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 7.1–26Little IliadProclus' summary of the Little Iliad begins with the judging of the arms of Achilles, which Odysseus wins, and the madness and death of Aias. Philoctetes is brought from Lemnos, Eurypylus is killed by Neoptolemus and Epeius builds the wooden horse. The fragments give the girls' quarrel over Aias and Odysseus, Achilles at Scyros, the golden vine given to Laomedon for Ganymedes, and the death of Astyanax.

Menelaus in the ancient sources

Hesiod (2)

Homer (37)

Apollodorus (6)

Aeschylus (3)

Sophocles (4)

Euripides (73)

Theocritus (1)

Aristophanes (1)

Pausanias (10)

Quintus Smyrnaeus (6)

Bacchylides (1)

Epic Cycle (3)