Menelaus in the Archaic Period

Not Quite the Best of the Achaeans

Anna R. Stelow

Presents the first book-length study devoted to Menelaus, making a vital contribution to scholarship on an important figure in Greek mythology
Draws on a range of literary, visual, and archaeological evidence, establishing a methodology for a cross-disciplinary study of Greek mythological heroes
Advances our understanding of ancient Greek hero cult through detailed analysis of the archaeology of the cult of Menelaus and Helen at Sparta

Menelaus in the Archaic Period

Not Quite the Best of the Achaeans

Anna R. Stelow

Description

While there have been many studies devoted to the major heroes and heroines of Homeric epic, among them Achilles, Odysseus, and Helen, the figure of Menelaus has remained notably overlooked in this strand of scholarship. Menelaus in the Archaic Period is the first book-length study of the Homeric character, taking a multidisciplinary approach to his depiction in archaic Greek poetry, art, and cult through detailed analysis of ancient literary, visual, and material evidence.

The volume is divided into two parts, the first of which examines the portrayal of Menelaus in the Homeric poems as a unique 'personality' with an integral role to play in each narrative, as depicted through typical patterns of speech and action and through intertextual allusion. The second part explores his representation both in other poetry of the archaic period - including lyric poetry and Simonides' 'Plataea elegy ' - and also archaic art and local Sparta cult, drawing on the literary, archaeological, and inscriptional evidence for the cult of Menelaus with Helen at Therapne. The depiction of Menelaus in archaic art is a particular focal point: Chapter 4 provides a methodology for the interpretation of heroic narrative on archaic Greek vases through iconography and inscriptions and establishes his conventional visual 'identity' on black figure Athenian vases, while an annotated catalogue of images details those that fall outside the 'norm'. Menelaus emerges from this comprehensive study as a unique and likeable character whose relationship with Helen was a popular theme in both epic poetry and vase painting, but one whose portrayal evinced a significant narrative range, with an array of continuities and differences in how he was represented by the Greeks, not only within the archaic period but also in comparison to classical Athens.

Menelaus in the Archaic Period

Not Quite the Best of the Achaeans

Anna R. Stelow

Introduction: Methods and Terms
The 'Homeric Question'
Orality, Traditional Referentiality, and Neoanalysis
Homeric Intertextuality and Methodologies of Allusion
Theories of Homeric Character Depiction
Overview of Part I: Homer
Overview of Part II: Votaries, Painters, and Poets
Part I. Homer
1. The Iliad
The Language of Menelaus
The Story of Menelaus
2. The Odyssey
Introduction: Menelaus Returned Home
Pylos
Sparta
Proteus and the Apotheosis of Menelaus
The Departure of Telemachus
Envoi
Part II. Votaries, Painters, and Poets
3. Why Menelaus? Alcman, Sappho, Stesichorus, [Hesiod], and the Cycle
Alcman
'Cyclic' Epic Fragments: Cypria
Little Iliad; Ilioupersis
Nostoi
The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women
Sappho frr. 16 17
Stesichorus: Helen, Palinode, Ilioupersis, Nostoi
Conclusion
4. Menelaus in Archaic Art
Introduction: Heroic Narrative in Archaic Art
Menelaus and Helen
Menelaus without Helen
Naming Menelaus a Hero in Archaic Art
5. The Cult of Menelaus and Helen at Therapne
Introduction
Literary Testimonia to the Cult of Menelaus
Material Evidence for the Cult of Menelaus and Helen at Therapne
Inscriptions and the Cult of Menelaus
6. Menelaus *E*u*r*uβιη*4: Simonides and the End of the Story
Simonides' 'Plataea Elegy'
Conclusion: The End of the Story
Endmatter
Appendix: Menelaus Genealogy

Menelaus in the Archaic Period

Not Quite the Best of the Achaeans

Anna R. Stelow

Author Information

Anna R. Stelow, Researcher in the Department of Classics, University of Virginia

Anna R. Stelow is a researcher in ancient Greek literature at the University of Virginia. Her interests include Homer and archaic Greek poetry and heroic narrative in archaic Greek art.

Menelaus in the Archaic Period

Not Quite the Best of the Achaeans

Anna R. Stelow

Reviews and Awards

"In short, this essential volume (with 19 black-and-white illustrations, full footnotes, a good bibliography and an index locorum and a general index) makes manifest not only Menelaus' well-developed character but the sheer sophistication of the art and poetry of Archaic Greece." -- David Stuttard, Classics for all

"This book will be necessary reading for anyone engaging with Agamemnon's brother, and I have no doubt that it will stimulate wider interest in Helen's husband too." -- James Lloyd-Jones, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"Stelow has produced an indispensable and encyclopaedic work on the figure of Menelaus ... This book will be necessary reading" -- James Lloyd-Jones, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"The reader comes away from this volume with the impression that Menelaus was more significant and more interesting than normally assumed." -- G. D. Bird, CHOICE

"A well-researched and clearly written book ... a range of theories and evidence presented in an eminently useful manner." -- Joel P. Christensen, The Classical Review

"By rescuing Menelaus from relative obscurity, Stelow has given the world a truly revelatory insight into the works of Homer, which is quite a task considering the plethora of books written about it. With a thorough 30-page bibliography and extensive footnotes, this is a landmark study which will surely be appreciated by the only Achaean hero in Homer's poems who is still alive somewhere." -- Cliff Cunningham, Sun News Tucson