Menelaus
Husband of Helen and veteran of a long, storm-tossed homecoming of his own, Menelaus finally gives Telemachus the news he has traveled so far to find: Odysseus is alive.
Menelaus in the Odyssey
Menelaus, king of Sparta and husband of Helen, is the man whose loss started the Trojan War. After Troy, the winds carried him for eight years around the eastern Mediterranean and as far as Egypt before he reached home.
When Telemachus arrives, Menelaus is celebrating a double wedding. He welcomes the young man warmly and tells him how, stranded on the island of Pharos, he captured Proteus, the shape-shifting Old Man of the Sea, who revealed that Odysseus was alive and held by Calypso.
Key moments
- Book 4
He recognizes Telemachus by his tears at the mention of Odysseus.
- Book 4
He tells how he wrestled Proteus through every transformation until the god answered his questions.
- Book 15
He sends Telemachus home with guest-gifts, including a silver mixing bowl made by Hephaestus.
Relationship to Odysseus
A fellow Greek leader at Troy who learned Odysseus' fate from the sea god Proteus, and is the one who finally confirms to Telemachus that his father still lives.
Where this figure enters the journey
In Menelaus' palace, Telemachus hears at last of Calypso's island — the news that turns the search for his father into a rescue.
Open the map locationSparta