Menelaus

American  

[men-l-ey-uhs] / ˌmɛn lˈeɪ əs /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. a king of Sparta, the husband of Helen and brother of Agamemnon, to whom he appealed for an army against Troy in order to recover Helen from her abductor, Paris.

---

Menelaus British  

/ ˌmɛnɪˈleɪəs /

noun

1. Greek myth a king of Sparta and the brother of Agamemnon. He was the husband of Helen, whose abduction led to the Trojan War

---

Example Sentences

When the woman is a powerful man’s wife — Helen was married to King Menelaus of Sparta — the effort to retrieve her can hardly help escalating to armed conflict.

From Washington Post • Oct. 28, 2021

As Whishaw spins out modern-ancient parallels, including a comparison of Arthur Miller to Menelaus, he strips down and changes into drag, eventually assuming Monroe’s look in “The Seven Year Itch.”

From The New Yorker • May 20, 2019

Leda's daughter Helen went on to marry King Menelaus of Sparta and her abduction by Prince Paris of Troy was what triggered the Trojan War, according to legend.

From BBC • Nov. 19, 2018

So do the breezy complacency of Menelaus, the innocence of Nausicaa, the gruff decency of the swineherd Eumaeus.

From New York Times • Dec. 5, 2017

Menelaus got back to find Helen gone, and he called upon all Greece to help him.

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton