Menelaus Tyndareus would support him in his courting of Tyndareus’s niece Penelope, the daughter of Icarius. Tyndareus readily agreed, and Odysseus proposed that, before the decision was made, all the suitors should swear a most solemn oath to defend the chosen husband in any quarrel. Then it was decreed that straws were to be drawn for Helen’s hand. The suitor who won was Menelaus (Tyndareus, not to displease the powerful Agamemnon offered him another of his daughters, Clytaemnestra). The rest of the suitors swore their oaths, and Helen and Menelaus were married, Menelaus becoming a ruler of Sparta with Helen after
Nicander of Sparta Nicander of Sparta Nicander (reigned from c. 750 to c. 725 BC) was king of Sparta and a member of the Eurypontid dynasty. Sparta was a dyarchy, having two kings at the same time, an Agiad and a Eurypontid. The Agiad king at the time of Nicander was Teleclus, who was allegedly assassinated by the neighbouring Messenians. Nicander was the son of the previous Eurypontid king, Charilaus and was succeeded as Eurypontid king by his own son, Theopompus of Sparta. As king, Nicander and his allies the Asinaeans carried out a raid on nearby Argolis, causing the Argives to attack