Sparta shrine associated with Menelaus, located east of Sparta, by the river Eurotas, on the hill "Profitis Ilias" (Coordinates: ). Built early 8th century BC it was believed by Spartans to be the home of Menelaus. In 1970 the British School in Athens started excavations in an attempt to locate Mycenaean remains in the area around Menelaion. Among other findings, they uncovered the remains of two Mycenaean mansions and found the first offerings dedicated to Helen and Menelaus. These mansions were destroyed by earthquake and fire, and archaeologists consider them the possible palace of Menelaus himself. Excavations made from the early
Mentes (King of the Cicones) king in the text. He is not the same character as the Mentes in the "Odyssey", who is king of the Taphians. Mentes (King of the Cicones) In the Iliad, Mentes (Μέντης) is the King of the Cicones. In Book XVII of The Iliad, Apollo disguises himself as Mentes to encourage Hector to fight Menelaus, ("Hector, now you're going after something you'll not catch, chasing the horses of warrior Achilles, descendant of Aeacus. No mortal man, except Achilles, can control or drive them, for an immortal mother gave him birth. Meanwhile, warrior Menelaus, Atreus' son, standing by Patroclus, has just