Menelaus Paris the most beautiful woman in all the world. After concluding a diplomatic mission to Sparta during the latter part of which Menelaus was absent to attend the funeral of his maternal grandfather Catreus in Crete, Paris ran off to Troy with Helen despite his brother Hector's prohibition. Invoking the oath of Tyndareus, Menelaus and Agamemnon raised a fleet of a thousand ships and went to Troy to secure Helen's return; the Trojans refused, providing a "casus belli" for the Trojan War. Homer's "Iliad" is the most expansive source for Menelaus’s exploits during the Trojan War. In Book 3, Menelaus
Nicander of Sparta Asine in return. 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