Menelaus Tyndareus and Leda abdicated the thrones. Menelaus and Helen had a daughter Hermione as supported, for example, by Sappho, whilst some variations of the myth suggest they had three sons as well: Aithiolas, Maraphius, and Pleisthenes. Their palace (ἀνάκτορον) has been discovered (the excavations started in 1926 and continued until 1995) in Pellana, Laconia, to the north-west of modern (and classical) Sparta. Other archaeologists consider that Pellana is too far away from other Mycenaean centres to have been the "capital of Menelaus". According to legend, in a return for awarding her a golden apple inscribed "to the fairest," Aphrodite promised
Polydorus of Sparta unique constitution of Sparta due to a lack of sources, so analyzing the reliability of Plutarch on Polydorus is difficult. Pausanias, another Greek writing under Roman rule, gave a detailed account of the First Messenian War, a conflict between Sparta and their neighbors who would soon become their slaves. He tells us that Polydorus was in charge of the left side of the Spartan forces at Ampheia, and that his co-king Theopompus was in command of the right flank (more influential for Spartan offensive tactics). Polydorus of Sparta Polydorus (Polydoros) (; reigned from c. 700 to c. 665 BC) was