The Private Life of Helen of Troy (book) The Private Life of Helen of Troy (book) The Private Life of Helen of Troy by John Erskine was published in 1925 by Bobbs Merrill and became a bestseller the following year. The book was adapted from the Greek legend of Helen of Troy and follows the famous woman's life after the burning of Troy. In the beginning, Menelaus - Helen's husband - leaves Troy in search of her and plans to kill her for all the trouble her beauty has caused. Instead, the two set out on a week-long voyage back to Sparta. Menelaus questions why his wife ran
Menelaus member of the doomed House of Atreus. Although early authors, such as Aeschylus refer in passing to Menelaus’ early life, detailed sources are quite late, post-dating 5th-century BC Greek tragedy. According to these sources, Menelaus' father, Atreus, had been feuding with his brother Thyestes over the throne of Mycenae. After a back-and-forth struggle that featured adultery, incest and cannibalism, Thyestes gained the throne after his son Aegisthus murdered Atreus. As a result, Atreus’ sons, Menelaus and Agamemnon, went into exile. They first stayed with King Polyphides of Sicyon, and later with King Oeneus of Calydon. But when they thought the