User:Paul August/Megapenthes (son of Menelaus)

Megapenthes (son of Menelaus)

Sources

Ancient

Apollodorus

3.11.1

Now Menelaus had by Helen a daughter Hermione and, according to some, a son Nicostratus; and by a female slave Pieris, an Aetolian, or, according to Acusilaus, by Tereis, he had a son Megapenthes;² and by a nymph Cnossia, according to Eumelus, he had a son Xenodamus.

² Compare Hom. Od. 4.10-12.

Homer

Odyssey

4.10–12

but for his son he was bringing to his home from Sparta the daughter of Alector, even for the stalwart Megapenthes, who was his son well-beloved,1 born of a slave woman;

15.99–125

And Menelaus himself went down to his vaulted treasure-chamber, [100] not alone, for with him went Helen and Megapenthes. But when they came to the place where his treasures were stored, the son of Atreus took a two-handled cup, and bade his son Megapenthes bear a mixing bowl of silver. And Helen came up to the chests [105] in which were her richly-broidered robes, that she herself had wrought. One of these Helen, the beautiful lady, lifted out and bore away, the one that was fairest in its broideries, and the amplest. It shone like a star, and lay beneath all the rest. Then they went forth through the house until they came to [110] Telemachus; and fair-haired Menelaus spoke to him, and said: “Telemachus, may Zeus, the loud-thundering lord of Here, verily bring to pass for thee thy return, even as thy heart desires. And of all the gifts that lie stored as treasures in my house, I will give thee that one which is fairest and costliest. [115] I will give thee a well-wrought mixing-bowl. It is all of silver, and with gold are the rims thereof gilded, the work of Hephaestus; and the warrior Phaedimus, king of the Sidonians, gave it me, when his house sheltered me as I came thither; and now I am minded to give it to thee.” [120] So saying, the warrior, son of Atreus, placed the two-handled cup in his hands. And the strong Megapenthes brought the bright mixing-bowl of silver and set it before him, and fair-cheeked Helen came up with the robe in her hands, and spoke, and addressed him:

Pausanias

2.18.6

When Orestes became king of the Lacedaemonians, they themselves consented to accept him for they considered that the sons of the daughter of Tyndareus had a claim to the throne prior to that of Nicostratus and Megapenthes, who were sons of Menelaus by a slave woman.

3.18.13

[Describing the throne of Apollo at Amyclae:] there is one horse only carrying Megapenthes, the son of Menelaus, and Nicostratus.

3.19.9

The name of Therapne is derived from the daughter of Lelex, and in it is a temple of Menelaus; they say that Menelaus and Helen were buried here. The account of the Rhodians is different. They say that when Menelaus was dead, and Orestes still a wanderer, Helen was driven out by Nicostratus and Megapenthes and came to Rhodes, where she had a friend in Polyxo,

Modern

Fowler

p. 529

§18.2.2 MEGAPENTHES AND THE CHILDREN OF MENELAOS (Akous. fr. 41; Eumel. fr. 6)

Akous. fr. 41 says that Megapenthes was the illegitimate son of Menelaos and a slave woman Tereis. Homer has a role for this son in Odyssey 4 and 14, and mentions his slave mother at 4.12, without naming her. This started the game of guessing her identity. The scholia to the Odyssey passage and Apollodorus relate some of the suggestions, most of which are merely ethnics, a common way of naming slaves.²⁶ Akousilaos' 'Tereis', though not an ethnic, may have Thracian associations (cf. Tereus); it is a unique name (not in LGPN), and could be corrupt (comapre variants cited in the apparatus). ...

Apollodorus also mentions Nikostratos as another child of Menelaos and Helen, (a slave was the mother says Paus. 2.18.6, 3.19.9)

Grimal

s.v. Megapenthes 1

(Μεγαπένθς) [sic!]

The name (meaning 'great sorrow') of an illegitimate son of Menelaus, who was born while Helen was away. His mother was a slave, in some versions called Pieris and in others Tereis (Table 13). Menelaus married him to the daughter of Alector of Sparta. Since he was illegitimate, the Lacedaemonians would not let him succeed Menelaus. The throne went to Orestes. Another story said that after the death of Menelaus, when Orestes was still mad and being pursued by the Erinyes, Megapenthes and his half-brother Nicostratus (the son of Menelaus and Helen; but see MENELAUS) had driven HELEN out. She found safety in Rhodes with Polyxo.

Hard

Hard, p. 441

Although Hermione is the only child of Helen and Menelaos in the Homeric epics, the couple are sometimes credited with a son too, Nikostratos (Victorious Army), whos name would suggest that he was born after the Trojan War. Or else Nikostratus was an illegitimate son of Menelaos by a slave girl, as is the case with Megapenthes, who was fathered by the king shortly after the abduction of Helen, hence his name (Great Sorrow).^{22 [Hes fr. 175; Apollod. 3.11.1; Paus. 2.18.5 (Nikostratus illegitimate like Megapenthes).]}

Tripp

s.v. Megapenthes (2)

A son of Menelaüs by a slave women, Pieris or Tereïs. Menelaüs married Megapenthes to Alector's daughter. After their father's death, Megapenthes and his brother Nicostratus, were said by the Rhodians to have driven Helen from Sparta. However, their claims to the throne were passed over in favor of those of Orestes. [Homer, Odyssey, 4.10-12; Pausanias 2.18.-6, 3.10.9.]