Its time for another Challenge Studio adventure, I've already visited The Trojan War earlier in the Challenge with my Ajax figure and I'm going back there again in this post.
High Adventure: Whether it’s battling mummies in a pyramid, or scaling the Himalayas in search of a Yeti, the entries for this studio all remind us of the spirit of High Adventure, daring and risk-taking. All that, and fighting a giant Gorilla on the Empire State Building.
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I think you could definitely call Menelaus a High Adventurer, he and the Greek armies of the day set off to Troy to reclaim Helen, who had ran off with Paris. Luckily for us, all the adventures were written down by Homer fro us to read.
Homer's Iliad is the most comprehensive source for Menelaus's exploits during the Trojan War. In Book 3, Menelaus challenges Paris to a duel for Helen's return. Menelaus soundly beats Paris, but before he can kill him and claim victory, Aphrodite spirits Paris away inside the walls of Troy. In Book 4, while the Greeks and Trojans squabble over the duel's winner, Athena inspires the Trojan Pandarus to shoot Menelaus with his bow and arrow. However, Athena never intended for Menelaus to die and she protects him from the arrow of Pandarus. Menelaus is wounded in the abdomen, and the fighting resumes. Later, in Book 17, Homer gives Menelaus an extended aristeia as the hero retrieves the corpse of Patroclus from the battlefield.
Menelaus was a king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the Iliad, Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of the Greek army, under his elder brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. Prominent in both the Iliad and Odyssey, Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and Greek tragedy, the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus.
Homer's Iliad is the most comprehensive source for Menelaus's exploits during the Trojan War. In Book 3, Menelaus challenges Paris to a duel for Helen's return. Menelaus soundly beats Paris, but before he can kill him and claim victory, Aphrodite spirits Paris away inside the walls of Troy. In Book 4, while the Greeks and Trojans squabble over the duel's winner, Athena inspires the Trojan Pandarus to shoot Menelaus with his bow and arrow. However, Athena never intended for Menelaus to die and she protects him from the arrow of Pandarus. Menelaus is wounded in the abdomen, and the fighting resumes. Later, in Book 17, Homer gives Menelaus an extended aristeia as the hero retrieves the corpse of Patroclus from the battlefield.
According to Hyginus, Menelaus killed eight men in the war, and was one of the Greeks hidden inside the Trojan Horse. During the sack of Troy, Menelaus killed Deiphobus, who had married Helen after the death of Paris.
So there we have my 4th entry into the Challenge and Menelaus will be joining Ajax on my Dad's shelf as he's part of my Dad's birthday present on the 27th Jan.
1 x 25mm figure 5 pts
Bonus round 20pts
Total 25 pts!
This gives me a total of 106 points
Super figure and well painted Ray.
ReplyDeleteCheers Rich!
DeleteNice work Ray, he is an imposing looking figure.
ReplyDeleteThanks Donnie.
DeleteLovely figure Ray and a nice synopsis on Menelaus. I remember the name from school but had forgotten the details.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lawrence.
DeleteGreat looking figure
ReplyDeleteCheers Neil.
DeleteI don't think I have ever heard of him but I may not have had the classical education Lawrence enjoyed! Aphrodite and Athena seem to have caused a lot of mischief...that's the trouble with having female God's!
ReplyDeleteHelen of Troy's one time hubby!
DeleteGreat figure, Ray, and nice write up about him too. Studying Homer at A Level was one of the main reasons I became an archaeologist. Though I never managed to get to any Homeric sites - Rome being as close as I got.
ReplyDeleteNever knew that about you Simon, I'd have lived to have studied and worked in archaeology. And worked on Roman sites too, you lucky devil you!
DeleteA fitting representation of Menelaus. I haven’t read those books in decades and seeing this mini and your Ajax beforehand has me thinking I might have to revisit those classics sometime this year
ReplyDeleteIt's hard going but we'll worth the read.
DeleteGreat pose for a figure and good paint-job too
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Delete