Menelaion

The Menelaion (Ancient Greek: Μενελάειον, romanized: Menelaeion) is an archaeological site in Therapne (Laconia, Greece), located on a ridge approximately 5 km from the modern (and classical) city of Sparta. The archaeological hill complex of Therapne dates from the Bronze Age Mycenaean civilization and comprises four hills: the Northern hill, Menelaion, Profitis Ilias and Aetos. The archaic name of the place was also Therapne (Ancient Greek: Θεράπνη). When Homer composed the Iliad and described the wealthy kingdom of King Menelaus and Queen Helen, the site he was likely referencing was this Mycenaean complex at Therapne. Fluvial deposits of the valley of Eurotas, mild climate and low hills which protect the area, are forming the general geographical and geological context of the archaeological site which revealed few Middle Helladic findings on the Northern hill and major settlement of the Mycenaean period in the Menelaion. This "proto-Sparta" was part of the standard Mycenaean culture. Its elites wore gold jewelry, traded extensively across the Mediterranean, and enjoyed a refined lifestyle — the exact opposite of the minimalist, anti-wealth lifestyle Classical Sparta later adopted. When resettling the area after the Bronze Age collapse, the early Spartans did not rebuild on the ridge but established the city of Sparta down in the unfortified valley below. Around the 8th century BC, the Spartans built a monumental hero-shrine directly over the ruins, naming it Menelaion. They dedicated this shrine to Menelaus and Helen, worshipping them as divine ancestors to legitimize their own political control over the region.