ABSTRACT
Menelaos was informed of his wife’s abduction by the goddess Iris (who often acted as a divine messenger, see pp. 56-7), and hurried back to Greece to consult with his brother Agamemnon about raising an army to recover Helen from Troy.45 Since all the former suitors of Helen were bound by oath to support her husband in such circumstances (see p. 440), most of the leading rulers and heroes of Greece would be obliged to fight as his allies. In the Cypria, Menelaos (and possibly Agamemnon too) travelled through Greece with Nestor to recruit chieftains for the expedition. Or else Agamemnon simply sent heralds to advise the former suitors of their obligations.46 Of the many suitors, Odysseus alone attempted to avoid the summons (see p. 459). Others agreed to take part of their own free will, most notably Achilles, who had been a child at the time of Helen’s marriage, but was now invited to take part because he was a young warrior of exceptional promise.
