Menelaus
Μενέλαος
The king of Sparta whose loss became the Trojan War's cause.
When his wife Helen left with Paris for Troy, the old oath sworn by Helen's former suitors was invoked, and the Greek alliance was assembled. His brother Agamemnon took command.
In Book 3 of the Iliad he overwhelms Paris in single combat, but Aphrodite wraps Paris in mist and spirits him away.
After the war he came home safely with Helen, by way of Egypt. In Book 4 of the Odyssey, Telemachus visits him in Sparta to ask for news of his father.
While his brother's house collapsed in slaughter, he got the quiet ending — growing old with Helen. In Homer's world, that is rare.
SourcesHomer, Iliad · Odyssey