Therapne
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Therapne (Ancient Greek: Θεράπνη) was a town in ancient Laconia, within the territory of Sparta.
According to Greek mythology, its name comes from a daughter of Lelex. The place was distinguished for housing the Menelaion, a temple to Menelaus, where it was believed that the bodies of Helen of Troy and Menelaus were buried.[1]
Sanctuary of Helen
Herodotus writes that there was a sanctuary of Helen at Therapne, and relates the tradition that a nurse went every day to that sanctuary to ask that it free a girl from her ugliness and that one day a woman appeared who caressed the hair of the girl and pronounced that she would be the most beautiful girl in Sparta, after which the same day the appearance of the girl changed from ugly to beautiful.[2]
The lyric poet Alcman in the 7th century BCE. mentions a temple in Therapne attesting to the antiquity of the place,[3] There was a festival at the town, which was called Meneleaeia (Μενελάεια) in honour of Menelaus and Helen.[4]
