Sparta
The whereabouts of the Sparta (the Doric form of Sparte) mentioned in the Catalogue of Ships (2.582) has been debated. The Archaeological Site of Sparta and the Acropolis of Ancient Sparta to the north of the modern town of Sparti are from the historical period. Homer's Sparta was beloved to Hera, “Argos and Sparta and Mycenae of the broad streets” (Iliad 4. 51-52). Sparta in the Odyssey usually refers to the palace of Menelaus and Helen. Mycenaean finds at the historical Sparta, and in modern Sparta, are relatively few.
At the Menelaion, however, about four kilometres south-east of the Acropolis, excavations by Catling (1974-1989) uncovered inscribed dedications which prove this site was known to the ancient Spartans, from the Late Geometric period at least, as the burial place of Helen and Menelaus. The excavator was sure that this was the site of Mycenaean Sparta, partly because of the size of the Mycenaean settlement and the nature of the buildings, but chiefly because it was where the Spartans themselves believed it to have been. According to Hope Simpson, there is "no longer any reason to doubt that the Menelaion site is to be identified as Homeric Sparte."
The videos show photographs of the Acropolis of Sparta, olive trees and mdern buildings on top, and of views and from the Menelaion.
Locations: 37°01'38.1"N 21°41'41.0"E (Acropolis of Ancient Sparta), 37°04'55.3"N 22°25'32.9"E (Archaeological Site of Sparta), 37°04'01.0"N 22°27'24.0"E (Menelaion)
Menelaus's contingent
Nine localities, one leader, 60 ships, unspecified number of men.