red hair in the illiad

[Julian the apostate]

menelaus had red hair? did mycenes have hair colors as such and also do any of the islands actually match up in the ionic sea and such

[IrishArmenian]

Well, Menelaus could be that very small percentile of people who had ancestors from the Norse lands who traveled down to the area and assimilated into the culture, still holding on to one of their genes.

[Watchman]

I seem to recall having seen offhand mentions of the Thracians having relatively commonly been described as red-haired...

[Marshal Murat]

1.He could have Norse heritage
2.The Iiliad was created by the Celts, who used their history to create this epic, and that Menelaus, who has red hair, is actually a Celtic prince.
Check it out.

[Watchman]

Stupid question, but since when was Norse pedigree associated with red hair anyway...?

[Cataphract_Of_The_City]

Can you point us to the passage in question?

[Patriarch of Constantinople]

In the 4th Century AD, the Jewish physician Adamantios, described what he called the "true Greek" – or where the “Hellenic race has been kept pure” as follows:

"Wherever the Hellenic and Ionic race has been kept pure, we see proper tall men of fairly broad and straight build, neatly made, of fairly light skin and blond"

[KARTLOS]

In the 4th Century AD, the Jewish physician Adamantios, described what he called the "true Greek" – or where the “Hellenic race has been kept pure” as follows:

this quote provides suport for my proposistion that the ethnic composistion of "greeks" has changed considerably since classical times

i.e that for example blondeness was clearlly more common then

[Red Peasant]

In the 4th Century AD, the Jewish physician Adamantios, described what he called the "true Greek" – or where the “Hellenic race has been kept pure” as follows:

Hmm, C4 AD is over 1,500 years after Mycenaean times. A lot can happen in that amount of time. Red hair is described in the Iliad, written about C8 BC, and Homer didn't seem to have a problem with it. What's the problem? Maybe it was a metaphor, or a certain shade of brunette that 'looks' red. That's how modern Greeks normally explain away these inconvenient details. Quite amusing really. Personally, I think the red hair meant Menelaus was from Liverpool; the Mycenaeans were Scousers!

[Kagemusha]

According to Wiki: "Red is an uncommon hair color among humans, found mainly in Northern and Western European populations (and descendants of these populations), although it occurs in low frequencies throughout other parts of Europe and Asia."

So i think its possible that some Greeks could have had red hair without any more complicated theories.
Here is the full article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_hair

[Del Arroyo]

GAH!! If they can have blond hair, they can have red hair. Red hair is a hybrid of blondness.

GAH!

[Basileus]

While red hair is very rare in Greece you will find some people that have it, 2 cousins of mine have dark redish hair. In fact ive seen Turks/Lebanese/Iraqis etc with redish hair.