Agis I
Agis I (c. 930-900 BC) was a king of Sparta and the eponym of the Agiad dynasty. He was the first true king of Sparta. His genealogy is known to go all the way back to Hercules, which puts him in much mythology, but he is known to be real. Agis was known to be the man who led the invasion and capture of Helos. The town tried to fight them off, but were defeated. They were then given the name helots. Not much is known about this man, but he helped create Sparta's society.
Leonidas I
Leonidas was born 540 BCE. Leonidas was king of Sparta and was the king who led 300 Spartans in the Battle of Thermopylae. King Leonidas was 17th in the Agiad line. Being the third born, Leonidas was not heir to the throne. As time went by and wars were fought, Leonidas's elder brother took the throne. Outraged, his other brother tried to take the throne, but was killed in the process. King and brother of Leonidas, wished for Leonidas to be king. Leonidas's brother fled with fear and insanity and Leonidas took the throne in 491 BCE. Leonidas was then chosen to lead 300 Spartan troops in the Battle of Thermopylae. Leonidas led 300 Spartan against over 50,000. Leonidas died in the battle, 480 BCE.
Cleomenes III
Cleomenes III reigned in Sparta about 235-219 B.C. He made a determined attempt to reform the social condition of Sparta. Cleomenes III became king once his father, Leonidas II, passed away. As king he instituted Spartan reforms, abolished the Ephors, and redistributed land. After twice defeating the forces of the Achaean League in Arcadia, near Mount Lycaeum and at Leuctra, he strengthened his position by assassinating four of the ephors, abolishing the ephorate, which had usurped the supreme power, and banishing some eighty of the leading oligarchs.The original leader of the Achaean League came back for revenge. This led Clemenes to take refuge at Alexandria with Ptolemy Euergetes, but was arrested by his successor, Ptolemy Philopator, on a charge of conspiracy. Escaping from prison he tried to raise a revolt, but the attempt failed and to avoid capture he put an end to his life.
Helen of Troy (15th-Century BC)
Helen of Troy is known to be the one who started the Trojan war between Sparta and Troy. Helen was thought to be daughter of Zeus and the most beautiful woman in the world, blessed by Aphrodite. When Helen turned ten years old, she was kidnapped by an Athenian king due to her beauty. She was quickly rescued as suitors began lining up and searching for this beauty. The suitors had a competition for Helen's hand and a man named Menelaus won. Aphrodite supposedly chose a different suitor for Helen named Paris. After a while, Helen leaves the man in Sparta and flees to Troy to be with the man Aphrodite promised Helen to. The Greeks leave Greece to retrieve Helen causing war with the Trojans, which lasted ten years. When the Trojan women are taken as prisoners, Helen goes back to Sparta as queen and wife of king Menelaus, her original suitor.
Menelaus (15th-Century BC)
Menelaus was Helen of Troy's husband and played a major role in the Trojan War, trying to get Helen back. Helen's step-father, Tyndareus, was originally king of Sparta, but later passed down the throne to Helen. Helen, being the most beautiful woman on the earth, had thousand of suitors. Winning the competition, Menelaus took Helen as his own. Aphrodite, on the other hand, Had already chosen a different suitor for Helen. Since Helen was unhappy, she left Menelaus and fled to Troy to be with the man Aphrodite promised Helen to. Outraged, King Menelaus leads fleets of Greek ships to Troy to get Helen back. This causes war and Menelaus get back Helen. Menelaus was going to kill Helen for what she did, but her beauty swayed him not to. They then return to Sparta as king and queen.