As Troy descended into chaos, Menelaus, King of Sparta, stormed into the palace. He swore he would find Helen and kill her. Entering the Trojan harem, he spotted Deiphobus at once.
Ever since Hector's death, Deiphobus had taken his brother's place as the pillar of his family and the Trojan people. After Paris died, Helen became his. Just as Oedipus had unknowingly married his own mother, it mattered little that Helen had once been Queen of Sparta.
The greeks left behind the wooden horse after their withdrawal. The Trojans brought it into the city and held a victory feast. Deiphobus attended the celebratory banquet as well. Half drunk, he heard that the greeks had attacked. Staggering through the palace corridors to Helen's bedroom, he never expected to encounter Menelaus at the door. The sight of Deiphobus only further enraged Menelaus. For the past ten years, the man he had hated most was Paris, but Paris was already dead. Now, seeing Deiphobus rush toward Helen's room, he flew into a rage.
"Die here! Die at my wife's door!" Menelaus roared. "You must understand that no criminal can escape from the hands of Themis, goddess of justice."
Then he struck Deiphobus down with his sword.
In Virgil's Aeneid, Aeneas discovered Deiphobus's corpse. It had been mutilated beyond recognition, its face torn apart, its nose gone, a horrifying sight. Aeneas could barely recognize him.
Rather than dying at human hands, Deiphobus seemed to have been attacked by some wild beast.
As for Helen, she did not hide away in some dark corner as she had in the Homeric epics. She ran through Troy beneath flames shooting into the sky, seeking shelter, but everyone looked at her with hostility. Greeks and Trojans alike hurled stones at her, hoping she would die. When Menelaus found