The first argument certainly carries some weight, and does seem to imply that there was something exceptional in Menelaus’ fair hair. But the Atreidæ, according to fifth century legend, were Pelopids, and this is hinted, though not expressly stated, in the Iliad. Now other legends bring Pelops from Phrygia, though, of course, this may only signify that he was a Phrygian, who left the Briges before their departure for Asia. But the Pelopidæ, in their customs, differed from the other “Achæans.” Later legend attributes to them a type of endogamy, interpreted afterwards as incest, infant sacrifice, and cannibalistic habits. Æschylus[375] looks upon these customs as crimes, and attributes them to a curse upon the House of Tantalus. I think, however, we may see in the Pelopids, and perhaps in other groups of _op_ peoples, some non-Nordic type, most probably Alpines of some kind, who had accompanied the “Achæan” heroes southwards. That one of these should be fair-haired would be unusual, though by no means impossible if he had had a Nordic ancestress. If ξανθὀς ever meant brown it must have meant light brown or auburn, and its force would be equally as great as if it meant flaxen; the Mediterraneans and eastern Alpines never have light brown hair; it is not uncommon among Nordics. Lastly we may take the case of the Thracians, who, as we have seen, were almost certainly the stock from which the “Achæans” were derived. According to Ridgeway[376] some of these were fair and some dark, that is to say a fair Nordic strain had entered a land peopled with dark Alpines, and the result was a red-haired strain (πυρρὀς), as is often the case when fair and dark strains have mixed.[377]