Lelex (king of Sparta)
Lelex | |
|---|---|
| Spouse(s) | Cleocharia |
| Children | Myles Polycaon Pterelaus |
| Parent(s) | Helios (father) |
In Greek mythology, Lelex (/ˈliːlɪks/; Ancient Greek: Λέλεξ, gen. Λέλεγος) was one of the original inhabitants of Laconia which was called after him, its first king, Lelegia.
Mythology[]
Lelex was said to be autochthonous[1] or his father is said to be the sun-god Helios or the sea-god Poseidon.[2] He was married to the Naiad nymph Cleocharia and became the father of several sons, including Myles and Polycaon. Some call his wife , and his children Myles, , , and .[3]
In other traditions, again, Lelex is described as a son of , and as the father of Amyclas.[4]
Through Myles, Lelex was the grandfather of Eurotas who had a daughter named Sparta.[5] This woman later marry Lacedaemon[6] who named the city of Sparta after his wife; however, the city's name would also be his own, as it was called either Lacedaemon or Sparta interchangeably.
Sources indicate that Perseus is a descendant of Lelex. Lelex’s great-granddaughter Sparta gave birth to a daughter named Eurydice who had married Acrisius, the king of Argos. Eurydice became the mother of Danaë, thus making her Perseus’ grandmother.[7]
Lelex appears to have been conceived by ancient mythographers as the eponymous founder of the Leleges, a semi-mythical people who lived on both sides of the Aegean Sea.[8] He had a heroön at Sparta.[9]
Notes[]
- ^ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.10.3
- ^ Beck, p. 59
- ^ Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 61.5
- ^ Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica s.v. Lakedaimon
- ^ Guide to Greece, 3.1.1-3.
- ^ Pausanias. "Sparta, mythical history". Description of Greece, translated by WHS Jones.
- ^ Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. "Eurydice" (2), p. 157.
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 4.1.1
- ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 3.12.5
References[]
- Beck, Hans, Localism and the Ancient Greek City-State, University of Chicago Press, 2020, ISBN 978-0-226-71134-8. Google books.
- Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Stephanus of Byzantium, Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870), published 1849. A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling. Online version at the Topos Text Project.
| Lelegids |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Lacedaemonids | ||
| Atreids | ||
| Early Heraclids |
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| Heraclids Agiad dynasty |
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| Heraclids Eurypontid dynasty |
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- Autochthons of classical mythology
- Mythological kings of Laconia
- Kings in Greek mythology
- Children of Helios
- Demigods in classical mythology
- Characters in Greek mythology
- Children of Poseidon