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Lelex
In Greek mythology, Lelex (; 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 or his father was the sun-god Helios or the sea-god Poseidon.Beck, p59/ref> He was married to the Naiad nymph Cleocharia and became the father of several sons, including Eurotas, and possibly Myles and Polycaon. Some called his wife Peridia and their children were Myles, Polyclon, Bomolochus and Therapne. In one tradition, again, Lelex was described as the son of Spartus, and father of Amyclas. The eponymous heroine Lakonia was credited to be a daughter of Lelex as well. Through Myles, Lelex was the grandfather of Eurotas, who had a daughter named Sparta.Pausanias, 3.1.1-3 This woman later marry Lacedaemon 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 interc ...
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Myles
In Greek mythology, Myles (; Ancient Greek: Μύλης means 'mill-man') was an ancient king of Laconia. He was the son of the King Lelex and possibly the naiad Queen Cleocharia, and brother of Polycaon. Myles was the father of Eurotas who begotten Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ... after whom the city of Sparta was named. Mythology After Lelex's death, Myles ruled over Laconia, and later on, following his own death, his son Eurotas succeeded him. Myles was said to be the first mortal to invent a mill and ground corn in Alesiae. References {{Greek-myth-stub Princes in Greek mythology Mythological kings of Laconia Kings in Greek mythology Laconian characters in Greek mythology Characters in Greek mythology Laconian mythology ...
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Eurotas
In Greek mythology, Eurotas (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρώτας) was a king of Laconia. Family Eurotas was the son of King Myles of Laconia and grandson of Lelex, eponymous ancestor of the Leleges. The '' Bibliotheca'' gave a slight variant of the mythological generation of Eurotas, who was described as the son of Lelex, born from the ground, by his wife Cleocharia. In some accounts, his mother was called Taygete instead. Eurotas had no male heir but he did have two daughters Sparta and Tiasa by Clete. Mythology Eurotas bequeathed the kingdom to Lacedaemon, the son of Zeus and Taygete, after whom Mount Taygetus was named, according to Pausanias.Pausanias, 3.1.2 This Lacedaemon married his daughter Sparta and renamed the state after his wife. Pausanias says: "It was Eurotas who channelled away the marsh-water from the plains by cutting through to the sea, and when the land was drained he called the river which was left running there the Eurotas." The "cutting through" is seen by ...
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Helios
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; grc, , , Sun; Homeric Greek: ) is the deity, god and personification of the Sun (Solar deity). His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") and Phaethon ("the shining"). Helios is often depicted in art with a radiant crown and driving a horse-drawn chariot through the sky. He was a guardian of oaths and also the god of sight. Though Helios was a relatively minor deity in Classical Greece, his worship grew more prominent in late antiquity thanks to his identification with several major solar divinities of the Roman period, particularly Apollo and Sol (Roman mythology), Sol. The Roman Emperor Julian (emperor), Julian made Helios the central divinity of his short-lived revival of Religion in ancient Rome, traditional Roman religious practices in the 4th century AD. Helios figures prominently in several works of Greek mythology, poetry, and literature, in whi ...
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Cleocharia
In Greek mythology, Cleocharia (; Ancient Greek: Κλεοχαρείας ''Kleokhareia'') was a naiad of Laconia who later on became the queen-consort of King Lelex of Lelegia. She was the ancestress of the Spartan royal family and gave birth to Eurotas (presumably named after his grandfather). Eurotas had a daughter named Sparta, who married Lacedaemon. The latter 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. In some accounts, Lelex's two children were Myles and Polycaon possibly by Cleocharia. In this account, Myles was the father of Eurotas instead.Pausanias, 3.1.1, 3.20.2, 4.1.1 & 4.1.5 Notes References * 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. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
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Leleges
The Leleges (; grc-gre, Λέλεγες) were an aboriginal people of the Aegean region, before the Greeks arrived. They were distinct from another pre-Hellenic people of the region, the Pelasgians. The exact areas to which they were native are uncertain, since they were apparently pre-literate and the only references to them are in ancient Greek sources. These references are casual and (it is alleged) sometimes fictitious. Likewise, little is known about the language of the ''Leleges''. Many Greek authors link the Leleges to the Carians of south-west Anatolia. Homer names the Leleges among the Trojan allies alongside the Carians, Pelasgians, Paeonians and Gaucones. Etymology It is thought that the name ''Leleges'' is an exonym, in a long-extinct language, rather than an endonym (or autonym). That is, during the Bronze Age the word ''lulahi'' apparently meaning "strangers" was used in the Luwian language and in other Anatolian languages. For example, in a Hittite cuneiform insc ...
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Poseidon
Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes. He also had the cult title "earth shaker". In the myths of isolated Arcadia he is related with Demeter and Persephone and he was venerated as a horse, however, it seems that he was originally a god of the waters.Seneca quaest. Nat. VI 6 :Nilsson Vol I p.450 He is often regarded as the tamer or father of horses, and with a strike of his trident, he created springs which are related to the word horse.Nilsson Vol I p.450 His Roman equivalent is Neptune. Poseidon was the protector of seafarers, and of many Hellenic cities and colonies. Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea when, following the overthrow of his father Cronus, the world was divided by lot among Cronus' three sons; Zeus w ...
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Autochthon (ancient Greece)
In ancient Greece, the concept of autochthones (from Ancient Greek ''autos'' "self," and '' chthon'' "soil"; i.e. "people sprung from earth itself") means the indigenous inhabitants of a country, including mythological figures, as opposed to settlers, and those of their descendants who kept themselves free from an admixture of colonizing entities. In mythology, autochthones are those mortals who have sprung from the soil, rocks and trees. They are rooted and belong to the land eternally. Mythology Autochthons are reported in the mythology of the following regions: In Attica: Amphictyon, Cecrops I, Cranaus, Erichthonius, Periphas. In Boeotia: Ogyges, Alalcomenes, Spartoi. In the Peloponnese: Pelasgus of Arcadia, Lelex of Laconia and Aras of Phliasia. Finally, in Atlantis, Evenor. The practice in ancient Greece of describing legendary heroes and men of ancient lineage as "earthborn" greatly strengthened the doctrine of autochthony. In Thebes, the race of Spartoi were believe ...
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Autochthon (ancient Greece)
In ancient Greece, the concept of autochthones (from Ancient Greek ''autos'' "self," and '' chthon'' "soil"; i.e. "people sprung from earth itself") means the indigenous inhabitants of a country, including mythological figures, as opposed to settlers, and those of their descendants who kept themselves free from an admixture of colonizing entities. In mythology, autochthones are those mortals who have sprung from the soil, rocks and trees. They are rooted and belong to the land eternally. Mythology Autochthons are reported in the mythology of the following regions: In Attica: Amphictyon, Cecrops I, Cranaus, Erichthonius, Periphas. In Boeotia: Ogyges, Alalcomenes, Spartoi. In the Peloponnese: Pelasgus of Arcadia, Lelex of Laconia and Aras of Phliasia. Finally, in Atlantis, Evenor. The practice in ancient Greece of describing legendary heroes and men of ancient lineage as "earthborn" greatly strengthened the doctrine of autochthony. In Thebes, the race of Spartoi were believe ...
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Polycaon
In Greek mythology, the name Polycaon (; Ancient Greek: Πολυκάων means ''"much-burning"'') may refer to the following individuals: *Polycaon, son of Lelex, king of Laconia, by the Naiad nymph, Cleochareia. Polycaon married an ambitious woman named Messene, daughter of King Triopas, of Argos. After his father's death, his brother Myles inherited the throne of Laconia. Messene, not wanting to be the wife of a simple anonymous man, collected an armed force from both Argos and Laconia. The newly married couple invaded the territory of which would be named after Polycaon's wife, Messenia. After establishing the newly conquered kingdom, they founded the city Andania, where they built their palace. *Polycaon, son of Butes. He married Evaechme, daughter of Hyllus and Iole (thus a granddaughter of Heracles).Pausanias4.2.1/ref> Notes References * Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ...
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Naiad
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water. They are distinct from river gods, who embodied rivers, and the very ancient spirits that inhabited the still waters of marshes, ponds and lagoon-lakes such as pre-Mycenaean Lerna in the Argolis. Etymology The Greek word is (, ), plural (, ). It derives from (), "to flow", or (), "running water". Mythology Naiads were often the object of archaic local cults, worshipped as essential to humans. Boys and girls at coming-of-age ceremonies dedicated their childish locks to the local naiad of the spring. In places like Lerna their waters' ritual cleansings were credited with magical medical properties. Animals were ritually drowned there. Oracles might be situated by ancient springs. Naiads could be dangerous: Hylas of the '' Argo''’s crew was lost when he was taken ...
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Therapne (mythology)
Therapne ( grc, Θεράπνη) was a town in ancient Laconia, within the territory of Sparta. According to Greek mythology, its name comes from a daughter of Lelex. The place was distinguished for housing the Menelaion, a temple to Menelaus, where it was believed that the bodies of Helen of Troy and Menelaus were buried. Herodotus writes that there was a sanctuary of Helen at Therapne, and relates the tradition that a nurse went every day to that sanctuary to ask that it free a girl from her ugliness and that one day a woman appeared who caressed the hair of the girl and pronounced that she would be the most beautiful girl in Sparta, after which the same day the appearance of the girl changed from ugly to beautiful. The lyric poet Alcman in the 7th century BCE. mentions a temple in Therapne attesting to the antiquity of the place, Pindar cites the place as one of the places where the Dioscuri resided. There was a festival at the town, which was called Meneleaeia (Μενελ ...
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Laconia
Laconia or Lakonia ( el, Λακωνία, , ) is a historical and administrative region of Greece located on the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparta. The word ''laconic''—to speak in a blunt, concise way—is derived from the name of this region, a reference to the ancient Spartans who were renowned for their verbal austerity and blunt, often pithy remarks. Geography Laconia is bordered by Messenia to the west and Arcadia to the north and is surrounded by the Myrtoan Sea to the east and by the Laconian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It encompasses Cape Malea and Cape Tainaron and a large part of the Mani Peninsula. The Mani Peninsula is in the west region of Laconia. The islands of Kythira and Antikythera lie to the south, but they administratively belong to the Attica regional unit of islands. The island, Elafonisos, situated between the Laconian mainland and Kythira, is part of Laconia. The Eurotas is the lon ...
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