Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...

, the name Eleius (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic peri ...

: Ἠλεῖος) may refer to: *Eleius, son of

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 ch ...

and

Eurycyda In Greek mythology, Eurycyda (Ancient Greek: Εὐρυκύδα, sic) was an Elean princess as the daughter of King Endymion of Elis by either Asterodia, Chromia or Hyperippe. Her brothers were Aetolus, Epeius, Paeon and possibly Naxos. With Poseid ...

. When

Aetolus Aetolus (; Ancient Greek: Αἰτωλός ''Aitolos'') was, in Greek mythology, a son of Endymion, great-great-grandson of Deucalion, and a Naiad nymph (Neis), or Iphianassa. Family According to Pausanias, Aetolus' mother was called Asterodia, ...

, his maternal uncle, was sent into exile, Eleius became king of the Epeans (who had received their original name from his other uncle,

Epeius There were two characters named Epeius (; Ancient Greek: Ἐπειός ''Epeiós'') or Epeus in Greek mythology. * Epeius, an Elean prince as son of King Endymion. He ran a race at Olympia, against his brothers Aetolus and Paeon, winning his fath ...

) and renamed his people the Eleans after himself, and the land was accordingly named

Elis Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

. He had a son

Augeas In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, , grc-gre, Αὐγείας), whose name means "bright", was king of Elis and father of Epicaste. Some say that Augeas was one of the Argonauts.Hyginus, ''Fabulae'14/ref> He is best known for his stables, w ...

. *Eleius, a descendant of the precedent (the lineage is as follows: Eleius I - Augeas - Agasthenes -

Polyxenus In Greek mythology, Polyxenus or Polyxeinus (, ''Poluxenos'', or , ''Poluxeinos'') is a name that may refer to: *Polyxenus, one of the first priests of Demeter and one of the first to learn the secrets of the Eleusinian Mysteries. *Polyxenus, s ...

Amphimachus In Greek mythology, Amphimachus (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφίμαχος derived from ἀμφί ''amphi'' "on both sides, in all directions, surrounding" and μαχη ''mache'' "battle") was a name attributed to multiple individuals. * Amphimachus, son ...

- Eleius II), and also king of Elis. It was during his reign that the

Heracleidae The Heracleidae (; grc, Ἡρακλεῖδαι) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles (Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also ...

assembled under the leadership of Aristomachus' sons to attempt to return to

Peloponnesus The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridge which ...

. *Eleius, son of

Tantalus Tantalus ( grc, Τάνταλος ) was a Greek mythological figure, most famous for his punishment in Tartarus: he was made to stand in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches, with the fruit ever eluding his grasp, and the wate ...

and another possible eponym of Elis.

Stephanus of Byzantium Stephanus or Stephan of Byzantium ( la, Stephanus Byzantinus; grc-gre, Στέφανος Βυζάντιος, ''Stéphanos Byzántios''; centuryAD), was a Byzantine grammarian and the author of an important geographical dictionary entitled ''Ethni ...

, s.v. ''Ēlis''

Notes

References

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC *Pausanias of Sicily, physician of th ...

, ''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.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

, ''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.
{{Greek myth index Kings of Elis Kings in Greek mythology Children of Poseidon Demigods in classical mythology Elean characters in Greek mythology Elean mythology