In
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 ...
, Myles (;
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 ...
: Μύλης means 'mill-man') was an ancient king of
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, c ...
. He was the son of the King
Lelex and possibly the
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 ...
Queen
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 Eu ...
, and brother of
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 woma ...
. Myles was the father of
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 ...
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