Son of Lelex

Pterelaus was a son of Lelex

Lelex

In Greek mythology, Lelex was a King of Laconia. He was married to the Naiad nymph, Cleochareia. He had several sons, including Myles, Polycaon, Pterelaus, and Cteson. The parentage of Lelex is variously stated...

, a pre-Hellenic king whose descendants (the Leleges

Leleges

The Leleges were one of the aboriginal peoples of southwest Anatolia , who were already there when the Indo-European Hellenes emerged. The distinction between the Leleges and the Carians is unclear. According to Homer the Leleges were a distinct Anatolian tribe Homer...

) spread across Greece and beyond . Pterelaus ruled the land by the River Achelous

Acheloos River

The Achelous , also Acheloos, is a river in western Greece. It formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia of antiquity. It empties into the Ionian Sea...

, in the region later called Acarnania

Acarnania

Acarnania is a region of west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia, with the Achelous River for a boundary, and north of the gulf of Calydon, which is the entrance to the Gulf of Corinth. Today it forms the western part of the prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania. The capital...

. Pterelaus had numerous sons who settled the territory in the vicinity of the Achelous, including the nearby islands of the Ionian Sea . His sons Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor colonized the island of Ithaca

Ithaca

Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...

 (which took the name of one of his sons) and, in addition to Ithaca itself, founded the places on Ithaca named Neritum and Polyctorium. Taphius

Taphius

In Greek mythology, Taphius founded the city Taphos on the island of the same name, and was its king. He also gave his name to the Taphians, a people that inhabited Taphos and nearby islands, which formed part of Odysseus's kingdom at the time of the Trojan War. According to one genealogy,...

 and Teleboas were also numbered among Pterelaus's sons, and founded the Taphian and Teleboan tribes.

Son of Taphius

Pterelaus was the grandson of the first Pterelaus, and son of Taphius. (Another account makes Pterelaus the son of Poseidon

Poseidon

Poseidon was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker," of the earthquakes in Greek mythology. The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon...

 and Hippothoë

Hippothoe

In Greek mythology, Hippothoe is the name of five distinct characters.* Hippothoe, daughter of Mestor, son of Perseus, and of Lysidice, daughter of Pelops. Poseidon abducted Hippothoe from her family and took her to the Echinades islands. Upon her he sired Taphius who later founded the city of...

, and a descendant of the Argive

Agros

Agros may refer to:*Agros, Cyprus, a village on Troödos Mountains in Cyprus*Agros, Greece, a village in the Island of Corfu, Greece...

 hero Perseus

Perseus

Perseus ,Perseos and Perseas are not used in English. the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty of Danaans there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths of the Twelve Olympians...

). This Pterelaus, king of the Taphians, was the father of several sons (Chromius, Tyrannus, Antiochus, Chersidamas, Mestor, Everes) and a daughter named Comaetho

Comaetho

In Greek mythology, Comaetho is a name that may refer to:*The daughter of Pterelaos and princess of the Taphians. The Taphians were at war with Thebes, led by Amphitryon, whom Comaetho fell in love with. The Taphians remained invincible until Comaetho out of love for Amphitryon cut off her...

. Poseidon had bestowed upon him a magic golden hair on his head which made him immortal and unconquerable so long as the hair grew on his head. Pterelaus and his kin raided the cattle of the King of Mycenae

Mycenae

Mycenae is an archaeological site in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 11 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north...

; but was killed in a retaliatory expedition led by Amphitryon

Amphitryon

Amphitryon , in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis.Amphitryon was a Theban general, who was originally from Tiryns in the eastern part of the Peloponnese. He was friends with Panopeus....

 (later the stepfather of Heracles

Heracles

Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...

) after being betrayed by Comaetho, who had fallen in love with Amphitryon and and pulled out the golden hair of her fathers' head, which made him protectless. The vanquished Taphian realm was handed over to Amphitryon's allies, including Cephalus

Cephalus

Cephalus is an Ancient Greek name, used both for the hero-figure in Greek mythology and carried as a theophoric name by historical persons. The word kephalos is Greek for "head", perhaps used here because Cephalus was the founding "head" of a great family that includes Odysseus...

. Cephalus ruled over many islands, and his followers became known as Cephallenians. Odysseus

Odysseus

Odysseus or Ulysses was a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer's epic poem the Odyssey. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's Iliad and other works in the Epic Cycle....

 was a descendant of Cephalus by the following lineage: Cephalus - Arcesius

Arcesius

In Greek mythology, Arcesius was the son of Cephalus, and king in Ithaca. Zeus made his line one of "only sons": his only son was Laertes, whose only son was Odysseus, whose only son was Telemachus...

 - Laërtes

Laertes

In Greek mythology, Laërtes was the son of Arcesius and Chalcomedusa. He was the father of Odysseus and Ctimene by his wife Anticlea, daughter of the thief Autolycus. Laërtes was an Argonaut and participated in the hunt for the Calydonian Boar...

 - Odysseus.

Sources

• Apollodorus. Translation by Robin Hard. The Library of Greek Mythology. Oxford University Press
  Oxford University Press
  Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
  
  , 1999. ISBN 9780192839244; pp. 68–70