Neleus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Neleus

24 passages from 7 ancient authors that tell of Neleus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Neleus was the son of Poseidon and Tyro in Greek mythology, and twin brother of Pelias. Tyro was the wife of Cretheus, but was secretely in love with ... For the story in one place, read our article on Neleus.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Fragments 1.1–13Deucalion, Hellen and their descendantsThe Catalogue of Women opens with the descendants of Deucalion and Hellen, saying that Deucalion was the son of Prometheus and Pronoea, that Hellen fathered Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus, and that Thyia bore Magnes and Macedon to Zeus. The fragments then turn to the Aloiadae, Eurynome, Endymion, the sons of Actor and Molione, Periclymenus, and the sons of Neleus whom Heracles killed. Most are short quotations from later writers who cite Hesiod for a name or a descent.

Homer (9)

Homer, Iliad 11.655–761Nestor's tale of the cattle raid in ElisNestor asks why Achilles pities the Achaeans' wounded only now, and recalls a quarrel between Pylos and the Epeians in his own youth. He tells how he led a raid in Elis and drove off herds of cattle, and how he killed Itymoneus and later Mulius, the son-in-law of King Augeias. The Pylians then divided the spoil and gave thanks to Zeus and to Nestor.
Homer, Odyssey 11.225–332The women of oldPersephone sends up the ghosts of the women who were wives and daughters of heroes, and Odysseus questions each in turn. He sees Tyro, Antiope, Alcmene, Megara, Epicaste, Chloris, Leda, Iphimedeia, Phaedra, Procris, Ariadne, Maera, Clymene and Eriphyle. He then breaks off, saying that the night is late.
Homer, Odyssey 15.182–300Pylos; TheoclymenusTelemachus drives to Pylos, where he asks Peisistratus to take him directly to the ship, to avoid a delay at Nestor's house, and he sails at once. At the ship he is met by Theoclymenus, a seer who has fled Argos after a killing, and who begs to be taken on board. Telemachus agrees, and they sail past Pheae and Elis, steering for the sharp isles.
Homer, Iliad 10.1–130A sleepless night; Agamemnon wakes NestorWhile the other chieftains sleep, Agamemnon lies awake, troubled by the Trojan fires and the sound of their pipes, and he groans and tears his hair as he prays to Zeus. He rises and puts on a lion's skin, and Menelaus, who is also sleepless, comes to him; they agree to rouse the chiefs. Agamemnon goes to Nestor, who agrees to go round and wake the others.
Homer, Iliad 11.596–654Achilles sends Patroclus to NestorNestor drives Machaon back to the ships, and Achilles, watching from the stern of his vessel, sends Patroclus to find out whom Nestor has brought. At Nestor's hut Hecamede mixes a drink for Machaon and Nestor from wine, cheese and barley meal. Patroclus, who is in haste, refuses to sit down, saying that Achilles is a fierce man.
Homer, Iliad 23.262–361Funeral games: the chariot race beginsAchilles sets out prizes for the games and brings the Achaeans to sit in rows. Five men enter the chariot race: Eumelus, Diomedes, Menelaus, Antilochus and Meriones, and they draw lots for places. Nestor gives his son Antilochus advice on how to make the turn at the post, using skill rather than speed.
Homer, Odyssey 3.1–101Telemachus lands at PylosTelemachus and Athena reach Pylos at sunrise and find Nestor and his people sacrificing black bulls to Poseidon on the shore. Nestor's son Peisistratus welcomes them, gives them a place at the feast and hands Athena the golden cup. When they have eaten, Nestor asks who they are, and Telemachus asks him for news of his father.
Homer, Odyssey 3.201–328Nestor tells of Agamemnon's deathTelemachus wishes that the gods would give him such vengeance, and Nestor tells how Aegisthus seduced Clytemnestra while Agamemnon was away and killed the king on his return. Orestes came home in the eighth year and killed Aegisthus. Nestor tells of Menelaus' stormy journey home, and urges Telemachus to go to Menelaus in Sparta, offering his sons as guides.
Homer, Odyssey 3.404–497The sacrifice to Athena; departure for SpartaAt dawn Nestor sacrifices a heifer with gilded horns to Athena, and his youngest daughter Polycaste bathes Telemachus. Nestor gives him a chariot and horses and sends his son Peisistratus with him. They drive all day, spend the night at Pherae with Diocles, and reach the wheat plain of Lacedaemon on the next day.

Apollodorus (3)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.9.1–15Athamas, Sisyphus, Salmoneus, Melampus and AdmetusThe sons of Aeolus: Athamas, whose children Phrixus and Helle flee on the golden ram and who later loses Ino and Learchus to madness, then Sisyphus, Deion, Perieres, Magnes and Salmoneus, who is struck down for impersonating Zeus. Salmoneus's daughter Tyro bears Pelias and Neleus to Poseidon, and the section follows Neleus and Nestor at Pylus, Pelias in Thessaly, and Cretheus's line with the seer Melampus winning Pero for his brother Bias. It ends with Pheres, Admetus and Alcestis.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.7.1–8Heracles' wars, Deianira and the death of HeraclesHera's storms drive Heracles to Cos on his way back from Troy, and he then fights beside the gods against the Giants. He campaigns against Augeas and the Molionides in Elis, against Pylos and against Hippocoon in Sparta, and fathers Telephus by Auge. He wins Deianira from Achelous and kills the centaur Nessus at the Evenus; after taking Oechalia, he puts on the robe stained with Nessus's blood and burns on Mount Oeta, rising to heaven and marrying Hebe. The section ends with a long list of his children, among them his sons by the daughters of Thespius.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.6.1–4Heracles, Iphitus and OmphaleAfter the labours Heracles wins the archery contest for Iole but is refused, and later, in a fresh fit of madness, throws Iphitus from the walls of Tiryns. Struck with disease, he tries to carry off the Delphic tripod, and is told to be sold into slavery for three years; he serves Omphale of Lydia, binds the Cercopes and kills Syleus. Afterwards he sails against Troy, sacks it and kills Laomedon, and Telamon gets Hesione, whose brother Podarces is ransomed and renamed Priam.

Diodorus Siculus (2)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.67.1–4.70.4Aeolus and Boeotus, Salmoneus and Neleus, the Lapiths and CentaursAfter the Epigoni return home, Teiresias dies at Tilphossaeum and the Cadmeans leave it, and the historian gives the story of Arne, Aeolus and Boeotus. He then follows Salmoneus, Tyro and their descendants as far as Nestor, and turns to the Lapiths and Centaurs: the sons of Peneius, Ixion's crime against Eïoneus, and the origin of the Centaurs.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.31.1–4.33.12Heracles: servitude, Troy, Elis and SpartaAfter his labours Heracles gives Megara to Iolaüs and asks for Iole, daughter of Eurytus; he is refused, falls ill, and is told by Apollo to be sold as a slave to pay the sons of Iphitus. He then makes war on Laomedon at Troy and gives the kingdom to Priam, fights Augeas and the Eleans, and defeats the sons of Hippocoön at Sparta, restoring Tyndareüs. The section ends with Augê's secret child.

Pausanias (6)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.36.1–7Pylos, Sphacteria and CyparissiaePausanias describes Pylos on Cape Coryphasium, with its Athena, the house and tomb of Nestor, the cave of the cows of Neleus and the story of Melampus and Iphiclus’ cattle. He then notes the island of Sphacteria, famous for the Spartan disaster, and Cyparissiae, with its spring of Dionysus, sanctuaries of Apollo, Athena and Aesculapius, and the Neda, which divides Messenia from Elis.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.3.1–10Messenia: Nestor, the sons of Aesculapius and the Dorian conquest under CresphontesAfter the death of Lynceus and Idas, Nestor rules all Messenia, and Pausanias gives the Messenian claims that the sons of Aesculapius were Messenian. He tells how the Dorians drove out the descendants of Neleus, how Cresphontes won Messenia through the trick of the lots, and how he was murdered. Aepytus is restored, and the line of Glaucus, Isthmius, Dotadas and Sybotas follows.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.2.1–8Corinth: Palaemon’s shrine, the ports, the tomb of Lais and the market-placeWithin the Isthmian precinct Pausanias describes the temple of Palaemon and the altar of the Cyclopes, and the conduct of the Isthmian games after Mummius. He then describes Lechaeum and Cenchreae with their sanctuaries and the bath of Helen, and on the road to Corinth the tomb of Diogenes and the Craneum, where the grave of Lais lies. In the market-place he lists images of Artemis, Dionysus and others, with the story of the images made from Pentheus’ tree.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.2.1–7Messenia: Perieres, Oechalia, Aphareus and the founding of AreneThe sons of Polycaon are not named by any poet Pausanias consulted, and after the line ends the Messenians fetch Perieres to be king. He discusses the rival claims to Oechalia and then Aphareus’ founding of Arene and his welcome to Neleus, who settled at Pylus. He also covers Lycus’ revelation of the mysteries at Andania, and Idas and Lynceus, with Idas’ daughter Cleopatra and the fates of Marpessa, Cleopatra and Polydora.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.36.1–8Orchomenus: Phlegyas, Minyas and his treasury, and HyettusPausanias continues the kings of Orchomenus: Chryse's son Phlegyas, whose warlike Phlegyans raided Delphi and were destroyed by the god, then Chryses and Minyas, who built the first treasury. He says Greek historians neglected the treasury of Minyas in favour of the Egyptian pyramids. He recounts the reign of Orchomenus, the arrival of the exile Hyettus from Argos and the marriage of Chloris, daughter of Amphion, to Neleus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 10.31.1–12Delphi: Polygnotus' painting of the underworld (4): Ajax, Meleager, Memnon, Penthesilea, Sisyphus and TantalusPausanias completes the underworld painting with the dicing group of Ajax, Palamedes and Thersites, Ulysses' enemies, and Meleager, with the rival accounts of his death. He describes Hector, Memnon with the birds called Memnonides, Sarpedon, Paris and Penthesilea, then the uninitiated carrying water in broken pitchers, Callisto, Nomia, Pero, Sisyphus and Tantalus.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (2)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.118–214Funeral games: the foot-raceNestor rises to sing of the deeds of Achilles, and Thetis rewards him with the horses Telephus once gave her son. Ten heifers are set out as prizes for the foot-race. Teucer and Aias son of Oileus run for them, and Teucer, tripped by a tamarisk root and lamed, loses to Aias.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.514–581Achilles' body is washedAt nightfall Nestor tells Agamemnon what to do for the body. Water is heated, and Achilles is washed and dressed, and Athena pours ambrosia on him so that he looks as if asleep. The captive women, and above all Briseis, lament him.

Parthenius of Nicaea (1)

Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances 14.1–15.5Cleoboea and Antheus; Daphne, Leucippus and ApolloCleoboea, wife of Phobius of Miletus, falls in love with the young hostage Antheus; when he refuses her she has him go down a well after a partridge, pushes a stone on him, and hangs herself, and Alexander Aetolus tells the tale in verse. Daphne, a huntress dear to Artemis, is loved by Leucippus, who joins her hunt dressed as a girl. Apollo, who also loves her, has the maidens expose him and they kill him with their spears, and as Apollo pursues her she prays to Zeus and becomes the bay-tree.