Pelasgus Explained

In Greek mythology, Pelasgus (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Πελασγός, Pelasgós means "ancient"^[1]) was the eponymous ancestor of the Pelasgians, the mythical inhabitants of Greece who established the worship of the Dodonaean Zeus, Hephaestus, the Cabeiri, and other divinities. In the different parts of the country once occupied by Pelasgians, there existed different traditions as to the origin and connection of Pelasgus. Some ancient Greeks even used to believe that he was the first man.

Inachid Pelasgoí of Argos

In Argos, several Inachid kings were called Pelasgus:

• Pelasgus, brother to Apis both sons of Phoroneus, is said to have founded the city of Argos in Peloponnesus, to have taught the people agriculture, and to have received Demeter, on her wanderings, at Argos, where his tomb was shown in later times.^[2]
• Pelasgus, son of Triopas and Sois, and a brother of Iasus, Agenor, and Xanthus.^[3] According to Greek legends, he founded the sanctuary of Demeter in Argos and for this reason she was worshipped at this temple under the name Pelasgian Demeter.^[4]
• Pelasgus, also known as Gelanor, son of Sthenelas^[5] or Arestor.

Arcadian Pelasgus

• Pelasgus, either an autochthon,^[6] or a son of Zeus by Niobe^[7] (and in the latter case brother of Argus) or of Arestor (son of Iasus^[8] or Ecbasus^[9]). The Oceanide Meliboea,^[10] the nymph Cyllene,^[11] or Deianeira,^[12] became by him the mother of Lycaon^[13] and Temenus.^[14] According to Hellenistic version of the myth, Pelasgus coming from Argos, civilized the hitherto savage natives of Arcadia and founded the city of Parrhasia.^{[15] [16]}
• Pelasgus, son of Arcas.^[17]

Thessalian Pelasgoí

• Pelasgus, an Argive prince as son of Poseidon and Larissa, daughter of the Pelasgus, son of Triopas. Together with his brothers Phthius and Achaeus, they left Achaean Argos with a Pelasgian contingent for Thessaly. They then established a colony on the said country naming it after themselves: Pelasgiotis, Phthiotis and Achaea.^[18] Pelasgus was also the founder of the Thessalian Argos.^{[19] [20]} He was also said to be the father of Phrastor by the nymph Menippe.^[21] Pelasgus is also said to have been the ancestor of the Tyrrhenians through the following lineage: Pelasgus - Phrastor - Amyntor - Teutamides - Nanas. In the latter's reign, the Pelasgians were believed to have left Greece and to have settled in a new land that later came to be named Tyrrhenia.^[22]
• Pelasgus, father of Chlorus and grandfather of Haemon^[23] or the father of Haemon and grandfather of Thessalus instead.^[24] He may be the same man with the above Pelasgus.

Homeric Pelasgus

• In the Iliad, Homer characterizes Pelasgus as brave, and lists the Pelasgians as allies of the Trojans, fighting against the tribes of Greeks in the Trojan War.^[25]
• Pelasgus, father of Hippothous, one of the Trojan leaders who fought alongside the Dardanians and other allies defending the walls of the city of Troy.^[26] In some accounts Hippothous' father was called Lethus, son of the above Teutamides.^[27]

Other character

• Pelasgus, also called Pelagon,^[28] son of the river-god Asopus by the naiad Metope, daughter of the river Ladon.^[29] He was brother to Aegina, Salamis, Thebe, Corcyra, Tanagra, Thespia, Cleone, Sinope, Peirene, Asopis, Ornea, Chalcis, Harpina, Ismene, and Ismenus. His sisters were abducted by various gods as punishment for their father's deed.^[30]

See also

• Pelasgia

References

• Apollodorus. 1921. The Library with an English translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. as two volumes, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London, UK: William Heinemann Ltd. . Online text and Greek text at the Perseus Digital Library .
• Dionysius of Halicarnassus. 1937–1950. Roman Antiquities. English translation by Earnest Cary [in] Loeb Classical Library, as seven volumes. Harvard University Press. Online text at Bill Thayer's website .
• Dionysius of Halicarnassus. 1885. Antiquitatum Romanarum quae supersunt, vols I-IV. Karl Jacoby. [in] Aedibus. Leipzig: B.G. Teubneri. Greek text at the Perseus Digital Library .
• Fowler, Robert L. 2013. Early Greek Mythography, vol 2: Commentary. Oxford University Press.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from the Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online text at the Topos Text Project .
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. . Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, Homeri Opera in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. . Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Pausanias, 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.
• Pseudo-Clement. 1867. Recognitions from Ante-Nicene Library, volume 8, translated by Rev. Thomas Smith. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark. Online text at theio.com .
• Stephanus of Byzantium. 1849. Stephani Byzantii Ethnicorum quae supersunt, edited by August Meineike (1790-1870). A few entries from this important ancient handbook of place names have been translated by Brady Kiesling, available at Online text at the Topos Text Project .

Notes and References

1. [Robert Graves]
2. [Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]
3. [Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]
4. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D13%3Aentry%3Dpelasga-bio-1 A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Pelasga
5. Pausanias, 2.16.1
6. [Hesiod]
7. [Clementine literature|Pseudo-Clement]
8. [Scholia|Scholion]
9. [Stephanus of Byzantium]
10. Apollodorus, 3.8.1; Tzetzes ad Lycophron, 481
11. Apollodorus, 3.8.1; Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 1642
12. [Dionysius of Halicarnassus]
13. Hyginus, Fabulae 225
14. Pausanias, 8.22.2
15. Scholia ad Euripides, Orestes 1646; Stephanus of Byzantium, s.v. Parrasia
16. Book: [[Robert Fowler (academic)|Fowler, Robert L.]] . Early Greek Mythography: Volume II Commentary . Oxford University Press . 2013 . 978-0-19-814741-1 . Oxford, United Kingdom . 107.
17. Pausanias, 2.14.4
18. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 1.17.3
19. Eustathius on Homer, p. 321
20. Clinton, Fast. Hell. vol. 1. p. 9
21. Dionysius of Halicarnassus, 1.28.3
22. [Hellanicus of Lesbos|Hellanicus]
23. [Stephanus of Byzantium]
24. Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, 3.1089
25. Book: Homer . The Illiad of Homer . September 2006 . 312, 525 . Pope . Alexander.
26. Apollodorus, E.3.35
27. [Homer]
28. Apollodorus, 3.12.6
29. Diodorus Siculus, 4.72.1
30. Diodorus Siculus, 4.61.1 & 4.72.1; Apollodorus, 1.9.3, 2.1.3 & 3.12.6