In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

, Lelex was a King of Laconia

Laconia

Laconia , also known as Lacedaemonia, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the southeastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. Its administrative capital is Sparti...

. He was married to the Naiad nymph

Nymph

A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...

, Cleochareia

Cleochareia

In Greek mythology, Cleochareia was a naiad, a river nymph. She was married to King Lelex of Laconia. She is the ancestress of the Spartan royal family and gave birth to two children: Myles and Polycaon. Her son, Myles, had a son named Eurotas . Eurotas had a daughter named Sparta, who married...

. He had several sons, including Myles

Myles

In Greek mythology, Myles was brother to Polycaon, and was the father of Eurotas who fathered Sparta after whom the city of Sparta was named. After his father died, Myles ruled Laconia. During Myles' life, he was often referred to and known as the Miller; hence he has been regarded as the inventor...

, Polycaon

Polycaon

In Greek mythology, the name Polycaon may refer to:*Son of Lelex, king of Laconia, by the Naiad nymph, Cleochareia. Polycaon married an ambitious woman named Messene, daughter of King Triopas, of Argos. After his father's passing, his brother Myles inherited the throne of Laconia...

, Pterelaus

Pterelaus

-Son of Lelex:Pterelaus was a son of Lelex, a pre-Hellenic king whose descendants spread across Greece and beyond . Pterelaus ruled the land by the River Achelous, in the region later called Acarnania. Pterelaus had numerous sons who settled the territory in the vicinity of the Achelous, including...

, and Cteson. The parentage of Lelex is variously stated. It is given as 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...

 by Libya

Libya (mythology)

Libya is the name given to both a region of North Africa and a daughter of Epaphus, King of Egypt, in both Greek and Roman mythology.-Greek mythology:...

 (daughter of Epaphus

Epaphus

In Greek mythology, Epaphus , also called Apis, was the son of Zeus and Io and a king of Egypt.The name/word Epaphus means "Touch". This refers to the manner in which he was conceived, by the touch of Zeus' hand. He was born in Euboea or, according to others, in Egypt, on the river Nile, after...

); or his father is said to be the sun-god Helius; or he was said to be autochthonous.

Lelex is the ancestor of the Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

ns. His grandson (fathered by Myles) was Eurotas. Eurotas had a daughter named Sparta

Sparta (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Sparta was the daughter of Eurotas by Clete. She was wife of Lacedaemon by whom she became the mother of Amyclas and Eurydice of Argos . The city of Sparta is said to have been named after her; however, the city was often called Lacedaemon as well. The two names were used...

, who would later marry Lacedaemon. Lacedaemon named the city of Sparta

Sparta

Sparta or Lacedaemon, was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the banks of the River Eurotas in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. It emerged as a political entity around the 10th century BC, when the invading Dorians subjugated the local, non-Dorian population. From c...

 after his wife; however, the city's name would also be his own, as it was called either Lacedaemon or Sparta interchangeably. Sources indicate that 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...

 is a descendant of Lelex. Lelex's great granddaughter Sparta, gave birth to a daughter named Eurydice

Eurydice of Argos

In Greek Mythology, Eurydice was wife to Acrisius, king of Argos, mother of Danaë and therefore maternal grandmother to Perseus. She was said to have been a daughter to Lacedaemon and Sparta, the legendary founders of Sparta.-References:...

 (no relation to Orpheus

Orpheus

Orpheus was a legendary musician, poet, and prophet in ancient Greek religion and myth. The major stories about him are centered on his ability to charm all living things and even stones with his music; his attempt to retrieve his wife from the underworld; and his death at the hands of those who...

' Eurydice), who had married Acrisius

Acrisius

Acrisius was a mythical king of Argos, and a son of Abas and Aglaea , grandson of Lynceus, great-grandson of Danaus. His twin brother was Proetus, with whom he is said to have quarreled even in the womb of his mother...

, the king of Argos

Argos

Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...

. Eurydice became the mother of Danaë

Danaë

In Greek mythology, Danaë was a daughter of King Acrisius of Argos and Eurydice of Argos. She was the mother of Perseus by Zeus. She was sometimes credited with founding the city of Ardea in Latium....

, thus making her Perseus' grandmother.

Lelex appears to have been conceived by ancient mythographers as the eponymous founder of the Lelegians

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...

, a semi-mythical people that lived on both sides of the Aegean Sea.