(), a son of Cretheus and Tyro, the daughter of
Salmoneus. Tyro, previous to her marriage with Neleus, is said to have loved the river-god
Enipeus; and in the form of Enipeus Poseidon once appeared to her, and became by her the
father of Pelias and Neleus (Hom. Od. 11.234, &c.). Tyro
exposed the two boys, but they were found and reared by horse herds, and when thee had grown
up they learned who their mother was, and PIelias killed their fostermother, who had ill-used
Tyro (Apollod. 1.9.8). After the death of
Cretheus, the two brothers quarrelled about the succession to the throne of Iolcus. Neleus,
who was expelled, went with Melampus and Bias to Pylos, which his uncle Aphareus gave to him
(Apollod. 1.9.9; Diod. 4.68).
Neleus thus became king of Pylos, which town he found in existence when he arrived there; but
some state that he himself built Pylos, or at least that he erected the royal palace there
(Paus. 4.2.3, 36.1). It should be
observed that several towns of the name of Pylos claimed the honour of being the city of
Neleus or of his son Nestor, such as Pylos in Messenia, Pylos in Elis, and Pylos in Triphylia;
the last of which is probably the one mentioned by Homer in connection with Neleus and Nestor
(Strab. viii. p.337). Neleus was married to Chloris, who,
according to Homer (Hom. Od. 11.280, &c.), was a daughter
of Amphion of Orchomenos, and according to others (Diod. l.c.) a Theban
woman, and by her he became the father of Nestor, Chromius, Periclymenus, and Pero, though the
total number of his sons was twelve (Od. 11.285, Il. 11.692; Apollod. 1.9.9; Schol.
ad Apollon. Rhod. 1.156). When Heracles had killed Iphitus, he went to
Neleus to be purified; but Neleus, who was a friend of Eurytus, the father of Iphitus, refused
to purify Heracles (Diod. 4.31). In order to take vengeance,
Heracles afterwards marched against Pylos, and slew the sons of Neleus, with the exception of
Nestor (Hom. Il. 11.690), though some later writers state
that Neleus also wes killed (Apollod. 2.6.2, 7.3; Hyg. Fab. 10). Neleus was thus
reduced to a state of defencelessness, and Augeas, king of the Epeians, availed himself of the
opportunity for harassing his kingdom; among other things Augeas intercepted and kept for
himself a team of four horses which Neleus had sent to the Olympian games (Hom. Il. 11.699, &c.). Neleus took vengeance for this by
carrying away the flocks of the Epeians (Il. 11.670,
&c.), whereupon the latter invaded the territory of Pylos, and besieged Thryoessa on the
Alpheius. Athena informed Neleus of it, but he would not allow his son Nestor to venture out
against the Epeians, and concealed his war steeds. But Nestor fought against them on foot, and
was victorious (Il. 11.707, &c.). Pausanias says (2.2.2)
that Neleus died at Corinth, and that he, in conjunction with Nestor, restored the Olympian
games. The descendants of Neleus, the Neleidae, were expelled from their kingdom by the
Heracleidae, and migrated for the most part to Athens (Paus.
2.18.7, 4.3.3). It should be observed that Hyginus (Hyg. Fab. 10, 14) calls the father of
Neleus Hippocoon, and that he mentions him among the Argonauts.