Pelasgos was a mythical ruler of ancient Greece. He is said to have been the progenitor of the Pelasgians (or Pelasgi), who are a mysterious people, as little is known for certain about them. Their name, for instance, is found only in Greek sources.
The Pelasgians, descendants of Pelasgos, are said to be the first inhabitants of Greece.
According to ancient sources, Pelasgos was the first man to emerge from the earth and thus became the progenitor of humans.
According to Pausanias, he was the ancestor of the kings of Arcadia. He taught the Pelasgians to build huts and process animal skins to wear as clothes.
In Arcadia, it was believed that Pelasgos’ son by the nymph Kyllini or the Oceanian Meliboia was Lycaon, the mythical king of Arcadia. She was called at first Pelasgia, after the name of her ancestor.
Pelasgos was also referred to as the founder of Argos in the Peloponnese, son of Agenor and father of Larissa.
It was also said that he was the son of Poseidon and the nymph Larissa, brother of Achaeus and Phthios.
Other traditions say that he was the mythical ancestor of the Pelasgians of Thessaly or that he was the son of Aeresor and grandson of Ekbasos, settler of Parrasia in Arcadia.
The article first appeared on Greeks Worldwide.
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