Pterelaus

Pterelaus was a king of the Taphians, a people of the islands off Acarnania, in Greek mythology. Poseidon made him immortal by setting a golden hair in his head, and while he lived his island of Taphos could not be taken. His daughter Comaetho pulled the hair out for love of Amphitryon, the Theban leader who had come to avenge the sons of Electryon.

Family

In Apollodorus’ genealogy Pterelaus belongs to the house of Perseus. Mestor, a son of Perseus, had a daughter Hippothoe, whom Poseidon carried off to the Echinades islands. She bore him Taphius, who settled Taphos and called his people Teleboans because he had gone far from his native land. Taphius was the father of Pterelaus (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.5). Pterelaus had six sons, Chromius, Tyrannus, Antiochus, Chersidamas, Mestor and Eueres (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.5), and a daughter, Comaetho (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.7).

The Golden Hair

Apollodorus says that Poseidon made Pterelaus immortal by putting a golden hair in his head (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.5). This gift decides the later war: as long as Pterelaus lived, Amphitryon could not take Taphos (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.7).

The Quarrel with Electryon

While Electryon ruled Mycenae, the sons of Pterelaus came with some Taphians and demanded Mestor’s kingdom. Electryon refused, and they drove off his cattle. In the fight that followed, the sons of Electryon and the sons of Pterelaus killed one another. Only Licymnius among Electryon’s sons survived, and only Eueres among Pterelaus’ sons, who had stayed to guard the ships. The surviving Taphians sailed away with the cattle and left them with Polyxenus, king of Elis, and Amphitryon ransomed them and brought them back to Mycenae (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.6).

Electryon meant to make war on the Teleboans to avenge his sons and left his kingdom and his daughter Alcmena to Amphitryon. Amphitryon, however, accidentally killed Electryon with a club, and Sthenelus drove him out of Argos. Amphitryon went to Thebes with Alcmena and Licymnius, and Creon purified him there (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.6).

Amphitryon’s War on the Taphians

Alcmena told Amphitryon that she would marry him only when he had avenged the death of her brothers, so he promised to march against the Teleboans. Creon agreed to help if Amphitryon first rid the Cadmea of a fox that could not be caught, and Amphitryon obtained the dog of Cephalus, which could catch whatever it chased; Zeus turned the fox and the dog to stone. With Cephalus from Thoricus in Attica, Panopeus of Phocis, Heleus son of Perseus from Helos, and Creon of Thebes, Amphitryon ravaged the islands of the Taphians. As long as Pterelaus lived, he could not take Taphos (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.7).

Comaetho and the Death of Pterelaus

Comaetho, the daughter of Pterelaus, fell in love with Amphitryon and pulled the golden hair out of her father’s head. Pterelaus died, and Amphitryon conquered all the islands. Apollodorus says that Amphitryon killed Comaetho and sailed with the spoils to Thebes, giving the islands to Heleus and Cephalus, who founded cities named after themselves (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.7). Strabo also records that Amphitryon attacked the Teleboans with Cephalus, the exile from Athens, and handed their government to him (Strabo 10.2.20). Pausanias adds that the island of Cephalus came to be called Cephallenia (Pausanias 1.37.6).

A similar story is told of Nisus, king of Megara, whose daughter Scylla fell in love with Minos and pulled out the purple hair on his head, which an oracle said would mean his death (Apollodorus, Library 3.15.8).

The Taphians in Homer

Pterelaus himself is not named in the Odyssey, but the Taphians are: Athena takes the form of Mentes, lord of the oar-loving Taphians, when she visits Telemachus (Homer, Odyssey 1.180–181), and Eumaeus’ Phoenician nurse was seized by Taphian pirates (Odyssey 15.427). Strabo notes that Homer calls them robbers, as the Teleboans in general were said to be (Strabo 10.2.20).

Pterelaus Sources

Apollodorus, Library 2.4.5–7, 3.15.8; Strabo 10.2.20; Pausanias 1.37.6; Homer, Odyssey 1.180–181, 15.427.

See Also: Comaetho, Poseidon, Amphitryon, Alcmene, Electryon, Perseus, Cephalus, Creon