What is "eurotas"

In Greek mythology, Eurotas (; ) was a king of Laconia, the son of King Myles and grandson of Lelex, eponymous ancestor of the Leleges. He had no male heir, but he did have a daughter Sparta and wife Clete. Eurotas bequeathed the kingdom to Lacedaemon, the son of Taygete, after whom Mount Taygetus is named, and Zeus, according to Pausanias. Lacedaemon married Sparta and renamed the state after his wife.

Pausanias says: "It was Eurotas who channelled away the marsh-water from the plains by cutting through to the sea, and when the land was drained he called the river which was left running there the Eurotas." The "cutting through" is seen by Pausanias’ translator and commentator, Peter Levy, S.J., as an explanation of Eurotas (or Vrodamas) Canyon, a ravine north of Skala where the river has cut through the foothills of Taygetus after changing direction to the west of the valley.

The Eurotas or Evrotas (Greek: Ευρώτας) is the main river of Laconia and one of the major rivers of the Peloponnese, in Greece. The river's springs are located just northwest of the border between Laconia and Arcadia, at Skortsinos. The river is also fed by underwater springs at Pellana and by tributaries coursing down from Mt. Taygetos and Mt. Parnon, which flank the Eurotas valley to the west and east, respectively. The river is long, flowing in a north-south direction and emptying into the Laconian Gulf.

Eurotas is a figure in Greek Mythology. Eurotas may also refer to: