There are two persons by the name of Pterelaus in Greek mythology. The first was a son of Lelex, a pre-Hellenic king whose descendants (the Lelegians) 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 the nearby islands of the Ionian Sea. His sons Ithacus, Neritus, and Polyctor colonized the island of Ithaca (which took the name of one of his sons) and, in addition to Ithaca itself, founded the places on Ithaca named Neritum and Polyctorium. Taphius and Teleboas were also numbered among Pterelaus's sons, and founded the Taphian and Teleboan tribes.
The second Pterelaus is the grandson of the first, and son of Taphius. (Another account makes Pterelaus the son of Poseidon and Hippothoë, and a descendant of the Argive hero Perseus). This Pterelaus, King of the Taphians, was the father of several sons (Chromius, Tyrannus, Antiochus, Chersidamas, Mestor, Everes) and a daughter named Comaetho. Pterelaus and his kin raided the cattle of the King of Mycenae; but was killed in a retaliatory expedition led by Amphitryon (later the stepfather of Heracles) after being betrayed by Comaetho, who had fallen in love with Amphitryon. The vanquished Taphian realm was handed over to Amphitryon's allies, including Cephalus. Cephalus ruled over many islands, and his followers became known as Cephallenians. Odysseus was a descendant of Cephalus by the following lineage: Cephalus - Arcesius - Laërtes - Odysseus.
