PELIAS  , in

Greek legend, son of Poseidon and Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus . Because Tyro afterwards married her father's brother Cretheus, king of Iolcus in Thessaly, to whom she bore Aeson, Pheres and Amythaon, Pelias was by some thought to be the son of Cretheus . He and his twin-brother Neleus were exposed by their mother, but were nurtured by a herdsman . When grown to manhood they were acknowledged by their mother . After the death of Cretheus, Pelias made himself master of the kingdom of Iolous, having previously quarrelled with Neleus, who removed to Messenia, where he founded Pylos . In order to rid himself of Jason, Pelias sent him to Colchis in quest of the golden fleece, and took advantage of his absence to put to death his father, Aeson, his mother and brother . When Jason returned he sought to avenge the death of his parents, and Medea persuaded the daughters of Pelias to cut in pieces and boil their father, assuring them that he would thus be restored to youth . Acastus, son of Pelias, drove out Jason and Medea and celebrated funeral games in honour of his father, which were celebrated by the poet Stesichorus and represented on the chest of Cypselus . The death of Pelias was the subject of Sophocles' Rhizotnmoi (Root-cutters), and in the Tyro he treated another portion of the legend . Peliades (the daughters of Pelias) was the name of Euripides' first play .