Sparta (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Sparta (Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, Spártā; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, Spártē) was the ancient Queen of Sparta, which was named in her honour.[1] She was one of two daughters of King Eurotas of Laconia, with the other being Tiasa.[1][2] According to traditions recorded by Pausanias, her father having no male heirs left his kingdom to his brother, Lacedaemon. When he became king, he changed the name of the land and the inhabitants to Lacedaemon and Lacedaemonians respectively, and he founded the City of Sparta, which was named after his wife.[1] By her husband, she became the mother of Amyclas and Eurydice, wife of King Acrisius of Argos, and the grandmother of Hyacinthus, who was loved by Apollo and Zephyrus, but died during a game of discus due to the latter's jealously.[3][4] She was also the ansector of King Tyndareus of Sparta and his brother Icarius and their children Clytemnesta, Castor, and Penelope.[5]

Sparta was represented on a sacrificial tripod at Amyclae.