Neleus

In the accounts represented in the provided sources, Neleus is the son of the sea-god Poseidon and the mortal princess Tyro. Tyro bore twin boys, Pelias and Neleus; she exposed them on a mountain, and a maid found and raised the infants. After dispute with his brother Pelias over rulership at Iolcus, Neleus was driven into exile and settled in the maritime region granted to him (variously described) where he established his palace and became king of Pylos. Some ancient authors vary on details (for example, Diodorus and Pausanias differ on whether Neleus was founder of Pylos), but the core genealogical placement as father of Nestor and as a generation contemporary with the heroes such as Heracles is consistent across the sources cited.

The provided sources do not record a physical description of Neleus. He is attested through his social and narrative roles—son, husband, father, king, and participant in dynastic conflicts—rather than by corporeal details such as stature, dress, or distinguishing marks.

Sources attribute divine parentage to Neleus (son of Poseidon and Tyro) which situates him in the heroic class of mortals with a god as progenitor; the excerpts do not ascribe specific supernatural powers or feats to him beyond status and actions as a king. Narratively, he contests rulership with his brother Pelias, is exiled and establishes himself at Pylos (welcomed in some accounts by Aphareus who gives him a maritime portion of land), fathers multiple sons including Nestor and Periclymenus (accounts vary about the mothers and number of children), and refuses to perform purification for Heracles after Heracles killed his own wife and children. That refusal is given as the proximate cause for Heracles' later attack in which Neleus and most of his sons are slain, with Nestor surviving. These political, familial, and ritual-related behaviors—founding/establishing a palace, dynastic rulership, refusal to undertake a ritual cleansing—are the primary capacities and actions recorded in the sources supplied.