Aetolus (Greek: ) was, in Greek mythology, a son of Endymion and the nymph Neïs, or Iphianassa.[1][2] According to Pausanias, his mother was called Asterodia, Chromia, or Hyperippe.[3] He was married to Pronoe, by whom he had two sons, Pleuron and Calydon. His brothers were Paeon, Epeius, and others.[4][5][6] His father compelled him and his two brothers Paeon and Epeius to decide by a contest at Olympia as to which of them was to succeed him in his kingdom of Elis. Epeius gained the victory, and occupied the throne after his father, and on his demise he was succeeded lay Aetolus. During the funeral games which were celebrated in honor of Azan, he ran with his chariot over Apis, the son of Jason or Salmoneus, and killed him, whereupon he was expelled by the sons of Apis.[2][7][8] After leaving Peloponnesus, he went to the country of the Curetes, between the Achelous and the Corinthian gulf, where he slew Dorus, Laodocus, and Polypoetes, the sons of Helios and Phthia, and gave to the country the name of Aetolia.[2] This story is only a mythical account of the colonization of Aetolia.[9]
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