position_held doryssus
Sparta ( Doric Greek : ; Attic Greek : ) was a prominent city - state in ancient Greece . In antiquity the city - state was known as Lacedaemon , while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia , in south - eastern Peloponnese . Around 650 BC , it rose to become the dominant military land - power in ancient Greece . In Greek mythology , Eurotas was a ___MASK27___ of Laconia , the son of ___MASK27___ Myles and grandson of Lelex , eponymous ancestor of the Leleges . He had no male heir , but he did have a daughter Sparta and wife Clete . Eurotas bequeathed the kingdom to Lacedaemon , the son of Taygete , after whom Mount Taygetus is named , and Zeus , according to Pausanias . Lacedaemon married Sparta and renamed the state after his wife . A city - state is a ___MASK9___ state that consists of a city and its dependent territories . Historically , this included cities such as Rome , Athens , Carthage , and the Italian city - states during the Renaissance  but today only a handful of ___MASK9___ city - states exist , with some disagreement as to which are city - states . A great deal of consensus exists that the term properly applies to Singapore , Monaco , and Vatican City . Agesilaus I , son of Doryssus , was the 6th ___MASK27___ of the Agiad line at Sparta , excluding Aristodemus . According to Apollodorus of Athens , reigned forty - four years , and died in 886 BC . Pausanias makes his reign a short one , but contemporary with the legislation of Lycurgus . He was succeeded by his son Archelaus . His grandson was Teleclus . Teleclus or Teleklos ( Greek :  ) was the 8th Agiad dynasty ___MASK12___ during the eighth century BC . He was the son of King Archelaus and grandson of King Agesilaus I . Doryssus or Dorissus or Doriagus ( Greek :  ) was a ___MASK27___ of ancient Sparta . Pausanias identified him as the son of Labotas or Leobotes and the father of Agesilaus I . He was killed in battle between the Spartans and the Argives . He reigned for 29 years .