The bastard son of the Phrygian king Midas. He dwelt at Calaenae. Lityerses used to reap the corn, and had an enormous appetite. Whenever a stranger passed his fields, he gave him plenty to eat and drink and then compelled him to reap along with him in a contest. The losers he would wrap in a sheaf and cut their heads off with a sickle. Their bodies, swathed in the corn-stalks, he threw into the river.
One time, Heracles undertook to reap with him but won the contest, and cut off Lityerses' head.