The Asopos ( el, Ασωπός, referred to in Latin sources as ''Asopus'') is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...
in
Boeotia
Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...
and northern
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...
. In antiquity, it formed the border between the cities of
Thebes and
Plataea. The
Battle of Plataea was fought on its banks. According to
Pausanias (5.14.3) the Boeotian Asopus can produce the tallest
reeds of any river.
Its source is on the northern slope of the
Cithaeron mountain, southwest of
Thebes. It empties into the
South Euboean Gulf
The South Euboean Gulf ( el, Νότιος Ευβοϊκός Κόλπος, ''Notios Evvoïkos Kolpos'') is a gulf in Central Greece, between the island of Euboea and the Greek mainland (Boeotia and Attica). With a total length of approximately 50&n ...
, near
Skala Oropou
Skala may refer to:
Places Greece
* Skala, Patmos, the main port on the island of Patmos in Greece
* Skala, Laconia, a municipality in southern Greece
* Skala, Xanthi, a settlement in north-eastern Greece
* Skala, Cephalonia, a resort in the I ...
. Its total length is 57 km. Its basin is 718 km
2.
The Asopos flows along the following places, from the source downstream:
Lefktra,
Agios Thomas,
Oinofyta
Oinofyta ( Greek: Οινόφυτα) is a village and former municipality in eastern Boeotia, Greece. Following the local government reform of 2011 it is now part of the municipality of Tanagra, of which it is a municipal unit. The municipal unit h ...
,
Sykamino,
Skala Oropou
Skala may refer to:
Places Greece
* Skala, Patmos, the main port on the island of Patmos in Greece
* Skala, Laconia, a municipality in southern Greece
* Skala, Xanthi, a settlement in north-eastern Greece
* Skala, Cephalonia, a resort in the I ...
. The river is polluted with hexavalent
chromium due to industrial activity.
[
]
Mythology
Pausanias (9.1.1) cites Plataean tradition that Asopus was ancient king of that region in succession to King Cithaeron who gave his name to the mountain as King Asopus gave his name to the river and that the city Plataea was named after Plataea daughter of the river Asopus. Pausanias then comments oddly that he thinks that this eponymous Plataea was daughter of King Asopus rather than of the river Asopus.
Oroe, a tributary river of Boeotian Asopus is termed by Herodotus
Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria (Italy). He is known fo ...
(9.51.2) and Pausanias (9.4.4) daughter of Asopus. Pausanias says that the Boeotian city of Thespiae was named either from Thespia, daughter of Asopus or from Thespius, a descendant of Erechtheus who came there from Athens
Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...
. This Thespius is otherwise unknown to us. Finally Antiope mother of Amphion and Zethus by Zeus is sometimes a daughter of Asopus.
Statius's ''Thebaid'' tells of the warrior Hypseus, mortal son of Asopus, who leads the men of Alalcomene, Itone, Midea, Arne
Arne may refer to:
Places
* Arne, Dorset, England, a village
** Arne RSPB reserve, a nature reserve adjacent to the village
* Arné, Hautes-Pyrénées, Midi-Pyrénées, France
* Arne (Boeotia), an ancient city in Boeotia, Greece
* Arne (Thessa ...
, Aulida, Graea
Graea or Graia ( grc, Γραῖα, Graîa) was a city on the coast of Boeotia in ancient Greece. Its site is located near modern Dramesi in Paralia Avlidas.
History
Graea is listed under Boeotia in Homer's Catalogue of Ships in the ''Iliad''. ...
, Plataea, Pleteon, and Anthedon. This Hypseus is slain by Capaneus
In Greek mythology, Capaneus (; Ancient Greek: Καπανεύς ''Kapaneús'') was a son of Hipponous and either Astynome (daughter of Talaus) or Laodice (daughter of Iphis), and husband of Evadne, with whom he fathered Sthenelus. Some call hi ...
.
References
{{reflist
Potamoi
Rivers of Greece
Landforms of Boeotia
Rivers of Central Greece
Landforms of East Attica
Rivers of Attica
Drainage basins of the Aegean Sea