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 wate ...

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 lar ...

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 Se ...

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 with ...

. In antiquity, it formed the border between the cities of Thebes and

Plataea Plataea or Plataia (; grc, Πλάταια), also Plataeae or Plataiai (; grc, Πλαταιαί), was an ancient city, located in Greece in southeastern Boeotia, south of Thebes.Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. “Plataea.” '' Webst ...

. The

Battle of Plataea The Battle of Plataea was the final land battle during the second Persian invasion of Greece. It took place in 479 BC near the city of Plataea in Boeotia, and was fought between an alliance of the Greek city-states (including Sparta, Athens, C ...

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 Ion ...

. Its total length is 57 km. Its basin is 718 km². 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 ha ...

Sykamino Sykamino (Greek: Συκάμινο meaning mulberry) is a town and former community of Attica, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Oropos, of which it is a municipal unit. Sykamino has historically been an ...

. The river is polluted with hexavalent

chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...

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

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 f ...

(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 ...

. This Thespius is otherwise unknown to us. Finally Antiope mother of Amphion and Zethus by

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label=Genitive case, genitive Aeolic Greek, Boeotian Aeolic and Doric Greek#Laconian, Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label=Genitive case, genitive el, Δίας, ''D� ...

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 Midea may refer to: * Midea Group (美的集团), a Chinese electrical appliance manufacturer * Midea, Greece, a Greek town * Midea (Argolid), a citadel in the town of the same name * Midea or Mideia, name of four figures in Greek mythology * '' ...

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''. I ...

, 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 his w ...

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