Alpheus or Alpheios (; , meaning "whitish"), was in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

a river (the modern Alfeios River) and river god.

Family

Like most river gods, Alpheus was a son of the Titans

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

and his sister-wife Tethys. Telegone, daughter of Pharis, bore his son, the king Orsilochus. Through him, Alpheus was the grandfather of Diocles, and great-grandfather of a pair of soldiers, Crethon and Orsilochus, who were slain by

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas ( , ; from ) was a Troy, Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus (mythology), Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy ...

during the

Trojan War The Trojan War was a legendary conflict in Greek mythology that took place around the twelfth or thirteenth century BC. The war was waged by the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans (Ancient Greece, Greeks) against the city of Troy after Paris (mytho ...

. The river god was also called the father of Melantheia who became the mother of Eirene by

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

. In later accounts, Alpheus (Alphionis) was the father of Phoenissa, possible mother of Endymion by

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

Mythology

According to Pausanias, Alpheus was a passionate hunter and fell in love with the nymph Arethusa, but she fled from him to the island of

Ortygia Ortygia ( ; ; ) is a small island which is the historical centre of the city of Syracuse, Sicily. The island, also known as the (Old City), contains many historical landmarks. The name originates from the Ancient Greek (), which means " quail ...

near Syracuse, and metamorphosed herself into a well, after which Alpheus became a river, which flowing from the Peloponnese under the sea to Ortygia, there united its waters with those of the well Arethusa. The well of Arethusa is a symbol of Syracuse.Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). This story is related somewhat differently by the Roman writer

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

: Arethusa, a beautiful

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

, once while bathing in the river Alpheus in Arcadia, was surprised and pursued by the river god; but the goddess

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

took pity upon her and changed her into a well, which flowed under the earth to the island of Ortygia. Alpheus took on water form jumping into the stream, but the earth opened and the stream flew underground to appear in a bay near Syracuse, near the island

, a location sacred to Artemis. According to other traditions,

herself was the object of the love of Alpheus. Once, it is said, when pursued by him she fled to Letrini in Elis, and here she covered her face and those of her companions (nymphs) with mud, so that Alpheus could not discover or distinguish her, and was obliged to return. This occasioned the building of a temple of Artemis Alphaea at Letrini. According to another version, the goddess fled to

, where she had likewise a temple under the name of Alphaea. An allusion to Alpheius' love of Artemis is also contained in the fact that at Olympia the two divinities had one altar in common. In these accounts two or more distinct stories seem to be mixed up together, but they probably originated in the popular belief that there was a natural subterranean communication between the river

Alpheios The Alpheios (, , Latin Alpheus), sometimes spelled Alfeiós, is the main stream of the Alpheios Valley drainage system, a dendritic type, originating on the north slopes of Mount Taygetus, located in the center of the Peloponnesus of Greece, and ...

and the well Arethusa. It was believed that a cup thrown into the Alpheius would make its reappearance in the well Arethusa in Ortygia.

Plutarch Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...

gives an account which is altogether unconnected with those mentioned above. According to him, Alpheius was a son of

Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...

, and killed his brother Cercaphus in a contest. Haunted by despair and the

Erinyes The Erinyes ( ; , ), also known as the Eumenides (, the "Gracious ones"), are chthonic goddesses of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes them as "the Erinyes, that under earth tak ...

he leapt into the river Nyctimus which afterwards received the name Alpheius. Alpheus was also the river which

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

, in the fifth of his labours, rerouted in order to clean the filth from the Augean Stables in a single day, a task which had been presumed to be impossible.

Roman references

Alpheus is often associated with

Antinous Antinous, also called Antinoös, (; ; – ) was a Greek youth from Bithynia, a favourite and lover of the Roman emperor Hadrian. Following his premature death before his 20th birthday, Antinous was deified on Hadrian's orders, being worshippe ...

, the lover of the Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

. Antinous was a Greek youth who had drowned in the

Nile River The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the longest river i ...

. After he was deified, coins of the period depict him as Alpheios or Hadrian with Alpheios.

Gallery

File:Circle of Antoine Coypel - Alpheus chasing Arethusa.jpg, ''Alpheus chasing Arethusa'' by Antoine Coypel (18th-century) File:ALPHEE ET ARETHUSE.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by René-Antoine Houasse File:Story of Arethusa by Francesco Primaticcio, pen, ink, brush and washes.jpg, ''The Story of Arethusa'' by Francesco Primaticcio File:Alpheus and Arethusa, Abraham Bloteling.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by Abraham Bloteling (between 1655 and 1690) File:Alpheus and Arethusa - Roman School.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' (Roman School, circa 1640) File:Alpheus and Arethusa 01 - Carlo Maratta.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by Carlo Maratta (7th-century) File:Alpheus and Arethusa.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by John Martin (1832) File:Arethusa Chased by Alpheus LACMA 65.37.135.jpg, ''Arethusa Chased by Alpheus'' by Wilhelm Janson and Antonio Tempesta (1606) File:Johann König - Alpheus und Arethusa.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by Johann König (probably 1610s) File:Attributed to Luigi Garzi - Alpheus and Arethusa.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by Luigi Garzi File:Paolo de Matteis - Alpheus and Arethusa.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by Paolo de Matteis (1710) File:Roubaix piscine burthe arethuse et alphee.JPG, ''Aréthuse et Alphée'' by Léopold Burthe (1847) File:Urbino, francesco x. avelli, tagliere con aretusa nascosta da diana in una nube, 1534.JPG, Arethusa File:Scultore fiorentino, alfeo e aretusa, 1561-62.JPG, Scultore fiorentino, alfeo e aretusa, 1561–62 File:Alpheus and Arethusa MET DP248115.jpg, ''Alpheus and Arethusa'' by Battista di Domenico Lorenzi (1568–70)

Notes

References

Fabius Planciades Fulgentius Fabius Planciades Fulgentius () was a Latin writer of late antiquity. Four extant works are commonly attributed to him, as well as a possible fifth which some scholars include in compilations with much reservation. His mythography was greatly admi ...

, ''Mythologies'' translated by Whitbread, Leslie George. Ohio State University Press.1971
Online version at theio.com
*

Gaius Julius Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Augustus, and reputed author of the '' Fabulae'' and the '' De astronomia'', although this is disputed. Life and works ...

, ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies
Online version at the Topos Text Project.
*

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

, ''Theogony'' from ''The Homeric Hymns and Homerica'' with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA.,Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
*

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

, ''The Iliad'' with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Homer, ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ''Morals'' translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. William W. Goodwin, PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 5
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
*

Pindar Pindar (; ; ; ) was an Greek lyric, Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes, Greece, Thebes. Of the Western canon, canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar i ...

, ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Pindar, ''The Odes of Pindar'' including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pseudo-Clement, ''Recognitions'' from Ante-Nicene Library Volume 8'','' translated by Smith, Rev. Thomas. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. 1867
Online version at theio.com
*

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

, ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
* Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.

Bibliography

* Virginia M. Lewis,
Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Ideology of Gelon's Innovative Syracusan Tetradrachm
, in '' Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies'', 59 (2019), pp. 179–201. * {{Authority control River gods in Greek mythology Deeds of Artemis Elean mythology Greek gods Metamorphoses into bodies of water in Greek mythology