View source for Asopus

{{Short description|Name of a Greek god and several rivers}}
{{for multi|the town in ancient Laconia|Asopus (Laconia)|the city of Asia Minor|Laodicea on the Lycus}}

'''Asopus''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|s|oʊ|p|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Ἀ̄σωπός}} ''Āsōpos'') is the name of four different [[river]]s in [[Greece]] and one in [[Turkey]]. In [[Greek mythology]], it was also the name of the [[God (male deity)|gods]] of those rivers. [[Zeus]] carried off [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]], Asopus' daughter, and [[Sisyphus]], who had witnessed the act, told Asopus that he could reveal the identity of the person who had abducted Aegina, but in return Asopus would have to provide a perennial fountain of water at Corinth, Sisyphus' city. Accordingly, Asopus produced a fountain at Corinth, and pursued Zeus, but had to retreat for fear of Zeus' terrible thunderbolt.

==Rivers==
===The rivers in Greece===
#[[Asopos (Boeotia)]], a river of [[Boeotia]] originating on Mt. [[Cithaeron]] and flowing through the district of [[Plataea]] into the [[Euripus Strait]].<ref>{{cite web|author=Fossey, J., J. Morin|title=Places: 540672 (Asopos (river))|url=https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/540672|access-date=August 28, 2020|publisher=Pleiades}}
</ref>
#[[Asopos (Corinthia)]] or Phliasian Asopus, originating in [[Phlius|Phliasian]] territory and flowing through [[Sicyon]]ian territory into the [[Gulf of Corinth]] near Sicyon. [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] mentions that Phliasians and Sicyonians claimed that its source was in fact the [[Phrygia]]n and [[Caria]]n river [[Maeander]] that purportedly descended underground where it appeared to enter the sea at [[Miletus]] and rose again in the [[Peloponnesos]] as Asopus.<ref>{{cite web|author=Reger, G., J. McK. Camp II|title=Places: 570131 (Asopos (river))|date=28 August 2020 |url=https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/570131|access-date=August 28, 2020|publisher=Pleiades}}
</ref><ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.5.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=ASopus 2.5.3]</ref>
#[[Asopos (Thessaly)]] or Trachean Asopus, a river originating on [[Mount Oeta]] in [[Thessaly]] and emptying into the [[Malian Gulf]] near [[Thermopylae]], mentioned by [[Herodotus]] (7.199, 216&ndash;17).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smith|first1=William|title=Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography: Abacaenum-Hytanis|date=1856|publisher=Walton and Maberly|page=[https://archive.org/details/dictionarygreek08smitgoog/page/n257 241]|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionarygreek08smitgoog}}</ref>
#Asopus, a river in [[Corfu]]

===The river in Turkey===
#Phrygian Asopus, a small river in [[Phrygia]] which joins the [[Lycus (river of Phrygia)|River Lycus]] near [[Laodicea on the Lycus]].

==Mythology==
As mythological entities, the Boeotian river Asopus and the Phliasian river Asopus are much confounded. They are duplicated a second time as supposed mortal kings who gave their names to the corresponding rivers. Indeed, logically, since the children fathered by gods on various daughters of either Boeotian or Phliasian Asopus were mortal in these tales, then the daughters themselves must have been mortal, and therefore either the mother of these daughters (often given as [[Metope (mythology)|Metope]] daughter of river [[Ladon (river)|Ladon]]) or their father Asopus must have been mortal, or both of them.

The ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]''<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.12.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 3.12.6]</ref> informs that the river Asopus was a son of [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]] or, according to [[Acusilaus]], of [[Poseidon]] by [[Pero (mythology)|Pero]] (otherwise unknown to us), or according to yet others of [[Zeus]] by [[Eurynome]]; it is uncertain whether he knows there is more than one river named Asopus.

===Boeotian Asopus===
{{see|Asopos (Boeotia)}}

===Phliasian Asopus===
Pausanias<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.12.4&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 2.12.4]</ref> writes that during the reign of [[Aras (mythology)|Aras]], the first earth-born king of Sicyonian land, Asopus, said to be son of Poseidon by [[Celusa]] (this Celusa otherwise unknown but possibly identical to Pero mentioned above), discovered for him the river called Asopus and gave it his name. [[Diodorus Siculus]]<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#72.1 4.72.1]</ref> similarly presents Asopus (here son of Oceanus and Tethys) as a settler in [[Phlius]] and husband of Metope daughter of [[Ladon (mythology)|Ladon]], presumably here and elsewhere the Arcadian river Ladon.

Pausanias<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.15.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 2.15.3]</ref> mentions his daughter [[Nemea (mythology)|Nemea]], eponym for the region of the same name (possibly the mother of [[Archemorus (mythology)|Archemorus]] in [[Aeschylus]]' lost play ''Nemea''). Pausanias<ref name="ReferenceA">Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+5.22.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 5.22.6]</ref> and Diodorus Siculus<ref>Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#73.1 4.73.1]–[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#73.2 2]</ref> also mention a daughter [[Harpina]] and state that according to the traditions of the [[Ancient Elis|Elean]]s and Phliasians, Ares lay with her in the city of [[Pisa (Greece)|Pisa]] and they had a son, [[Oenomaus]], who Pausanias<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+6.21.8&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Harpina 6.21.8]</ref> says founded the city of Harpina named after her, not far from the river Harpinates.

The ''Bibliotheca''<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+2.1.3&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 2.1.3]</ref> refers to [[Ismene]] daughter of Asopus who was wife of [[Argus Panoptes]] to whom she bore [[Iasus]], the father of [[Io (mythology)|Io]].

===Mixed tales===
====Daughters of Asopus (Asopides)====
[[File:Pyxis of Zeus and Aigina.jpg|thumb|right|The abduction of Aegina, one of the daughters of Asopus, by Zeus. Attic red-figure [[pyxis]], c.470&ndash;460 BC.]]
We find first in [[Pindar]]'s odes<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Nemean Odes'' 8.6–12, ''Isthmian Odes'' 8.17–23, ''Paian'' 6.134–40</ref> the sisters, [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]] and [[List of mythological figures named Thebe|Thebe]], here the youngest daughters of Boeotian Asopus by Metope who came from [[Stymphalus (Arcadia)|Stymphalia]] in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]]. Both are abducted by the god Zeus, one carried to the island of [[Oenone]] later to be named ''Aegina'' and the other to [[Dirce]]'s water to be queen there.

[[Corinna]], Pindar's contemporary, in a damaged fragment, mentions nine daughters of Boeotian Asopus: [[Aegina (mythology)|Aegina]], [[List of mythological figures named Thebe|Thebe]], and [[Plataea (mythology)|Plataea]] abducted by Zeus; [[Corcyra (mythology)|Corcyra]], [[Salamis (mythology)|Salamis]], and [[Euboea (mythology)|Euboea]] abducted by [[Poseidon]]; [[Sinope (mythology)|Sinope]] and [[Thespia (mythology)|Thespia]] (who has been dealt with above) abducted by [[Apollo]]; and [[Tanagra (mythology)|Tanagra]] abducted by [[Hermes]]. Asopus cannot discover what has become of them until the seer Acraephen (otherwise unknown) tells him that the gods [[Eros (god)|Eros]] and [[Aphrodite]] persuaded the four gods to come secretly to his house and steal his nine daughters. He advises Asopus to yield to the immortals and cease grieving since he is father-in-law to gods. This hints that perhaps, for Corinna, Asopus himself is not a god. Asopus accepts Acraephen's advice.

Of these daughters, Thebe, Plataea, Thespia and Tanagra are properly Boeotian. Euboea is near Boeotia, but Salamis and Aegina are regions that would perhaps associate better with the Phliasian Asopus. Korkyra ([[Corfu]]) is definitely Corinthian rather than Boeotian. Sinope is surely the colony of Sinope on the Black Sea (founded from Miletus).

It is notable that tradition as it comes down to us does not record any children resulting from a union of gods with Thebe, Plataea, Thespia or Tanagra and only Diodorus<ref name=":0">Diodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#72.1 4.72.1]</ref> mentions the otherwise unknown sons [[Phaeax (mythology)|Phaiax]], son of Poseidon by Corcyra, and [[Syrus]] sprung from Apollo by Sinope and that this child of Sinope is opposed by a conflicting tradition that [[Sinope (mythology)|Sinope]] tricked Zeus, Apollo and [[Halys River|Halys]] and remained a virgin.

Later texts mostly indicate Zeus' abduction of Aegina, presented as a solitary abduction. Asopus is often clearly the Phliasian Asopus (so indicated by [[Pherecydes of Syros|Pherecydes]]) but not always so. Asopus chases after Zeus and his daughter until Zeus turns upon him and strikes him with a thunderbolt, whence ever after Asopus is lame and flows very slowly, a feature ascribed to both the Boeotian and Phliasian Asopus. In these tales Asopus discovers the truth about the abduction from [[Sisyphus]], King of [[Corinth]] in return for creating a spring on the [[Corinth]]ian [[Acropolis]]. This spring, according to Pausanias<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.5.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 2.5.1]</ref> was behind the temple of [[Aphrodite]] and people said its water was the same as that of the spring [[Pirene (fountain)|Peirene]], the water in the city flowing from it underground.

Diodorus Siculus<ref name=":0" /> who, as mentioned, places his Asopus in Phlius, gives him twelve daughters. Diodorus' list omits the Plataea and Boeotia included by Corinna's list of nine daughters. But it introduces [[Chalcis (mythology)|Chalcis]] which was the chief city of Boeotia and may represent Boeotia. To make up the twelve Diodorus' list also adds [[Pirene (fountain)|Peirene]] (the famous spring in Corinth), [[Cleone (mythology)|Cleone]] (possible eponym of the small city of Cleonae on the road from Corinth to [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]] according to Pausanias),<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.2.15.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 2.15.1]</ref> [[Ornia (mythology)|Ornia]] (possible eponym of the small town of [[Orneai]] south of [[Phlius]]), and [[Asopis]]. But ''Asopis'' may mean ''Asopian'' and be an epithet for one of the other known daughters. [[Ovid]] in his poem ''[[Metamorphoses (poem)|Metamorphoses]]''<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 6.113 & 7.615</ref> twice calls Aegina by the name ''Asopis''. Indeed, in his very next section Diodorus discusses Asopus' daughter [[Harpina]] who has been discussed above.

Apollodorus<ref>Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.12.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 3.12.6]</ref> claims Asopus had twenty daughters but he does not provide a list.

Pausanias<ref>Pausanias, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+2.5.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Asopus 2.5.2]</ref> mentions three supposed daughters of Phliasian Asopus named Corcyra, Aegina, and Thebe according to the Phliasians and notes additionally that the Thebans insist that this Thebe was daughter of the Boeotian Asopus. He mentions no dispute about the others which suggests that in his time the assignment of Aegina to the Phliasian Asopus was generally admitted.

Pausanias<ref name="ReferenceA"/> also describes a group sculpture in the sanctuary of [[Hippodamia (mythology)|Hippodamia]] at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] donated by the Phliasians. It included Nemea, Zeus seizing Aegina, [[Harpina]], Corcyra, Thebe, and Asopus himself. It seems the Phliasians were insistent that Thebe belonged to their Asopus.

According to [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]], Asopus also fathered [[Philyra (mythology)|Philyra]] who became the mother of [[Hypseus]] by [[Peneus]].<ref>[[Scholia]] on Pindar, ''Pythian Ode'' 9.27a</ref> In some sources, [[Pronoe]] who was the mother of [[Phocus]] by [[Poseidon]] was a daughter of Asopus.<ref>Scholia on [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 2.517</ref>

====Sons of Asopus====

Both Apollodrus and Diodorus also mention two sons of Asopus, the first named [[Ismenus]] and the second named [[Pelagon]] (by Apollodorus) or [[Pelasgus]] (by Diodorus). Nothing else has survived about this Pelagon. Of Ismenus, Diodorus states only that he emigrated to Boeotia and settled near the Boeotian river, which was afterwards named Ismenus from his name. Another son, Hypseus who fought in the war of the [[Seven against Thebes]] was killed by [[Capaneus]].<ref>[[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' 7.310 ff & 723 ff</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+
<big>Comparative table of Asopus' family</big>
! rowspan="2" |Relation
! rowspan="2" |Names
! colspan="14" |Sources
|-
|''(Sch) on Hom.''
|''Acu.''
|''Cori.''
|''(Sch.) on Pin.''
|''(Sch.) on Bacc.''
|''Herod.''
|''Apollon.''
|''Dio.''
|''Stat.''
|''Apollod.''
|''Pau.''
|''Hyg.''
|''Anto.''
|''Non.''
|-
| rowspan="4" |''Parentage''
|Poseidon and Pero
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|-
|Oceanus and Tethys
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|-
|Zeus and Eurynome
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|-
|Poseidon and Celusa
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|''Wife''
|Metope
|
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
|
|✓
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|-
| rowspan="25" |''Children''
|Antiope
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Pronoe
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Aegina
|
|
|✓
|✓
|✓
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|✓
|✓
|✓
|✓
|✓
|-
|Euboea
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Corcyra
|
|
|✓
|✓
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|Plataea
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|Salamis
|
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
|
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|Sinope
|
|
|✓
|
|✓
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
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|
|
|
|-
|Tanagra
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|Thebe
|
|
|✓
|✓
|✓
|✓
|
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|Thespia
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|Cleone
|
|
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|-
|Harpina
|
|
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
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|-
|Nemea
|
|
|
|✓
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
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|-
|Philyra
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
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|-
|Peirene
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
|Oeroe
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
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|-
|Ismenus
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|✓
|
|
|
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|-
|Chalcis
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|
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|-
|Asopis
|
|
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|
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|✓
|
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|-
|Ornia / Oenia
|
|
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|✓
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|-
|Pelasgus 
|
|
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|✓
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|-
|Hypseus
|
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|
|
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|✓
|
|
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|-
|Pelegon
|
|
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|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
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|-
|Ismene
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|✓
|
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" |''Number of daughters mentioned''
!1
! -
!9
!7
!8
!3
!2
!13
!1
!3 + 17 others
!11
!1
!1
!1
|}

== Notes ==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece|Myths|}}{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].
*[[Diodorus Siculus]], ''[[Bibliotheca Alexandrina|The Library of History]]'' translated by [[Charles Henry Oldfather]]. Twelve volumes. [[Loeb Classical Library]]. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59&ndash;8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
* Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1-2''. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pindar]], ''Odes'' translated by Diane Arnson Svarlien. 1990. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN. 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. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0161%3Abook%3DN. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Ovid|Publius Ovidius Naso]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' translated by Brookes More (1859–1942). Boston, Cornhill Publishing Co. 1922. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0028 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Publius Ovidius Naso, ''Metamorphoses.'' Hugo Magnus. Gotha (Germany). Friedr. Andr. Perthes. 1892. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0029 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
*[[Statius|Publius Papinius Statius]]'', [[Thebaid (Latin poem)|The Thebaid]]'' translated by John Henry Mozley. Loeb Classical Library Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1928. [https://topostext.org/work/149 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
*Publius Papinius Statius, ''The Thebaid. Vol I-II''. John Henry Mozley. London: William Heinemann; New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons. 1928. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0498 Latin text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]

==External links==
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20071005002347/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/gazetteer/0057.html Hazlitt, Classical Gazetteer, "Asopus"]}}

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