View source for Alpheus (deity)

{{Short description|Ancient Greek river god}}
[[File:Syracuse,_Tetradrachm_of_Gelon,_485_BC.jpg|thumb|A [[tetradrachm]] of [[Gelon]], [[tyrant]] of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], minted c. 485 BC. The obverse depicts Alpheus, referring to the foundation myth of Syracuse.<ref>Lewis, "Two sides of the same coin", pp. 179–201.</ref>]]
{{Ancient Greek religion}}
'''Alpheus''' or '''Alpheios''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|l|ˈ|f|iː|ə|s}}; {{langx|grc|Ἀλφειός}}, meaning "whitish"), was in [[Greek mythology]] a river<ref>[[Pindar]], ''Nemean Odes'' 1.1</ref> (the modern [[Alfeios River]]) and river god.<ref name="DGRBM">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Schmitz |first=Leonhard |author-link=Leonhard Schmitz |title=Alpheias |editor=William Smith |editor-link=William Smith (lexicographer) |encyclopedia=[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]] |volume=1 |pages=133–134 |publisher=[[Little, Brown and Company]] |location=Boston |year=1867 |url=http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0142.html |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613173928/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0142.html |archive-date=2008-06-13 }}</ref>

== Family ==
[[Image:Picart alpheus arethusa.jpg|thumb|right|280px|An engraving by [[Bernard Picart]] depicting a scene from [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' in which Alpheus attempts to capture the nymph [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]].]]
Like most river gods, Alpheus was a son of the Titans [[Oceanus]] and his sister-wife [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=ALpheus 338] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 366–370]; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' Preface</ref> [[Telegone (mythology)|Telegone]], daughter of [[Pharis (mythology)|Pharis]], bore his son, the king [[Orsilochus]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 4.30.2</ref> Through him, Alpheus was the grandfather of [[Diocles (mythology)|Diocles]], and great-grandfather of a pair of soldiers, [[Crethon]] and Orsilochus, who were slain by [[Aeneas]] during the [[Trojan War]].<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' 5.45</ref> The river god was also called the father of [[Melanthea|Melantheia]] who became the mother of [[Eirene (daughter of Poseidon)|Eirene]] by [[Poseidon]].<ref>[[Plutarch]], ''Quaestiones Graecae'' 19</ref> In later accounts, Alpheus (Alphionis) was the father of [[Phoenissa (mythology)|Phoenissa]], possible mother of [[Endymion (mythology)|Endymion]] by [[Zeus]].<ref>[[Pseudo-Clement]], ''[[Clementine Recognitions|Recognitions]]'' 10.21-23</ref>

== Mythology ==
[[File:La Ninfa Aretusa.PNG|left|thumb|''La Ninfa Aretusa'' by Alexandre Crauk]]
According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], Alpheus was a passionate hunter and fell in love with the nymph [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]], but she fled from him to the island of [[Ortygia]] near [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]], and metamorphosed herself into a well, after which Alpheus became a river, which flowing from [[Peloponnesus|the Peloponnese]] under the sea to Ortygia, there united its waters with those of the well Arethusa.<ref>Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 5.7.2; [[Scholiast]] on [[Pindar]]'s ''Nemean Odes'' 1.3</ref> The well of Arethusa is a symbol of [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]].<ref name="Roman, L. 2010">Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). {{Google books|tOgWfjNIxoMC|Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology.|page=56}}</ref> This story is related somewhat differently by the Roman writer [[Ovid]]: Arethusa, a beautiful [[nymph]], once while bathing in the river [[Alfeios|Alpheus]] in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]], was surprised and pursued by the river god; but the goddess [[Artemis]] took pity upon her and changed her into a well, which flowed under the earth to the island of Ortygia.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 5.572; [[Virgil]], ''[[Aeneid]]'' 3.694; [[Servius Tullius|Servius]] ad Virgil, ''[[Eclogues]]'' 10.4; [[Statius]], ''Silvae'' 1.2, 203, ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' 1.271, 4.239; [[Lucian]], ''Dialogi Marini'' 3</ref> 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 [[Ortygia]], a location sacred to Artemis.<ref name="Roman, L. 2010"/>

According to other traditions, [[Artemis]] herself was the object of the love of Alpheus. Once, it is said, when pursued by him she fled to Letrini in [[Ancient Elis|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.<ref>Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 6.22.5</ref>  This occasioned the building of a temple of [[Artemis Alphaea]] at Letrini.  According to another version, the goddess fled to [[Ortygia]], where she had likewise a temple under the name of Alphaea.<ref>Scholiast on Pindar's ''Pythian Odes'' 2.12</ref>  An allusion to Alpheius' love of Artemis is also contained in the fact that at [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]] the two divinities had one altar in common.<ref>Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 5.14.5; Scholiast on Pindar's ''Olympian Odes'' 5.10</ref>

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]] and the well Arethusa.  It was believed that a cup thrown into the Alpheius would make its reappearance in the well Arethusa in Ortygia.<ref>[[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' 6, p. 270, 8.343; [[Seneca the Younger]], ''[[Naturales quaestiones]]''  3.26; [[Fabius Planciades Fulgentius|Fulgentius]], ''Mythologiarum libri'' 3.12</ref>  [[Plutarch]] gives an account which is altogether unconnected with those mentioned above.<ref>[[Pseudo-Plutarch]], ''De fluviis'' 19</ref> According to him, Alpheius was a son of [[Helios]], and killed his brother Cercaphus in a contest. Haunted by despair and the [[Erinyes]] he leapt into the river Nyctimus which afterwards received the name Alpheius.<ref name="DGRBM"/>

Alpheus was also the river which [[Heracles]], in the fifth of his [[Labours of Hercules|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]], the lover of the Roman Emperor [[Hadrian]]. Antinous was a Greek youth who had drowned in the [[Nile|Nile River]]. After he was deified, coins of the period depict him as Alpheios or Hadrian with Alpheios.<ref>{{cite web |title=RPC III, 309 |url=https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/309 |website=Roman Provincial Coinage online}}</ref>

== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed-hover">
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)
File:'Arethusa' by Benjamin West, 1802, High Museum of Art.JPG|''[[Arethusa (painting)|Arethusa]]'' by [[Benjamin West]], 1802
</gallery>

==See also==
*{{annotated link|Sarasvati River}}, the invisible or subterranean [[Mysticism|mystical]] river of [[Hinduism]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Fabius Planciades Fulgentius]], ''Mythologies'' translated by Whitbread, Leslie George. Ohio State University Press.1971. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/FulgentiusMythologies1.html Online version at theio.com]
* [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], ''Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus'' translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. [https://topostext.org/work/206 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
* [[Hesiod]], ''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. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0129 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Homer]], [[Iliad|''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. {{ISBN|978-0674995796|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Homer, ''Homeri Opera'' in five volumes. Oxford, Oxford University Press. 1920. {{ISBN|978-0198145318|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0133 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Plutarch|Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus]], ''Morals'' translated from the Greek by several hands. Corrected and revised by. [[William Watson Goodwin|William W. Goodwin]], PH. D. Boston. Little, Brown, and Company. Cambridge. Press Of John Wilson and son. 1874. 5. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0400%3Achapter%3D1 Online version 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. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://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. [http://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. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0161%3Abook%3DN. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Clementine literature|Pseudo-Clement]], ''Recognitions'' from [[Ante-Nicene Period|Ante-Nicene]] Library Volume 8'','' translated by Smith, Rev. Thomas. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh. 1867. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/ClementRecognitions.html Online version at theio.com]
* [[Strabo]], ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]

== Bibliography ==

* Virginia M. Lewis, "[https://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/view/16179/7212 Two Sides of the Same Coin: The Ideology of Gelon's Innovative Syracusan Tetradrachm]", in ''[[Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies]]'', 59 (2019), pp.&nbsp;179–201.
* {{SmithDGRBM|title= Alpheias}}

{{Greek religion}}
{{Greek mythology (deities)}}
{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:River gods in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Deeds of Artemis]]
[[Category:Elean mythology]]
[[Category:Greek gods]]
[[Category:Metamorphoses into bodies of water in Greek mythology]]