Alpheios (mythology)
Alpheios ( ancient Greek Ἀλφειός Alpheiós , Latin Alpheus ) is a figure in Greek mythology . He was mainly known through a legend about the nymph Arethusa .
mythology
Alpheios is described by Pindar and Ovid as a river god who lives in the river of the same name . He is said to be the son of Oceanus and Tethys . In Pausanias , however, he is described as a talented hunter who later becomes divine through transformation.
Alpheios and Arethusa
Alpheios plays a major role in the “Alpheios and Arethusa” legend. The myth tells how Arethusa bathes in the river in which Alpheios lives after training to hunt. At Pausanias, Alpheios is a gifted hunter who Arethusa meets during an excursion. In both versions, Alpheios falls in love with Arethusa, but is rejected by her. Pining, he climbs after her until Arethusa asks the goddess Artemis for help and is enveloped in fog. When Alpheios does not give up, Arethusa turns into a spring with an underground stream and hides from Alpheios. The vilified is so offended that he literally flows into tears and turns himself into a river. Its waters flow towards the Peloponnese and reach Syracuse near Sicily , where it reunites with Arethusa and flows with her into the open sea.
literature
- Philip Hardie: The Cambridge Companion to Ovid. Cambridge University Press, New York / London 2002, ISBN 0521772818 .
- James George Fraze: Pausanias's Description of Greece (= Pausanias's Description of Greece 6 Volume Set , 3rd volume). Cambridge University Press, 2012, ISBN 1108047254 .
