ALPHEUS (river god of the Alpheus)

The river emptied into the sea along the Peloponnesus coast, where it was navigable for a distance of six miles.^7,8 From there, Alpheus flowed secretly beneath the sea to Sicily, traveling through deep depths without mixing with salt water.^1,9,10 He maintained his fresh current and original purity throughout this long journey, remaining unpolluted despite the violence of the sea.^1,9,11

Alpheus pursued the fountain Arethusa through the Peloponnese, becoming inflamed with desire when he saw her naked.¹² After Arethusa was hidden by a cloud, the river god searched for her, circled the hiding spot twice while calling for her, and watched the cloud and the spot where she was concealed.¹² Stronger than Arethusa and able to endure prolonged fatigue, Alpheus recognized her waters and shed his mortal form to become his own waters.¹² He mingled with her at her mouth, intending to rise from the sea to mingle his channels with his beloved.^1,9,12 A chalice dropped in the river at Olympia was found at Arethusa, a tale the author rejects as a fable, yet the connection between the two waters persisted in the myths.^7,10,13

The river Alpheus was the location where Hermes drove the stolen cattle and discarded his footwear into its deep, swirling waters.^14,15 During the fiery chaos caused by Phaethon's chariot, the river god's waters boiled, and he ceased sending his waters forth during the described catastrophe.^16,17 Heracles later diverted the river's course into a cattle yard, and the river Erymanthus flowed into the Alpheus.^18,19 Melampus encountered Apollo at the location of the Alpheus, and some claimed Dionysus was born by the river.^20,21

The river's broad stream flowed through the territory of the Pylians, where it begat Orsilochus, who ruled over many people.²² Alpheus was the grandfather of Diocles and an ancestor of a man named Althephias, linking the divine current to mortal lineages.^23,24 The riverbank of Alpheos was the location where Pherenikos ran his race, and the tree-clad precinct of Pisa was located by the Alpheos.^25,26 The river was the source from which the Olympic olive wreath is obtained, and its streams were where Pytheas's victory was honored by Athena.^27,28 A new city was to be founded beside the streams of Alpheus, which also watered a plain where Cypselus built a city.^29,30 Ortygia served as a resting-place for Alpheus, a revered place of his reappearing, where the river reemerges from the sea.^10,31