Alpheus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Alpheus

32 passages from 10 ancient authors that tell of Alpheus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. In Greek mythology, Alpheus was the river god of the eponymous river, the modern-day Alfeios River in Greece. He was the son of the Titans Oceanus and... For the story in one place, read our article on Alpheus.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Theogony 335–369The rivers and the Oceanids (335-369)Tethys bears to Oceanus the swirling rivers, among them the Nile, the Alpheus and the Eridanus, and also a company of daughters who, with Apollo and the rivers, watch over the young. Hesiod names a selection of both, saying there are three thousand Oceanids and as many rivers, but that only people living near each stream can name it.

Homer (3)

Homer, Iliad 11.655–761Nestor's tale of the cattle raid in ElisNestor asks why Achilles pities the Achaeans' wounded only now, and recalls a quarrel between Pylos and the Epeians in his own youth. He tells how he led a raid in Elis and drove off herds of cattle, and how he killed Itymoneus and later Mulius, the son-in-law of King Augeias. The Pylians then divided the spoil and gave thanks to Zeus and to Nestor.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 4.91–209Hymn 4 to Hermes (2): the theft of Apollo's cattleHermes drives the cattle backwards through the night, sacrifices two of them by the river Alpheus, and returns to his cradle in Cyllene, where Maia scolds him for the theft. Meanwhile Apollo arrives at Onchestus and is told by the old man that he has seen a child driving cattle backwards.
Homer, The Homeric Hymns 1.1–21Hymn 1 to Dionysus (fragment)Only a fragment of the first hymn to Dionysus survives. It rejects the places that claim to be his birthplace, among them Dracanum, Icarus, Naxos, the river Alpheus and Thebes, and says that Zeus bore him secretly, far from men and from white-armed Hera, on a mountain called Nysa. The surviving lines end with the promise of sacrifice in his honour.

Pindar (2)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 1.1–116Olympian 1: for Hieron — Pelops and TantalusPindar opens with the praise of water and gold and of the Olympic games as the greatest of contests, and hails Hieron of Syracuse, victor with the horse Pherenicus. He rejects the tale that the gods ate the flesh of Pelops, and tells instead how Poseidon, in love, carried the boy off to Olympus after the banquet of Tantalus, and how Tantalus is punished for stealing nectar and ambrosia with a rock hanging over his head. Pelops later prays to Poseidon, overcomes Oenomaüs in the chariot race and wins Hippodameia. The ode ends with a prayer that Hieron keep his greatness and that Pindar be the foremost poet among Hellenes.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 6.1–105Olympian 6: for Hagesias — Iamus, son of ApolloPindar likens the opening of his ode to the building of a hall on golden pillars and praises Hagesias of Syracuse, an Iamid and victor with the mule-car, recalling Adrastus' lament for Amphiaraüs. He tells how Euadne, loved by Apollo, hid her child Iamus among the violets, where bees' honey fed him, and how Apollo later gave him the gift of prophecy and an oracle at Olympia. He closes by sending Aeneas to praise Hera and Stymphalus, and with a prayer to Poseidon.

Euripides (2)

Euripides, Electra 774–858Messenger speech: Orestes kills Aegisthus at the sacrificeThe Messenger tells how they found Aegisthus in a well-watered garden gathering myrtle for a wreath, how Orestes said that they were Thessalians on their way to the Alpheus to sacrifice to Zeus, and how Aegisthus invited them to join his sacrifice of an ox to the Nymphs. He asked Orestes to show his skill with a Thessalian axe, and, as Aegisthus bent over the entrails, Orestes struck him down, and the servants, learning who the guest was, took his side.
Euripides, Electra 859–898Third choral song; Electra crowns Orestes as victorThe Chorus calls on Electra to dance like a fawn leaping, since her brother has won a crown as great as the one that Alpheus' victors wear. Electra greets the light and the night, saying that she is free to open her eyes now that Aegisthus is dead, and she crowns Orestes with a wreath, as the victor in a contest greater than any in the games. Orestes tells her to give thanks to the gods and fate, and offers her the corpse of Aegisthus to treat as she wishes.

Theocritus (1)

Theocritus, Idylls 4.1–63Idyll 4: Battus and CorydonBattus asks Corydon whose cattle he is herding, and Corydon says they are Aegon's, who has gone with Milon to the Alpheus and left him his pipe. They talk of the lean cattle and of Battus' grief for the dead Amaryllis. Battus gets a thorn in his foot, and Corydon draws it out.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.50.1–4.53.7The Argonauts III: Medea, Pelias and the return to IolcusWhile the Argonauts are away Pelias puts Jason's father and brother to death, and Jason's mother kills herself. Medea promises to kill Pelias by a trick: she fashions a hollow image of Artemis and, appearing as an old woman made young by drugs, persuades his daughters to boil their father, and the Argonauts then take the palace. Jason gives the kingdom to Acastus, marries Pelias' daughters to notable men, dedicates the Argo at the Isthmus and settles at Corinth, and as the chiefs part Heracles proposes an oath of mutual aid and the games at the Alpheius that he names Olympia.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.572–678Arethusa; Triptolemus; the PieridesArethusa tells Demeter (Ceres) how she fled from the river god Alpheus under the earth and came up again in Sicily. Demeter sends Triptolemus in her chariot to teach men the use of grain, and he is nearly killed by King Lyncus, whom she turns into a lynx. Calliope ends her song, and the Muses tell how the Pierides who challenged them were turned into magpies.

Pausanias (17)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.7.1–10Olympia: the Alpheus and Arethusa, and the Idaean Hercules’ first gamesAt Olympia Pausanias describes the Alpheus and its seven tributaries, the story of the river’s love for Arethusa and its flow beneath the sea, supported by a Delphic oracle, with parallels from the Nile, the Jordan and Mycale. He then gives the Elean account of the first Olympic games, held by the Idaean Dactyls, among whom Hercules crowned the winner with wild olive and fixed a four-year cycle.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.22.1–11Pisa, Pylus and Letrini: the bones of Pelops and Alpheaean ArtemisPausanias describes the traces of Pisa: the sanctuary of Artemis Cordax and the coffer holding the bones of Pelops. He summarises the quarrels of Pisa with Elis, the Non-Olympiads and the destruction of Pisa and its allies by the Eleans. He also covers the ruins of Pylus in Elis, the nymphs called Ionides at a healing spring near Heraclea, and Letrini, where a story explains the name of Alpheaean Artemis, after the river Alpheus who loved her and was baffled when she and her nymphs smeared their faces with mud.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.44.1–8The road to Tegea: Oresthasium, the sources of the Alpheus and Eurotas, and PallantiumPausanias follows the road from Megalopolis to Pallantium and Tegea, passing Ladocea, Haemoniae and the remains of Oresthasium with its sanctuary of Artemis the Priestess. Near Asea he places the sources of the Alpheus and Eurotas, whose waters mingle and then disappear into a chasm to rise in different lands, and the sanctuary on Mount Boreus ascribed to Ulysses. He describes Pallantium, with its images of Pallas and Evander and the hill sanctuary of the Pure gods, and the Manthuric plain, Mount Cresius, the sanctuary of Ares Aphneus and the Leuconian fountain.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.14.1–10Olympia: Zeus Averter of Flies, the white poplar and the altars in order of sacrificePausanias notes the wonders of the altar, including the kites and Hercules’ sacrifice to Zeus Averter of Flies, and explains the use of white poplar wood. He lists the altars of Olympia in the order the Eleans sacrifice on them, from Hestia and Olympian Zeus to Artemis, Athena, Alpheus, Hephaestus, Hercules and his brothers, then the altars of Hera, the Muses and the Nymphs near the Pelopium.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.29.1–5Bathos and Basilis: the Great Goddesses and the giantsPausanias crosses the Alpheus to the ruins of Trapezus and the place called Bathos, where mysteries of the Great Goddesses are held every second year, with a spring that flows only in alternate years. The Arcadians place the battle of the gods and giants here. Pausanias argues from Homer that giants were mortal men, and cites the huge coffin found when the Orontes was diverted to reach Antioch, which the god at Clarus said held Orontes of the Indian race. He then names Basilis, founded by Cypselus, and Thocnia on the river Aminius.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 6.21.1–11Olympia and Pisa: Demeter Chamyne, Phrixa and the suitors of HippodamiaPausanias describes the sanctuary of Demeter Chamyne opposite the hippodrome, the gymnasium and the grave of Oenomaus across the Cladeus. He then follows the boundary between Arcadia and the land of Pisa, noting the tomb of Saurus, a ruined temple of Aesculapius, and the ruined city of Phrixa with its temple of Cydonian Athena. He also mentions the grave of the horses of Marmax and the ruins of Harpina, and ends with the mound of the suitors of Hippodamia killed by Oenomaus, with the list of their names given in the Great Eoeae.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.26.1–8Heraea and Aliphera: Dionysus, the grave of Coroebus and the Fly-catcherPausanias describes Heraea on the Alpheus, with its riverside avenues, baths, temples of Dionysus and Pan and the ruined temple of Hera, and names Damaretus as its most famous athlete. He gives the boundary with Elis at the grave of Coroebus, winner of the first Olympic race after the revival by Iphitus. He then describes Aliphera, where Athena is said to have been born and bred, with its altar of Zeus Lecheates, its bronze Athena by Hypatodorus and its sacrifice to the Fly-catcher, and ends with Melaeneae and the springs of the Buphagus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.35.1–10Megalopolis: roads to Messenia and Lacedaemon and the ruined towns of the interiorPausanias describes the road from Megalopolis to Carnasium in Messenia, the Hermaeum 'at the Mistress' on the border, and the road to Lacedaemon, with a remark on the disputed town of Belemina. He then lists the roads into the interior and the ruined towns founded by the sons of Lycaon: Charisiae, Tricoloni with its sanctuary of Poseidon, Zoetia, Paroria, Thyraeum, Hypsus and Phalanthus. He also mentions the grave of Callisto with its sanctuary of Artemis Calliste, and the plain of Polus and Schoenus, which he links to the race-courses of Atalanta.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.54.1–7The Alpheus and the roads from Tegea: Orestes' tomb and Mount PartheniusPausanias describes the Alpheus, which rises at Phylace and repeatedly sinks underground, rising again at Asea and Pegae and flowing under the sea to mix with Arethusa at Syracuse. He lists what lies on the roads from Tegea: the tomb of Orestes, a sanctuary of Pan and the oak grove with temples of Demeter and Mystic Dionysus. On Mount Parthenius are the precinct of Telephus and a sanctuary of Pan, where Pan appeared to Philippides, and tortoises sacred to Pan. The boundary with Argos is at Hysiae, which closes his account of the Peloponnese.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.13.1–11Olympia: the Pelopium, the shoulder-blade of Pelops and the great altar of ZeusPausanias describes the Pelopium and its annual sacrifice of a black ram, with the rule against eating the sacrificial flesh and entering the temple of Zeus. He tells how the fisherman Damarmenus recovered Pelops’ shoulder-blade and notes traces of Pelops in Lydia. He then describes the altar of Olympian Zeus, built of ashes, its dimensions and the monthly plastering with Alpheus water.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.34.1–6Maniae and Acé: Orestes' madness and cure near MegalopolisPausanias describes the sanctuary of the Maniae, goddesses of madness identified with the Eumenides, on the road from Megalopolis to Messene, where Orestes is said to have gone mad. Nearby are the mound called Finger's Tomb, where Orestes bit off a finger, the place Acé, where he was healed, and a place where he cut his hair. He explains the sacrifices to the black and white goddesses and gives the Peloponnesian version in which the accuser at the Areopagus was Perilaus. The section ends with the rivers Gatheatas and Carnion and the boundary with Messenia at the Hermaeum.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.12.1–11Sparta: the street Apheta, the Booneta, the Hellenium and the SciasAlong the street Apheta, Pausanias explains the name from the foot-race of Penelope’s suitors, then the Booneta bought with oxen and the sanctuaries of Athena Goddess of Paths. He also lists shrines of Iops, Amphiaraus and Lelex, the precinct of Taenarian Poseidon, the Hellenium and the tomb of Talthybius, altars of Apollo and Earth, royal graves, the sanctuary of Arsinoe, the shrine of Maron and Alpheus, the temples of Zeus Tropaeus and the Great Mother, and the Scias, where public assemblies meet.

5 more passages of Pausanias that name Alpheus

Nonnus of Panopolis (1)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 6.258–388Book 6: The flood; Pan and Galateia; the earth renewedLand and sea creatures mingle in the flood, and Pan and Galateia talk as she swims past him. The rivers Nile, Alpheios and Pyramos wander in search of their loves. Deucalion floats in his ark, and Poseidon splits a mountain to let the water run off, so that cities are built again.

Bacchylides (3)

Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 6.1–8.32Odes 6–7: Lachon of Ceos, boys' foot-race at OlympiaOde 6 survives only as its end, honouring Lachon, son of Aristomenes, whose swift feet won the boys' foot-race and brought renown to Ceos. Ode 7 greets the sixteenth day of the month at Olympia, which gives judgment on speed and strength. A further passage tells of Lachon's wins at Pytho, Nemea and the Isthmus and thanks Zeus for the wreath of Aetolian olive he won beside the Alpheus.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 3.1–4.20Odes 3–4: Croesus saved by Apollo; Hieron's victoriesCleio is told to praise Demeter and Hieron of Syracuse, whose horses won at Olympia. The poet tells how Croesus, with Sardis falling to the Persians, mounted a pyre with his family, how Zeus quenched the flames and how Apollo carried him to the Hyperboreans. The ode closes with Apollo's advice to Admetus, son of Pheres, and the promise that Hieron's glory will be sung by the nightingale of Ceos. Ode 4 hymns Hieron's third Pythian victory and his two at Olympia.
Bacchylides, Epinicians (Odes of Victory) 5.1–200Ode 5: Heracles meets Meleager in HadesThe poet sends Hieron a song and compares his own flight to the eagle's, celebrating the victory of the chestnut horse Pherenicus at Olympia and at Pytho. He tells how Heracles went down to Hades for the hound of Hades, saw the shade of Meleager and drew his bow, but was told there was nothing to fear. Meleager tells of the Calydonian boar sent by Artemis, of the quarrel over its hide, and of the brand burned by his mother Althaea that ended his life. Moved to tears, Heracles asks about a sister he might marry, and Meleager names Deianeira; the ode ends with praise of Hieron and a prayer to Zeus.