Acheloüs

Also known as: Calydonian river / God of that river / the Calydonian river / the River · Family: mythic figures · Role: river god · First appears: Fable 74

At the Echinades, Acheloüs’s flood tore apart the land and transformed five Nymphs into islands. After Theseus, returning from the Calydonian boar hunt, was stopped by the inundation, Acheloüs invited him into his grotto, where he recounted the fate of the Echinades and his love for Perimele, whom Neptune transformed into an island after her father cast her into the sea. He also spoke to Theseus, Pirithoüs, and Lelex of Proteus, who could take the forms of a man, animals, stone, tree, water, or fire.

Acheloüs later competed with Hercules for Deïanira after Œneus agreed that she would marry the bravest suitor. Hercules defeated him and tore away his bull’s horn; filled with fruit and flowers, it enriched Plenty. Acheloüs then concealed his mutilated features and broken horn beneath the waves and vegetation. He was the father of Calirrhoë and of the Sirens Parthenope, Lysia, and Leucosia.