Alpheus
Role: Lacedæmonian warrior · First appears: Book 3 · Chapter 12
At Thermopylæ, Alpheus and Maro fought alongside Leonidas and were reckoned the most valiant of the Lacedæmonians after him. A temple was dedicated to Alpheus and Maro.
In one tradition, Alpheus was a hunter enamoured of Arethusa, who hunted with him but refused to marry him. She crossed to Ortygia and became a spring, while Alpheus, “in consequence of his love was changed into a river.” Another account says he continued to love her.
Alpheus was also said to have wooed Artemis and, unable to marry her, tried to force her at a nightly revel. At Olympia, when Hercules sacrificed to Zeus, flies were driven across the Alpheus. In Messenian tradition, Telegone was Alpheus’s wife, and Ortilochus was his son.
Relationship record
Life events
- Maro and Alpheus fought at Thermopylæ and were reckoned most valiant after Leonidas.(Book 3 · Chapter 12 · 📍 Thermopylæ)
- Arethusa refused Alpheus, crossed to Ortygia, and became a spring while Alpheus became a river.(Book 5 · Chapter 7 · 📍 Ortygia)
- With: Arethusa
- “And as Arethusa was unwilling to marry him, she crossed over they say to an island near Syracuse, called Ortygia, and there became a spring: just as Alpheus in consequence of his love was changed into a river.”
- Hercules sacrificed to Zeus, driving a plague of flies across the Alpheus.(Book 5 · Chapter 14 · 📍 Olympia)
Book 3 · Chapter 12
- with Leonidas (Alpheus was ranked among the most valiant Lacedæmonians after Leonidas.) “And there is a temple of Maro and Alpheus, who, of the Lacedæmonians that fought at Thermopylæ, seem to have been reckoned most valiant next to Leonidas.”
- with Maro (Maro and Alpheus are identified as fellow Lacedæmonian combatants at Thermopylæ.) “There is a temple of Maro and Alpheus, who, of the Lacedæmonians that fought at Thermopylæ, seem to have been reckoned most valiant next to Leonidas”
Book 4 · Chapter 30
- married with Telegone “Telegone, who according to the Messenian tradition was the wife of Alpheus”
- child: Ortilochus “Diocles himself was the son of Ortilochus, the son of Alpheus”
Book 5 · Chapter 7
- courtship with Arethusa “And there are several traditions about the Alpheus, as that he was a hunter and enamoured of Arethusa, and that she hunted with him. And as Arethusa was unwilling to marry him, she crossed over they say to an island near Syracuse, called Ortygia, and there became a spring: just as Alpheus in consequence of his love was changed into a river.”
Book 5 · Chapter 14
- with Artemis (interaction) “they sacrifice to Alpheus and Artemis at one altar”
- with Pindar (interaction) “the reason for this I learnt from one of Pindar’s Odes”
Book 6 · Chapter 22
- courtship with Artemis “Alpheus they say was deeply in love with her, and when he found he could not marry her for all his wooing and vows, he had the boldness to try and force her, and went to a nightly revel at Letrini, which was to be held by her and the Nymphs with whom she associated in sport:”
- admired: Artemis “Alpheus they say was deeply in love with her, and when he found he could not marry her for all his wooing and vows, he had the boldness to try and force her”
Book 7 · Chapter 23
- courtship with Arethusa “as the story goes about Alpheus that he still loved Arethusa”
- admired: Arethusa “as the story goes about Alpheus that he still loved Arethusa”
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Extracted from the original text of Pausanias' Description of Greece. Made with Rho MD.