Alpheus
Alpheus is a river god who was in love with Artemis. He tried to capture her, but she became suspicious and covered her face with mud so he would not recognize her. He also tried to rape Artemis's attendant Arethusa.
↻ synthesized from 9 sources
When
- First attested
- 800 BCE
- Attested period
- -800 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Attested in Greek mythology from the Iron Age.
Relationships
- enemy of
- Artemis (Diana)
- co occurs with
- Antinous, Virbius, Anaïtis, Angelos, Aphaea, Aeginaea, Aetole, Agoraea, Despoinai, Agrotera, Alphaea, Amarynthia, Amphipyros, Apanchomene, Helene, Dentritis, Kondyleatis, Aricina, Arethusa, Tityos, Cephissus, Amphiaraus, Amphilochus, Panacea, Archelous, Leto, Zeus, Poseidon, Demeter, Persephone, Ariadne, Britomartis, Otos, Ephialtes, Taygete, Achelous, Apollo, Diana, Hermes, Aphrodite, Heracles, Hera, Athena, Pan, Erechtheus, nymphs, Hestia, Jason
- parent of
- Orsilochus, Melantheia, Phoenissa
- consort of
- Arethusa
Mentioned by
- Leto
- Zeus
- Poseidon
- Demeter
- Persephone
- Ariadne
- Britomartis
- Otos
- Ephialtes
- Taygete
- Achelous
- Apollo
- Diana
- Hermes
- Aphrodite
- Heracles
and 9 more
Sources
- peer reviewed
- peer reviewed
Source passages
“The river god Alpheus was in love with Artemis, but as he realized he could do nothing to win her heart, he decided to capture her. When Artemis and her companions at Letrenoi go to Alpheus, she becomes suspicious of his motives and covers her face with mud so he does not recognize her.”
#18619 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Alpheus is often associated with Antinous, the lover of the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Antinous was a Greek youth who had drowned in the Nile River. After he was deified, coins of the period depict him as Alpheios or Hadrian with Alpheios.”
#42302 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“not knowing it was the river god Alpheus, who flowed down from Arcadia through Elis to the sea. He fell in love with her during their encounter, but she fled after discovering his presence and intentions, as she wished to remain a chaste attendant of Artemis.”
#42308 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“In the legend, Alphaea and her nymphs covered their faces with mud and the river god Alpheus, who was in love with her, could not distinguish her from the others.”
#42925 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“The river god Alpheus was in love with Artemis, but as he realized he could do nothing to win her heart, he decided to capture her.”
#43066 · extracted by deepseek/deepseek-chat