The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its
Latin name, is a river in
Phthiotis in
central Greece. It is long, and its drainage area is . It was worshipped as a
god in the
ancient Greek religion
Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has been ...
and appears in some collections of
Greek mythology. In
antiquity
Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to:
Historical objects or periods Artifacts
*Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures
Eras
Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
, its upper valley was known as
Ainis. In AD 997, its valley was the site of the
Battle of Spercheios, which ended
Bulgarian incursions into the
Byzantine Empire.
It is referenced in a surviving fragment of
Aeschylus' play ''Philoctetes'', quoted in ''
The Frogs'', as a place for cattle.
River
The river begins in the
Tymfristos mountains on the border with
Evrytania and flows to the east through the village
Agios Georgios Tymfristou, entering a wide plain. It flows along the towns
Makrakomi and
Leianokladi, and south of the Phthiotidan capital
Lamia. The river flows through an area of former wetlands, that have been reclaimed for agriculture. It empties into the
Malian Gulf of the
Aegean Sea southeast of Lamia. In
antiquity
Antiquity or Antiquities may refer to:
Historical objects or periods Artifacts
*Antiquities, objects or artifacts surviving from ancient cultures
Eras
Any period before the European Middle Ages (5th to 15th centuries) but still within the histo ...
, the mouth of the river was the site of
Antikyra, which was famed for its
black and
white hellebore White hellebore or white false hellebore is a common name for several plants and may refer to:
* ''Veratrum album'', native to Europe and western Asia
* ''Veratrum californicum'', native to North America
* ''Veratrum viride
''Veratrum viride'', ...
.
Several studies have been conducted regarding the river's hydrological regime.
1
Its silt has slowly filled the Malian Gulf, turning Thermopylae from a narrow pass into a wide plain.
God
Homer's '' Iliad'' names the river as the father (by Achilles's half-sister Polydora) of Menesthius, one of Achilles's lieutenants. Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300.
His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...
notes the tradition that Cerambus was punished for claiming that the nymphs of Mount Othrys, the Spercheides, were the daughters of Spercheios by the naiad
In Greek mythology, the naiads (; grc-gre, ναϊάδες, naïádes) are a type of female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.
They are distinct from river gods, who ...
Deino
In Greek mythology, Dino or Deino (Ancient Greek: Δεινώ means "dread" or "eddy, whirlpool") may refer to the following divinities:
* Deino, also called Persis, one of the Graea who were daughters of the sea-deities Phorcys and Ceto. Her ...
. Antoninus Liberalis also relates the account that Spercheios and Polydora's son was Dryops, king of Oeta, who fathered Dryope.Antoninus Liberalis
Antoninus Liberalis ( el, Ἀντωνῖνος Λιβεράλις) was an Ancient Greek grammarian who probably flourished between AD 100 and 300.
His only surviving work is the ''Metamorphoses'' (Μεταμορφώσεων Συναγωγή, ''Me ...
, ''Metamorphoses'', 32
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
Potamoi
Spercheios Valley
Rivers of Central Greece
Rivers of Greece
Drainage basins of the Aegean Sea
{{Greece-river-stub