The Spercheios (, ''Sperkheiós''), also known as the Spercheus from its
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
name, is a river in
Phthiotis
Phthiotis ( el, Φθιώτιδα, ''Fthiótida'', ; ancient Greek and Katharevousa: Φθιῶτις) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Central Greece. The capital is the city of Lamia. It is b ...
in
central Greece
Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...
. 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 bee ...
and appears in some collections of
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities o ...
. 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
Ainis ( Ancient Greek Αἰνίς, , Modern Greek Αινίδα, ) or Aeniania, was a region of ancient Greece located near Lamia in modern Central Greece, roughly corresponding to the upper Valley of Spercheios.
Name
The region takes its name ...
. In AD 997, its valley was the site of the
Battle of Spercheios
The Battle of Spercheios ( bg, Битка при Сперхей, el, Μάχη του Σπερχειού) took place in 997 AD, on the shores of the Spercheios river near the city of Lamia in central Greece. It was fought between a Bulgarian a ...
, which ended
Bulgarian incursions into the
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
.
It is referenced in a surviving fragment of
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Gree ...
' play ''Philoctetes'', quoted in ''
The Frogs
''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus i ...
'', 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
LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
. 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
The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi ( Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
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
Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...
and
white hellebore.
Several studies have been conducted regarding the river's hydrological regime.
1
Its silt has slowly filled the Malian Gulf, turning Thermopylae
Thermopylae (; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa: (''Thermopylai'') , Demotic Greek (Greek): , (''Thermopyles'') ; "hot gates") is a place in Greece where a narrow coastal passage existed in antiquity. It derives its name from its hot sulphur ...
from a narrow pass into a wide plain.
God
Homer
Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
's ''Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Ody ...
'' names the river as the father (by Achilles
In Greek mythology, Achilles ( ) or Achilleus ( grc-gre, Ἀχιλλεύς) was a hero of the Trojan War, the greatest of all the Greek warriors, and the central character of Homer's '' Iliad''. He was the son of the Nereid Thetis and Pe ...
's half-sister Polydora
Polydora (; grc, Πολυδώρᾱ in Attic and in Ionic, means 'many-gifts' or 'the shapely') was the name of several characters in Greek mythology:
*Polydora, the 'handsome' Oceanid, one of the 3,000 water-nymph daughters of the Titans Oce ...
) 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, '' ...
notes the tradition that Cerambus
In Greek mythology, Cĕrambus ( Ancient Greek: Κέραμβος), a son of Euseiros (himself son of Poseidon) and the nymph Eidothea of Othreis.
Mythology
Cerambus was a survivor of Deucalion's flood by means of wings which he received from t ...
was punished for claiming that the nymph
A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ...
s of Mount Othrys, the Spercheides
In Greek mythology, the Spercheides ( Ancient Greek: Σπερχειδες), also known as the Maliades (Μηλίδες), were naiads of the Spercheus River, in Malis. They were sometimes held to be the daughters of the river god Spercheus and th ...
, 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. 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, '' ...
, ''Metamorphoses'', 32
References
Citations
Bibliography
*
Potamoi
Spercheios Valley
Rivers of Central Greece
Rivers of Greece
Drainage basins of the Aegean Sea
{{Greece-river-stub