The Tellaro (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power ...

: Helorus or Elorus,

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: or ) is a river in the southeast of

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, the most considerable which occurs between

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States * Syracuse, New York ** East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

and

Cape Pachynum Capo Passero or Cape Passaro ( scn, Capu Pàssaru; Greek: ; Latin: Pachynus or Pachynum) is a celebrated promontory of Sicily, forming the extreme southeastern point of the whole island, and one of the three promontories which were supposed to ...

. It is long, and has a drainage basin of .Bacino Idrografico del Fiume Tellaro (086), Relazione
Regione Siciliana, p. 11 It rises in the hills between Palazzolo (ancient Acrae) and Giarratana, and flows at first to the south, then turns eastward, and enters the sea about south of Syracuse. Near its mouth stood the town of the same name. In the upper part of its course it is a mountain stream, flowing over a rugged and rocky bed, whence

Silius Italicus Tiberius Catius Asconius Silius Italicus (, c. 26 – c. 101 AD) was a Roman senator, orator and epic poet of the Silver Age of Latin literature. His only surviving work is the 17-book ''Punica'', an epic poem about the Second Punic War and the l ...

calls it ''undae clamosus Helorus'' (xiv. 269); but near its mouth it becomes almost perfectly stagnant, and liable to frequent inundations. Hence

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

justly speaks of ''praepingue solum stagnantis Helori'' (Aen. iii. 698).

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the ...

praises the beauty of the valley through which it flows, which he terms ''Helornia Tempe'' (Fast. iv. 476). Several ancient authors mention that the stagnant pools at the mouth of the river abounded in fish, which were said to be so tame that they would eat out of the hand, in the same manner as was afterwards not uncommon in the fishponds of the Romans. (

Apollodorus of Athens Apollodorus of Athens ( el, Ἀπολλόδωρος ὁ Ἀθηναῖος, ''Apollodoros ho Athenaios''; c. 180 BC – after 120 BC) son of Asclepiades Pharmacion, Asclepiades, was a Greeks, Greek scholar, historian, and grammarian. He was a pup ...

''ap.'' Steph. Byz. ''v.'' ; Athenaeus, viii. p. 331; Plin. xxxii. 2. s. 7.) It was on the banks of the Helorus, at a spot called the precise locality of which cannot be determined, that the Syracusans were defeated by

Hippocrates Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history o ...

, tyrant of

Gela Gela (Sicilian and ; grc, Γέλα) is a city and (municipality) in the Autonomous Region of Sicily, Italy; in terms of area and population, it is the largest municipality on the southern coast of Sicily. Gela is part of the Province of C ...

, in a great battle. ( Herod. vii. 154; Pind. ''Nem.'' ix. 95; and Schol. ''ad loc.'')

References

{{Reflist Drainage basins of the Ionian Sea Rivers of Italy Rivers of Sicily Rivers of the Province of Ragusa Rivers of the Province of Syracuse