The Ladon (

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Katharevousa Katharevousa (, , literally "purifying anguage) is a conservative form of the Modern Greek language conceived in the late 18th century as both a literary language and a compromise between Ancient Greek and the contemporary vernacular, Demotic ...

: , ''Ládōn'';

Demotic Greek Demotic Greek (, , , ) is the standard spoken language of Greece in modern times and, since the resolution of the Greek language question in 1976, the official language of Greece. "Demotic Greek" (with a capital D) contrasts with the conservat ...

: , ''Ládōnas'') is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...

peninsula of

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. It features in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

. It is a tributary to the river

Alfeios The Alpheios (, , Latin Alpheus), sometimes spelled Alfeiós, is the main stream of the Alpheios Valley drainage system, a dendritic type, originating on the north slopes of Mount Taygetus, located in the center of the Peloponnesus of Greece, a ...

, which empties into the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

. It is long.

Course

The Ladon rises on the western slope of the

Aroania Aroania () (also known as "Sopoto") is a village and a former Communities and Municipalities of Greece, municipality in Achaea, West Greece, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipality Kalavryta, of which it is ...

mountain, near the village Kastriá,

Kleitoria Kleitoria () is a village and a municipal unit in Achaea, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, Greece. It was also the new name of the former municipality Lefkasio, of which it was the seat, between 2008 and 2011. Since the 2011 local government ref ...

municipal unit,

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek language, Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaḯa'', ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwest ...

. It flows south, receives its left tributary

Aroanios The Aroanios (; ; ) is a river in the southern part of Achaea, Greece and a tributary of Ladon river. The water comes from the Carbonate rock, carbonate mountain range Aroania (mountain), Aroania (1500-2300m). After 12 km, it meets the L ...

, flows along

and turns southwest near the Arcadian border. It flows through the artificial

Ladon Lake The Ladon Lake (, ''Techniti Limni Ladona'') or the Ladon Reservoir is an artificial lake in the upper part of the river Ladon, in the northwestern part of Arcadia, Greece. The 50 m high dam was built in 1955. The reservoir is situated in a spa ...

, and turns south again near Dimitra. It flows into the

3 km southeast of the village

Tripotamia Tripotamia (Greek: Τριποταμιά meaning "three rivers", before 1927: Μπέλεσι - ''Belesi'') is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Tropaia in the westernmost part of Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. It is situated on a hi ...

. It joins the Tragus near Zevgolatio.

Mythology

The river was among those mentioned by

Hesiod Hesiod ( or ; ''Hēsíodos''; ) was an ancient Greece, Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer.M. L. West, ''Hesiod: Theogony'', Oxford University Press (1966), p. 40.Jasper Gr ...

in ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' () is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogy, genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Homeric Greek, epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contains 1,022 lines. It is one ...

;'' they were "all sons of

Oceanus In Greek mythology, Oceanus ( ; , also , , or ) was a Titans, Titan son of Uranus (mythology), Uranus and Gaia, the husband of his sister the Titan Tethys (mythology), Tethys, and the father of the River gods (Greek mythology), river gods ...

and queenly Tethys" for, according to the image of world hydrography common to the ancients, the fresh water that welled up in springs came from the underworld caverns and pools, and was connected with the salt sea. Rain fertilized crops, but the sense that its runoff filled the rivers did not figure in the Greek mythic picture. Rivers were personified and credited with wooing

nymph A nymph (; ; sometimes spelled nymphe) is a minor female nature deity in ancient Greek folklore. Distinct from other Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature; they are typically tied to a specific place, land ...

s and human maidens and fathering children. By Stymphalis, Ladon became the father of the Arcadian

Metope A metope (; ) is a rectangular architectural element of the Doric order, filling the space between triglyphs in a frieze , a decorative band above an architrave. In earlier wooden buildings the spaces between triglyphs were first open, and ...

who wed another river god,

Asopus Asopus (; ''Āsōpos'') is the name of four different rivers in Greece and one in Turkey. In Greek mythology, it was also the name of the God (male deity), gods of those rivers. Zeus carried off Aegina (mythology), Aegina, Asopus' daughter, and ...

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily (; 1st century BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek historian from Sicily. He is known for writing the monumental Universal history (genre), universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty ...

4.72.1

Apollodorus Apollodorus ( Greek: Ἀπολλόδωρος ''Apollodoros'') was a popular name in ancient Greece. It is the masculine gender of a noun compounded from Apollo, the deity, and doron, "gift"; that is, "Gift of Apollo." It may refer to: :''Note: A ...

3.12.6
The

naiad In Greek mythology, the naiads (; ), sometimes also hydriads, 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 embodied ...

Daphne Daphne (; ; , , ), a figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in which she appears, but t ...

, who rejected Apollo’s advances, was the daughter of Ladon and Ge (Earth). The river god’s other progeny were the naiads

Telphusa ''Telphusa'' is a genus of moths in the family Gelechiidae. Species *'' Telphusa alexandriacella'' (Chambers, 1872) *'' Telphusa amphichroma'' Meyrick, 1913 *'' Telphusa atomatma'' (Meyrick, 1932) *'' Telphusa auxoptila'' Meyrick, 1926 *''Telph ...

and

Syrinx In classical Greek mythology, Syrinx () was an Arcadian nymph and a follower of Artemis, known for her chastity. Being pursued by Pan, she fled into the river Ladon, and at her own request was metamorphosed into a reed from which Pan then mad ...

Rivers have cleansing effects in Greek mythology. When

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

assaulted

Demeter In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Demeter (; Attic Greek, Attic: ''Dēmḗtēr'' ; Doric Greek, Doric: ''Dāmā́tēr'') is the Twelve Olympians, Olympian goddess of the harvest and agriculture, presiding over cro ...

, she washed away the insult in the waters of the River Ladon. Apparently this was the source of the Arcadian expression that to "giv way to anger is to be furious."

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, Ladon (river) River gods in Greek mythology Rivers of Greece Landforms of Achaea Rivers of Western Greece Rivers of Peloponnese (region) Landforms of Arcadia, Peloponnese Places in Greek mythology