Ἀλφειός
Alpheios, Alpheus
Translated by Jennifer Benedict11 Jun 2000Vetting: high9 revisions
Translation
A river [of that name]. Homer [writes]: "[the river Alpheios,] which flows broad through the land of the Pylians."1
[The one] which "is hidden immediately after its source and carries on for quite a way underground, coming up around Lykoa in Arcadia.2 But the river, while not very far from its source, is hidden for ten stades, then surfaces again, and afterwards runs through Megalopolitan3 [territory], at first shallow but then gradually increasing, and already having crossed all the aforementioned area in full view for ten stades, it comes to Lykoa, at this point already joined by the stream of Lousios, and is altogether impassable and deep."4
Look [for information] about this also under Arethusa.5
[The one] which "is hidden immediately after its source and carries on for quite a way underground, coming up around Lykoa in Arcadia.2 But the river, while not very far from its source, is hidden for ten stades, then surfaces again, and afterwards runs through Megalopolitan3 [territory], at first shallow but then gradually increasing, and already having crossed all the aforementioned area in full view for ten stades, it comes to Lykoa, at this point already joined by the stream of Lousios, and is altogether impassable and deep."4
Look [for information] about this also under Arethusa.5
Greek original · Adler’s text
Ἀλφειός· ποταμός. Ὅμηρος· ὅς τ' εὐρὺ ῥέει Πυλίων διὰ γαίης. ὃς ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς εὐθέως κρύπτεται καὶ πολὺν ἐνεχθεὶς τόπον ὑπὸ γῆς ἐκβάλλει περὶ Λυκόαν τῆς Ἀρκαδίας. ὁ δὲ ποταμὸς οὐ πολὺν τόπον ἀποσχὼν τῆς πηγῆς καὶ κρυφθεὶς ἐπὶ δέκα σταδίους πάλιν ἐκπίπτει, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν φερόμενος διὰ τῆς Μεγαλοπολίτιδος τὰς μὲν ἀρχὰς ἐλαφρός, εἶτα λαμβάνων αὔξησιν καὶ διανύσας ἐπιφανῶς πᾶσαν τὴν προειρημένην χώραν ἐπὶ δέκα σταδίους, γίνεται πρὸς Λυκόαν, ἤδη προσειληφὼς καὶ τὸ τοῦ Λουσίου ῥεῦμα, παντελῶς ἄβατος ὢν καὶ βαρύς. ζήτει περὶ τούτου καὶ ἐν τῷ Ἀρέθουσα.
Betacode
*)alfeio/s: potamo/s. *(/omhros: o(/s t' eu)ru\ r(e/ei *puli/wn dia\ gai/hs. o(\s e)k th=s phgh=s eu)qe/ws kru/ptetai kai\ polu\n e)nexqei\s to/pon u(po\ gh=s e)kba/llei peri\ *luko/an th=s *)arkadi/as. o( de\ potamo\s ou) polu\n to/pon a)posxw\n th=s phgh=s kai\ krufqei\s e)pi\ de/ka stadi/ous pa/lin e)kpi/ptei, kai\ to\ loipo\n fero/menos dia\ th=s *megalopoli/tidos ta\s me\n a)rxa\s e)lafro/s, ei)=ta lamba/nwn au)/chsin kai\ dianu/sas e)pifanw=s pa=san th\n proeirhme/nhn xw/ran e)pi\ de/ka stadi/ous, gi/netai pro\s *luko/an, h)/dh proseilhfw\s kai\ to\ tou= *lousi/ou r(eu=ma, pantelw=s a)/batos w)\n kai\ baru/s. zh/tei peri\ tou/tou kai\ e)n tw=| *)are/qousa.
Notes (5)
- OCD(4) s.v. (p.66). See also alpha 1449. The longest Peloponnesian river, the Alpheios rises in the southern Arcadian highlands, flows northwest past Mount Lykaion (lambda 799), and empties into the Ionian Sea (Barrington Atlas map 58 grid A2) west of Olympia.
- 1Homer, Iliad 5.545 (web address 1). Pylos (cf. pi 3167) is in fact much further south, in southern Messenia (cf. mu 659). ↩
- 2The little-known town of Lycoa (Maher, p. 395n2) seems to have been located below the confluence of the Alpheios with the Lousios (Gortynios; Barrington Atlas map 58 grid C2; cf. lambda 799) just northeast of Mount Lykaion (principal note). ↩
- 3For "the territory of Megalopolis" see mu 368. ↩
- 4Polybius 16.17.5-7 (loosely quoted; cf. web address 2). As often, he is engaging in polemic against predecessors, on this occasion Zeno and Antisthenes. After beginning with what they say, he turns (in "But...") to correcting it; but the force of the corrections is spoiled here in the Suda by the repetition of "ten" (for what should be 200!) stades. ↩
- 5A spring (also Arethousa) on the island of Sicily to which the Alpheios is a mythical tributary; cf. alpha 3821. ↩
References
M.P. Maher, The Fortifications of Arkadian City States In the Classical and Hellenistic Periods (Oxford 2017)
External resources
- Web address 1 perseus.tufts.edu
- Web address 2 perseus.tufts.edu
Linked from5 entries
- α1263ἈλίφειραAlipheira, AliphiraName of a city. Also [sc. attested is] 'Alipheireus', name of a river.
- α1449ἈλφειόςAlpheios, AlpheusA river of the Arcadian city [of that name], which is situated in the Peloponnese. Reaching open water through the Adriatic Sea, and mixing in no way with the brine, it surges up by the island of Sicily around the…
- α3821ἈρέθουσαArethousa, ArethusaA spring on the island of Sicily, into which flows [the] Alpheus, a river of the Arcadian city [of that name], reaching open water through the Adriatic Sea and mingling in no way with the brine, as if [it were] the…
- λ799ΛύκαιονLykaion, LycaeumA name of a place. Also [sc. attested is the related adjective] Lykaios.
- μ368Μεγαλοπολίτιδοςof Megalopolitan [territory]See under 'Alpheios' [alpha 1448].
Neighbouring entries
Revision history9 revisions · last 5 Jun 2018
- scrubbed bibliography — Ronald Allen
- partitioned and augmented notes, added cross-references, added bibliography, added keyword — Ronald Allen
- added cross-references, added map reference to primary note — Ronald Allen
- added links, augmented primary note and n.1, added map references — Ronald Allen
- Revised — David Whitehead
- updated a ref — David Whitehead
- tweaks — David Whitehead
- tweaked tr — David Whitehead
- augmented notes; added bibliography and keywords; cosmetics — David Whitehead
- Translated — Jennifer Benedict