ASTERODEIA

ASTERODEIA was the Naiad-nymph of a gold-bearing stream of the Kaukasos (Caucasus) Mountains. She was loved by King Aeetes of Kholkis (Colchis) and bore him a son named Apsyrtos.

Asterodeia's name was derived from the Greek words astêr "star" and rhodos "rose", and her son's from syrtos "washed down from a river" (usually referring to gold). This suggests that Asterodeia was the nymph of a gold-bearing stream which sparkled like a "rosy-star". Ancient Greek writers commenting on the story of the Golden Fleece note that tribesmen of the Kaukasos mountains collected gold from the streams with the aid of lambskin fleeces. Also, n the tale of the Argonauts, the heroes stole not only the fleece but also Apsyrtos--the boy of the gold-bearing stream.

PARENTS

Perhaps a daughter of the River PHASIS

OFFSPRING

APSYRTOS (by Aeetes) (Apollonius Rhodius 3.240)

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3. 240 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.) :
"[In Kholkis (Colchis) :] Higher buildings stood at angles to this court on either side. In one of them, the highest, King Aeetes lived with his queen; in another, his son Apsyrtos (Apsyrtus), whom a Kaukasian (Caucasian) Nymphe named Asterodeia had borne to him before he married Eidyia, the youngest daughter of Tethys and Okeanos (Oceanus)."

SOURCES

GREEK

• Apollonius Rhodius, The Argonautica - Greek Epic C3rd B.C.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.