ERASINOS
Greek Name
Ερασινος
Transliteration
Erasinos
Latin Spelling
Erasinus
Translation
River Erasinus
ERASINOS (Erasinus) was a river-god of Arkadia and Argos in the Peloponnese, southern Greece.
The Erasinos stream arose near Lake Stymphalos in Arkadia and flowed south through Argolis to empty into the Argolic Gulf near the town of Lerna. The most important neighbouring river was the Inakhos (Inachus).
PARENTS
OFFSPRING
BYZE, MELITE, MOIRA, ANKHIROE (Antoninus Liberalis 40)
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
Aeschylus, Suppliant Women 1019 ff (trans. Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) :
"Lords of the city [of Argos] both those who guard the town and those who dwell about Erasinos' ancient stream."
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2. 24. 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"[In Argolis :] On the right of the road a mountain called Khaon (Chaon). At its foot grow cultivated trees, and here the water of the Erasinos rises to the surface. Up to this point it flows from Stymphalos in Arkadia (Arcadia), . . . At the places where the Erasinos gushes forth from the mountain they sacrifice to Dionysos and to Pan."
Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 40 (trans. Celoria) (Greek mythographer C2nd A.D.) :
"[Britomartis] arrived in Argos from Phoinikia (Phoenicia), entering into the company of the daughters of Erasinos (Erasinus), Byze, Melite, Maira (Maera), Ankhirhoe (Anchirhoe)."
Aelian, Historical Miscellany 2. 33 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) :
"The nature of rivers, and their streams, are visible to us. But men who honour them, and have statues made of them, in some cases set up anthropomorphic statues, while others give them bovine form. A likeness to cattle is attributed by the Stymphalians to Erasinos (Erasinus) and Metope."
Ovid, Metamorphoses 15. 275 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"So Erasinus' stream, engulfed to glide in secret eddies underground [i.e. from Arcadia], returns a lordly river in the Argive fields." [Cf. Pausanias 2.24.6 above.]
SOURCES
GREEK
- Aeschylus, Suppliant Women - Greek Tragedy C5th B.C.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
- Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses - Greek Mythography C2nd A.D.
- Aelian, Historical Miscellany - Greek Rhetoric C2nd - 3rd A.D.
ROMAN
- Ovid, Metamorphoses - Latin Epic C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.