Potamoi

The Potamoi (‹See Tfd›Greek: Ποταμοί, "rivers") are the gods of rivers and streams of the earth in Greek mythology.

Mythology

The river gods were the sons of the great earth-encircling river Oceanus and his wife Tethys and the brothers of the Oceanids. They were also the fathers of the Naiads. The river gods were depicted in one of three forms: a man-headed bull, a bull-headed man with the body of a serpent-like fish from the waist down, or as an arm resting upon an amphora jug pouring water.

Notable river gods include:

• Achelous, the god of the Achelous River, the largest river in Greece, who gave his daughter in marriage to Alcmaeon, and was defeated by Heracles in a wrestling contest for the right to marry Deianira.
• Alpheus, who fell in love with the nymph Arethusa, pursuing her to Syracuse, where she was transformed into a spring by Artemis.
• Inachus, the first king of Argos and progenitor of Argive line through his son grandson Argus.
• Nilus, Egyptian river god and the father of numerous daughters that mingled with the descendants of Inachus, forming a dynasty of kings in Egypt, Libya, Arabia and Ethiopia.
• Peneus, river god of Thessaly flowing from the foot of Pindus. He was the father of Daphne and Stilbe, love interests of the god Apollo.
• Scamander, who fought on the side of the Trojans during the Trojan War, and, offended when Achilles polluted his waters with the a large number of Trojan corpses, overflowed his banks nearly drowning Achilles.

List of potamoi

The following are the sons of Oceanus and Tethys:

LIST OF RIVER GODS ACCORDING TO VARIOUS SOURCES
Name of River	River-God	Hesiod	Ovid	Apollodorus	Plutarch	Hyginus	Pausanias	Others	Location	Son of Oceanus and Tethys
Achelous or Akheloios	√	√		√		√	√		Aetolia	√
Acheron	√		√	√					Underworld and Thesprotia	*presumably
Acis	Changed into a river		√						Sicily	son of Pan and nymph Symaethis
Acragas	?								Sicily
Aeas	√		√						Epirus	*
Aegaeus	√							Apollonius	Scheria (Corcyra)	*
Aesar	√							Strabo	Tyrrhenia or Etruria	*
Aesepus	√	√							Troad	√
Almo	√		√						Latium	*
Alpheus	√	√	√		√	√	√		Arcadia	√
Amnisos	√							Apollonius, Callimachus	Crete	*
Amphrysos	√		√						Thessaly	*
Anapos	√		√					Nonnus	Sicily	*
Anauros	?								Thessaly
Anigros	√							Strabo	Elis	*
Apidanus	√		√						Thessaly	*
Arar	? River named after				√				Gallia Celtica (Celtic Gaul)
Araxes	? River named after				√				Armenia	son of Pylus
Ardescus	√	√							Thrace	√
Arnos	√							Strabo	Etruria	*
Ascanius	√					√		Antoninus	Mysia	*
Asopus	√			√			√		Boeotia and Argos	√ some accounts, son of Zeus and Eurynome or Poseidon and either Pero or Celusa
Asterion	√						√		Argos	*
Axenus or Axius	√					√			Paeonia and Macedonia	√
Baphyras	?								Pieria
Borysthenes	√							Antoninus	Scythia	*
Brychon	√							Lycophron	Chersonnese	*
Caanthus	√						√			√
Caicinus	√						√		Bruttium	*
Caicus	√	√			√				Teuthrania, Mysia	√
Cayster	√						√		Lydia	*
Cebren	√		√	√				Parthenius	Troad	*
Cephissus	√		√	√		√	√		Phocis, Attica, Argos	√
Chremetes									Libya
Cladeus or Kladeos							√		Elis
Clitumnus									Umbria
Cocytus									Underworld and Thesprotia
Cratais
Crinisus									Sicily
Cydnos									Cilicia
Cytheros									Elis
Elisson									Achaea
Enipeus	√		√	√					Thessaly
Erasinus	√						√		Argos
Eridanus	√	√							Hyperborea, Attica	√
Erymanthus									Attica
Euphrates	√				√	√			Assyria	√
Eurotas					√				Laconia
Evenus or Lycormas	√	√		√	√				Aetolia	√
Ganges					√				India
Granicus	√	√	√						Troad	√
Haliacmon	√	√							Macedonia	√
Halys									Paphlygonia and Pontos
Hebrus					√				Ciconia, Thrace
Heptaporus	√	√							Troad	√
Hermus	√	√							Lydia
Hydaspes	√				√			Nonnus	India
Ilissos									Attica
Imbrasos									Samos
Inachus	√			√	√	√	√		Argos	√
Indus	√				√	√			India or Caria	√
Inopos									Delos
Ismenus	√				√	√			Boeotia	√
Istrus or Ister	√	√							Scythia	√
Ladon	√	√		√			√		Arcadia	√
Lamos									Cilicia or Boeotia
Marsyas					√				Phrygia
Maeander	√	√	√		√	√	√		Caria	√
Meles									Lydia
Mincius									Gallia, Italy
Nestos or Nessus	√	√							Bistonia, Thrace
Nilus or Nile	√	√		√	√	√			Egypt	√
Numicius	√		√						Latium, Italy
Nymphaeus									Bithynia and Paphlagonia
Orontes	√					√			Syria	√
Pactolus					√				Lydia
Parthenius	√	√							Paphlagonia	√
Phasis	√	√			√				Colchis	√
Phlegethon or Pyriphlegethon									Underworld
Phyllis									Thynia, Anatolia
Peneus	√	√	√				√		Thessaly	√
Pleistos									Phocis
Porpax									Sicily
Rhesus	√	√							Troad	√
Rhine									Iberia (Spain)
Rhodius	√	√							Troad	√
Rhyndacus									Phrygia and Bithynia
Sangarius or Sagaris	√	√		√	√				Phrygia	√
Satnioeis									Troad
Scamander	√	√		√	√	√			Troad	√
Selemnus							√		Achaea
Simoeis	√	√		√		√			Troad	√
Spercheus	√			√					Malis
Strymon	√	√		√	√	√			Edonia, Thrace	√
Symaethus									Sicily
Tanais	√				√	√			Scythia	√
Termessus							√		Boeotia
Thermodon	√				√	√			Pontos and Assyria	√
Tiberinus									Latium, Italy
Tigris	√				√	√			Assyria	√
Titaressus									Thessaly
TOTAL		25			25	17

See also

• List of Oceanids
• Potamides (river nymphs)

References

• Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Astronomica, in The Myths of Hyginus, edited and translated by Mary A. Grant, Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960.
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873).

External links

• "Potamoi" at Theoi.com