Potamoi

For other uses, see Potamoi (disambiguation).

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 3000 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 a reclining man with 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 Argus.
• Nilus, Egyptian river god and the father of numerous daughters who 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:

Name of river	River god	Sources							Location	Son of Oceanus and Tethys
		Hes.	Ovid	Apol.	Plut.	Hyg.	Pau.	Others
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	✓							Nonnus	Libya	*
Cladeus	?					✓			Elis	*
Clitumnus	?								Umbria	*
Cocytus	✓							Oppian	Underworld and Thesprotia	*
Cratais	✓					✓				*
Crinisus	✓							Virgil, Lycophron	Sicily	*
Cydnos	✓							Nonnus	Cilicia	*
Cytheros	?						✓		Elis	*
Elisson	?							Statius	Achaea	*
Enipeus	✓		✓	✓					Thessaly	*
Erasinus	✓						✓		Argos	*
Eridanus	✓	✓				✓			Attica	✓
Eridanus	✓	✓						Virgil, Nonnus	Hyperborea,	✓
Erymanthus	✓						✓	Aelian	Attica	*
Euphrates	✓				✓	✓			Assyria	✓
Eurotas	✓ River named after			✓	✓		✓		Laconia	son of Lelex and Cleocharia or of Myles
Evenus or	✓	✓		✓	✓				Aetolia	✓ ; some accounts, a mortal son of Ares and either Demodice or Stratonice who flung himself to the river Lycormas
Lycormas
Ganges	✓		✓		✓				India	*
Granicus	✓	✓	✓						Troad	✓
Haliacmon	✓	✓							Macedonia	✓
Halys	✓							Apollonius, Valerius Flaccus	Paphlygonia and Pontos	*
Hebrus	✓				✓			Lucian	Ciconia, Thrace	*
Heptaporus	✓	✓							Troad	✓
Hermus	✓	✓							Lydia	*
Hydaspes	✓				✓			Nonnus	India	✓; son of Thaumas and Electra
Ilissos	✓							Plato	Attica	*
Imbrasos	✓							Athenaeus	Samos	*
Inachus	✓			✓	✓	✓	✓		Argos	✓
Indus	✓				✓	✓			India or Caria	✓
Inopos	✓							Callimachus	Delos	*
Ismenus	✓				✓	✓			Boeotia	✓
Istrus or Ister	✓	✓							Scythia	✓
Ladon	✓	✓		✓			✓		Arcadia	✓
Lamos	✓							Nonnus	Cilicia or Boeotia	✓
Marsyas	River named after				✓				Phrygia	a satyr; son of Hyagnis and either Olympus or Oeagrus
Maeander	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓		Caria	✓
Meles	✓							Hellanicus, Eugaeon	Lydia	*
Mincius	✓							Virgil	Gallia, Italy	*
Nestos or Nessus	✓	✓							Bistonia, Thrace	✓
Nilus	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓			Egypt	✓
Numicius	✓		✓						Latium, Italy	*
Nymphaeus	?							Quintus Smyrnaeus	Bithynia and Paphlagonia
Orontes	✓					✓			Syria	✓
Pactolus	✓				✓			Nonnus	Lydia	*
Parthenius	✓	✓							Paphlagonia	✓
Phasis	✓	✓			✓				Colchis	✓
Phlegethon or Pyriphlegethon	✓							Virgil, Statius	Underworld	son of Cocytus
Phyllis	✓							Apollonius	Thynia, Anatolia	*
Peneus	✓	✓	✓				✓		Thessaly	✓
Pleistos	✓							Apollonius	Phocis	*
Porpax	?								Sicily
Rhesus	✓	✓							Troad	✓
Rhine	✓							Nonnus	Switzerland/Germany/Netherlands	*
Rhodius	✓	✓							Troad	✓
Rhyndacus	✓							Nonnus	Phrygia and Bithynia	*
Sangarius or Sagaris	✓	✓		✓	✓				Phrygia	✓
Satnioeis	?							Homer	Troad
Scamander	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓			Troad	✓
Selemnus	?						✓		Achaea
Simoeis	✓	✓		✓		✓		✓	Troad	✓
Spercheus	✓			✓					Malis
Strymon	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓			Edonia, Thrace	✓
Symaethus	✓		✓						Sicily	*
Tanais	✓				✓	✓			Scythia	✓
Termessus	✓						✓		Boeotia	*
Thermodon	✓				✓	✓			Pontos and Assyria	✓
Tiberinus	✓							Virgil	Latium, Italy	*
Tigris	✓				✓	✓			Assyria	✓
Titaressus	?							Homer, Strabo, Seneca	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, Massachusetts, 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, Massachusetts., 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, Massachusetts., 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