Achelous
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Acheloe Proper-name noun masculine vocative singular of Achelous
- A celebrated river of Middle Greece, which, rising in Pindus, separates Aetolia from Acarnania, and empties into the Ionian Sea, now the Aspropotamo, Mel. 2, 3, 10; Plin. 4, 1, 2, 5 al.—Hence,
- II The river-god Achelous, Ov. M. 8, 549 sq.; 10, 8 sq.; Prop. 2, 34, 33 al.
- 1. grootste rivier v. Griekenland, tussen Acarnanië en Aetolië, nu de Achelóos;
- 2. riviergod; — Achelōias, adis en Achelōis, idis f dochter v. Acheloüs, meton. nimf; — adj. Achelōius, a, um uit de Acheloüs afkomstig, van de Acheloüs [Callirhoë dochter v. Acheloüs; pocula vol water].
(Ἀχελῷος), the god of the river Achelous which was the greatest, and according to tradition, the most ancient among the rivers of Greece. He with 3000 brother-rivers is described as a son of Oceanus and Thetys (Hes. Th. 340), or of Oceanus and Gaea, or lastly of Helios and Gaea. (Natal. Com. 7.2.) The origin of the river Achelous is thus described by Servius (ad Virg. Georg. 1.9; Acn. 8.300): When Achelous on one occasion had lost his daughters, the Sirens, and in his grief invoked his mother Gaea, she received him to her bosom, and on the spot where she received him, she caused the river bearing his name to gush forth. Other accounts about the origin of the river and its name are given by Stephanus of Byzantium, Strabo (x. p.450), and Plutarch. (De Flum. 22.) Achelous the god was a competitor with Heracles in the suit for Deianeira, and fought with him for the bride. Achelous was conquered in the contest, but as he possessed the power of assuming various forms, he metamorphosed himself first into a serpent and then into a bull. But in this form too he was conquered by Heracles, and deprived of one of his horns, which however he recovered by giving up the horn of Amalthea. (Ov. Met. 9.8, &c.; Apollod. 1.8.1, 2.7.5.) Sophocles (Trachin. 9, &c.) makes Deianeira relate these occurrences in a somewhat different manner. According to Ovid (Ov. Met. 9.87), the Naiads changed the horn which Heracles took from Achelous into the horn of plenty. When Theseus returned home from the Calydonian chase he was invited and hospitably received by Achelous, who related to him in what manner he had created the islands called Echinades. (Ov. Met. 8.547, &c.) The numerous wives and descendants of Achelous are spoken of in separate articles. Strabo (x. p.458) proposes a very ingenious interpretation of the legends about Achelous, all of which according to him arose from the nature of the river itself. It resembled a bull's voice in the noise of the water; its windings and its reaches gave rise to the story about his forming himself into a serpent and about his horns; the formation of islands at the mouth of the river requires no explanation. His conquest by Heracles lastly refers to the embankments by which Heracles confined the river to its bed and thus gained large tracts of land for cultivation, which are expressed by the horn of plenty. (Compare Voss, Mytholog. Briefe, lxxii.) Others derive the legends about Achelous from Egypt, and describe him as a second Nilus. But however this may be, he was from the earliest times considered to be a great divinity throughout Greece (Hom. Il. 21.194), and was invoked in prayers, sacrifices, on taking oaths, &c. (Ephorus apud Macrob. 5.18), and the Dodonean Zeus usually added to each oracle he gave, the command to offer sacrifices to Achelous. (Ephorus, l.c.) This wide extent of the worship of Achelous also accounts for his being regarded as the representative of sweet water in general, that is, as the source of all nourishment. (Verg. G. 1.9, with the note of Voss.) The contest of Achelous with Heracles was represented on the throne of Amyclae (Paus. 3.18.9), and in the treasury of the Megarians at Olympia there was a statue of him made by Dontas of cedar-wood and gold. (Paus. 6.19.9.) On several coins of Acarnania the god is represented as a bull with the head of an old man. (Comp. Philostr. Imag. n. 4.) [L.S]
ACHELO´US (Ἀχελῷος, Epic Ἀχελώϊος).
1.(Aspropotamo), the largest and most celebrated river in Greece, rose in Mount Pindus, and after flowing through the mountainous country of the Dolopians and Agraeans, entered the plain of Acarnania and Aetolia near Stratus, and discharged itself into the Ionian sea, near the Acarnanian town of Oeniadae. It subsequently formed the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia, but in the time of Thucydides the territory of Oeniadae extended east of the river. It is usually called a river of Acarnania, but it is sometimes assigned to Aetolia. Its> general direction is from north to south. Its waters are of a whitish yellow or cream colour, whence it derives its modern name of Aspropotamo or the White river, and to which Dionysius (Dionys. 432) probably alludes in the epithet ἀργυροδίνης. It is said to have been called more anciently Thoas, Axenus and Thestius (Thuc. 2.102; Strab. pp. 449, 450, 458; Plut. de Fluv. 22; Steph. B. s. v.) We learn from Leake that the reputed sources of the Achelous are at a village called Khaliki, which is probably a corruption of Chalcis, at which place Dionysius Periegetes (496) places the sources of the river. Its waters are swelled by numerous torrents, which it receives in its passage through the mountains, and when it emerges into the plain near Stratus its bed is not less than three-quarters of a mile in width. In winter the entire bed is often filled, but in the middle of summer the river is divided into five or six rapid streams, of which only two are of a considerable size. After leaving Stratus the river becomes narrower; and, in the lower part of its course, the plain through which it flows was called in antiquity Paracheloitis after the river. This plain was celebrated for its fertility, though covered in great part with marshes, several of which were formed by the overflowings of the Achelous. In this part of its course the river presents the most extraordinary series of wanderings; and these deflexions, observes a recent traveller, are not only so sudden, but so extensive, as to render it difficult to trace the exact line of its bed,--and sometimes, for several miles, having its direct course towards the sea, it appears to flow back into the mountains in which it rises. The Achelous brings down from the mountains an immense quantity of earthy particles, which have formed a number of small islands at its mouth, which belong to the group anciently called Echinades; and part of the mainland near its mouth is only alluvial deposition. [ECHINADES] (Leake, Northern Greece, vol. 1. p. 136, seq., vol. 3. p. 513, vol. 4. p. 211; Mure, Journal of a Tour in Greece, vol. 1. p. 102.) The chief tributaries of the Achelous were:--on its left, the CAMPYLUS(Καμπύλος, Diod. 19.67: Medghova), a river of considerable size, flowing from Dolopia through the territory of the Dryopes and Eurytanes, and the CYATHUS (Κύαθος, Pol. ap. Athen. 424c.) flowing out of the lake Hyrie into the main stream just above Conope:--on its right the PETITARUS(Liv. 43.22) in Aperantia, and the ANAPUS(Ἄναπος), which fell into the main stream in Acarnania 80 stadia S. of Stratus. (Thuc. 2.82.)
The Achelous was regarded as the ruler and representative of all fresh water in Hellas. Hence he is called by Homer (Hom. Il. 20.194) Κρείων Ἀχελώϊος, and was worshipped as a mighty god throughout Greece. He is celebrated in mythology on account of his combat with Heracles for the possession of Deïaneira. The river-god first attacked Heracles in the form of a serpent, and on being worsted assumed that of a bull. The hero wrenched off one of his horns, which forthwith became a cornucopia, or horn of plenty. (Soph. Trach. 9; Ov. Met. 9.8, seq.; Apollod. 2.7.5.) This legend alludes apparently to some efforts made at an early period to check the ravages, which the inundations of the river caused in this district; and if the river was confined within its bed by embankments, the region would be converted in modern times into a land of plenty. For further details respecting the mythological character of the Achelous, see Dict. of Biogr. and Myth. s. v.
In the Roman poets we find Acheloïdes, i. e. the Sirenes, the daughters of Achelous (Ov. Met. 5.552): Acheloïa Callirhoë, because Callirhoë was the daughter of Achelous (Ov. Met. 9.413): pocula Acheloïa, i. e. water in general (Virg. Geory. 1.9): Acheloïus heros, that is, Tydeus, son of Oeneus, king of Calydon, Acheloïus here being equivalent to Aetolian. (Stat. Theb. 2.142.)
2.A river of Thessaly, in the district of Malis, flowing near Lamia. (Strab. pp. 434, 450.)
3.A mountain torrent in Arcadia, flowing into the Alpheus, from the north of Mount Lycaeus. (Paus. 8.38.9.)
4.Also called PEIRUS a river in Achaia, flowing near Dyme. (Strab. pp. 342, 450.)
(Ἀχελῷος). The largest river in Greece. It rises in Mt. Pindus, and flows southward, forming the boundary between Acarnania and Aetolia, and falls into the Ionian Sea opposite the islands called Echinades. It is about 130 miles in length. The god of this river is described as the son of Oceanus and Tethys, and as the eldest of his 3000 brothers. He fought with Heracles for Deïanira, but was conquered in the contest. He then took the form of a bull, but was again overcome by Heracles, who deprived him of one of his horns, which, however, he recovered by giving up the horn of Amalthea (q.v.). According to Ovid (Met. x. 87), the Naiads changed the horn which Heracles took from Acheloüs into the horn of plenty. Acheloüs was from the earliest times considered to be a great divinity throughout Greece, and was invoked in prayers and sacrifices. Acheloüs was regarded as the representative of all fresh water; hence we find in Vergil Acheloïa pocula, that is, water in general. The Sirens are called Acheloiades, as the daughters of Acheloüs.