Asopus
- A river in Boeotia; personified, the father of Aegina, Evadne, and Euboea, and grandfather of Aeacus (v. Asopis and Asopiades), Ov. Am. 3, 6, 33.—
- II A river in Thessaly, Liv. 36, 22.—
- III In Phrygia, Plin. 5, 29, 29, § 105
- 1. rivier in Boeotië in Griekenland;
- 2. riviergod, zoon v. Oceanus en Tethys; — patron. Āsōpiadēs, ae m = Aeacus en Āsōpis, idis f = Aegina.
(Ἄσωπος), the god of the river Asopus, was a son of Oceanus and Tethys, or according to others, of Poseidon and Pero, of Zeus and Eurynome, or lastly of Poseidon and Cegluse. (Apollod. 3.12.6; Paus. 2.5.2, 12.5.) He was married to Metope, the daughter of the river god Ladon, by whom he had two sons and twelve, or, according to others, twenty daughters. Their names differ in the various accounts. (Apollod. l.c. ; Diod. 4.72; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. 6.144, Isthm. 8.37; Paus. 9.1.2; Hdt. 9.51; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 278.) Several of these daughters of Asopus were carried off by gods, which is commonly believed to indicate the colonies established by the people inhabiting the banks of the Asopus, who also transferred the name of Asopus to other rivers in the countries where they settled. Aegina was one of the daughters of Asopus, and Pindar mentions a river of this name in Aegina. (Nem. 3.4, with the Schol.) In Greece there were two rivers of this name, the one in Achaia in Peloponnesus, and the other in Boeotia, and the legends of the two are frequently confounded or mixed up with each other. Hence arose the different accounts about the descent of Asopus, and the difference in the names of his daughters. But as these names have, in most cases, reference to geographical circumstances, it is not difficult to perceive to which of the two river gods this or that particular daughter originally belonged. The more celebrated of the two is that of Peloponnesus. When Zeus had carried off his daughter Aegina, and Asopus had searched after her everywhere, he was at last informed by Sisyphus of Corinth, that Zeus was the guilty party. Asopus now revolted against Zeus, and wanted to fight with him, but Zeus struck him with his thunderbolt and confined him to his original bed. Pieces of charcoal which were found in the bed of the river in later times, were believed to have been produced by the lightning of Zeus. (Paus. 2.5.1, &c.; Apollod. 3.12.6.) According to Pausanias (2.12.5) the Peloponnesian Asopus was a man who, in the reign of Aras, discovered the river which was subsequently called by his name. [L.S]
ASO´PUS (Ἀσωπός).
1.A river of Boeotia, flowing through the southern part of this country, in an easterly direction, and falling into the Euripus in the territory of Attica, near Oropus. It is formed by the confluence of several small streams, one rising near Thespiae, and the others in Mount Cithaeron. Its principal sources are at a spot just under the village of Kriakúki, where are two trees, a well, and several, springs. In the upper part of its course it forms the boundary between the territories of Thebes and Plataeae, flowing through a plain called PARASOPIA. (Strab. 9. p. 409.) It then forces its way through a rocky ravine of no great length into the plain of Tanagra, after flowing through which it again traverses a rocky defile, and enters the maritime plain of Oropus. In the upper part of its course the river is now called Vuriémi, in the lower Vuriéndi. Homer describes it as deep grown with rushes, and grassy( βαθύσχοινον, λεχεποίην, Il. 4.383). It is frequently dry in summer, but after heavy rains was not easy to ford. (Thuc. 2.5.) It was on the banks of the Asopus that the memorable battle of Plataeae was fought, B.C. 479. (Hdt. 6.108, 9.51; Strab. 9. p. 408, seq.; Paus. 5.14.3; Ov. Am. 3.633 ; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. ii. pp. 326, 424, 442, 448.)
2.(River of St. George), a river of Peloponnesus, rising in the mountains S. of Phlius, and flowing through Sicyonia into the Corinthian gulf. Hence the plain of Sicyonia was called ASOPIS or ASOPIA Its principal sources are at the foot of Mt. Gavriá. In the upper part of its course it is a clear tranquil stream, but in passing through Sicyonia it becomes rapid, white, and turbid. It flows past the city of Sicyon on the east, and joins the sea a little eastward of a round height in the plain. (Strab. 7. p. 271, 8. p. 382, 9. p. 408; Paus. 2.5.2, 15.1; Plin. Nat. 4.5. s. 6; Leake, Morea, vol. iii. pp. 343, 355, seq.; Boblaye, Recherches, p. 31.)
Respecting the river-god Asopus, who frequently occurs in mythology, see Dict. of Biogr. and Myth.
3.A river of Phthiotis in Thessaly, rising in Mt. Oeta, and flowing into the Malic gulf at the pass of Thermopylae. For details see THERMOPYLAE
4.A river in Paros, mentioned only by Strabo (8. p. 382).
5.A town of the Eleuthero-Lacones in Laconia, on the eastern side of the Laconian gulf, and 60 stadia south of Acriae. It possessed a temple of the Roman emperors, and on the citadel a temple of Athena Cyparissia. At the distance of 12 stadia above the town there was a temple of Aselepius. (Strab. 8. p. 364; Paus. 3.21.7, 22.9: Ptol. 3.16.9; Ἀσώπολις, Hierocl. p. 647.) Strabo (l. c.) speaks of Cyparissia and Asopus as two separate places; but it appears that Asopus was the later name of Cyparissia. Pausanias (Paus. 3.22.9) says that at the foot of the acropolis of Asopus were the ruins of the city of the Achaei Paracyparissii. Strabo describes Cyparissia as a town with a harbour, situated upon a chersonese,w hich corresponds to the site of Blitra. The latter is on the high rocky peninsula of Kavo Xylí, east of which there is a deep inlet of the sea and a good harbour. The acropolis of Cyparissia or Asopus must have occupied the summit of Kavo Xylí. (Leake, Morea, vol. 1. p. 225, seq., Peloponnesiaca, p. 169.)
6.[LAODICEA AD LYCUM.]
(Ἀσωπός). (1) A river in Thessaly rising in Mt. Oeta and emptying into the Sinus Maliacus.
(2) A river of Boeotia rising in Mt. Cithaeron and flowing into the Euripus. On its banks the battle of Plataea was fought.
(3) A river of Achaea flowing into the Corinthian Gulf near Sicyon.
(4) The god of the last-named river, and father of the nymph Aegina (q.v.).
- Paus. 2.5.2, Paus. 9.1.2, Paus. 9.4.4, Paus. 9.8.1
- made the boundary between Theban and Plataean territory: Paus. 2.6.1, Hdt. 6.108
- frequently referred to in connection with the Plataean campaign of Manlonius, who encamped on its bank: Hdt. 9.15-59
- its tall reeds: Paus. 5.14.3
- father of Antiope: Paus. 2.6.1, of Oeroe: Paus. 9.4.4, of Tanagra: Paus. 9.20.1, of Thebe: Paus. 2.5.2, and of Thespia: Paus. 9.26.6
- Hdt. 7.199, Hdt. 7.216, Hdt. 7.217
- Paus. 3.21.7, Paus. 3.22.9
- Paus. 9.1.2
- Paus. 2.5.2, Paus. 2.7.3, 9, Paus. 2.11.4, 5, Paus. 2.15.1
- his parentage: Apollod. 3.12.5
- its water supposed to be that of Maeander: Paus. 2.5.3
- father of Aegina: Apollod. 1.9.2, Apollod. 1.6.3, Paus. 2.5.2, Paus. 2.29.2, Paus. 5.22.6, of Cleone: Paus. 2.15.1, of Corcyra: Paus. 2.5.2, Paus. 5.22.6, of Harpina: Paus. 5.22.6, of Nemea: Paus. 2.15.3, Paus. 5.22.6, and of Thebe: Paus. 2.5.2, Paus. 5.22.6
- gives to Sisyphus a spring on Acro-Corinth: Paus. 2.5.1
- father of Ismene: Apollod. 2.1.1
- father of Ismenus and Pelagon: Apollod. 3.12.5
- pursues Zeus, the ravisher of Aegina, but is driven back by thunderbolts: Apollod. 3.12.6
- father of Salamis: Paus. 1.35.2, Apollod. 3.12.7
- discovered water of Phliasian Asopus: Paus. 2.12.4