The Iliad · Eng

Alpheus

God

In Greek mythology, Alpheus or Alpheios (; Ancient Greek: Ἀλφειός, lit. 'whitish') was the river god who embodied the river of the same name.

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Mentions
2
Connected characters
1
Books
2
Alpheus. Alphaeus and Arethusa
Alphaeus and Arethusa · Giovanni Battista LorenziImage source CC0

Mentions in the Iliad

All · 2Book 5 · 1Book 11 · 1

A. T. Murray, Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University Press, 1924 · Homer, Iliad with an English Translation · CC BY-SA 3.0 US

“and he fell with a thud, and upon him his armour clanged. Then Aeneas slew two champions of the Danaans, the sons of Diocles, Crethon and Orsilochus, whose father dwelt in well-built Pheme, a man rich in substance, and in lineage was he sprung from the river”
Il. 5.540–544
“Thence with all speed, arrayed in our armour, we came at midday to the sacred stream of Alpheius. There we sacrificed goodly victims to Zeus, supreme in might, and a bull to Alpheius, and a bull to Poseidon, but to flashing-eyed Athene a heifer of the herd;”
Il. 11.725–729

Connections

All · 1Relatives · 1

In art

All · 3Painting · 2Sculpture · 1
Alpheus Chasing Arethusa
Alpheus Chasing ArethusaFilippo Lauri · 1671Department of Paintings of the LouvreInv. RF 1983-63

Filippo Lauri. Alpheus Chasing Arethusa. Department of Paintings of the Louvre. Public domain. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18573593

Alpheus and Arethusa
Alpheus and ArethusaJohn Martin · 1832Collection not recorded

John Martin. Alpheus and Arethusa. Public domain. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q20354154

Alphaeus and Arethusa
Alphaeus and ArethusaGiovanni Battista Lorenzi · Date not establishedMetropolitan Museum of Art

Giovanni Battista Lorenzi. Alphaeus and Arethusa. Metropolitan Museum of Art. CC0. https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q131449684

Sources and verification

The character is matched to the catalogue.

Wikidata Q911084

Reference material remains distinct from the poem’s assertions. Characters who share a name retain separate pages.