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. •
Asopus, father of many naiads. His daughter
Aegina was carried off to the island Aegina by Zeus. Another daughter,
Sinope, tricked three amorous gods into leaving her virginity intact. •
Inachus, the first king of Argos and progenitor of the 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 was offended when
Achilles polluted his waters with a large number of Trojan corpses. In response, he overflowed his banks, nearly drowning Achilles. Ancient Greek poet
Hesiod mentioned several river gods by name, along with their origin story, in
Theogonia ("the birth of the gods"):And Tethys bare to Ocean eddying rivers, Nilus, and Alpheus, and deep-swirling Eridanus, Strymon, and Meander, and the fair stream of Ister, and Phasis, and Rhesus, and the silver eddies of Achelous, Nessus, and Rhodius, Haliacmon, and Heptaporus, Granicus, and Aesepus, and holy Simois, and Peneus, and Hermus, and Caicus fair stream, and great Sangarius, Ladon, Parthenius, Euenus, Ardescus, and divine Scamander. —
Theogony, Hesiod. Translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914) ==List of river gods==