|
Alpheus (Alpheios) was in Greek mythology a river and river-god. He is a son of Oceanus and Tethys. Alpheus was a passionate hunter and fell in love with the nymph Arethusa, but she fled from him to the island of Ortygia near Syracuse, and metamorphosed herself into a well, after which Alpheus became a river, which flowing from Peloponnesus under the sea to Ortygia, there united its waters with those of the well Arethusa. This story is related somewhat differently by the Roman writer Ovid: Arethusa, a beautiful nymph, once while bathing in the river Alfeios in Arcadia, was surprised and pursued by the river god; but the goddess Artemis took pity upon her and changed her into a well, which flowed under the earth to the island of Ortygia.
Lorenzi's group was carved to go above a fountain in the villa Il Paradiso at Pian di Ripoli, near Florence.
|
