- For a Greek mythological figure see Alpheus. In Greek mythology Alpheus, or ( Greek: Αλφειός meaning whitish, also romanized as Alfeiós, Alpheios or Alfiós
Alfeiós (Greek: Αλφειός, also romanized as Alpheus, Alpheios, Alfiós) is a river in Peloponnese, Greece. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly The Peloponnese or Peloponnesus ( Greek: Πελοπόννησος Pelopónnisos; see also List of Greek place names) is a large Peninsula Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία Its source is near Megalopoli in the prefecture Arcadia. Ancient Megalopolis, or now Megalópoli (Μεγαλόπολη is a town in the western part of the prefecture of Arcadia. Arcadia or Arkadía ( Greek Αρκαδία is a region of Greece in the Peloponnesus. It flows along Olympia and empties into the Ionian Sea in the prefecture of Ilia, near Pyrgos. Olympia ( Greek: Olympí'a or Olýmpia, older transliterations Olimpia, Olimbia) a sanctuary of ancient Greece The Ionian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea, south of the Adriatic Sea. Ilia (Modern Greek Ηλεία - Ileía, also Elia) is a prefecture in the Western Peloponnese and in Western portion of Greece Pyrgos (Πύργος is the capital of the Prefecture of Ilia in Greece. As the longest river in the Peloponnese, at 110 km, the river flows in the prefectures of Arcadia and Ilia. The river begins near Davia in central Arcadia, then it flows between Leontari and Megalopoli and the municipal boundary of Falaisia and Megalopoli in a wooded valley and south of Karytaina and flows north of Andritsina and for about 15 to 20 km with the prefectural boundary with Ilia and Arcadia. For the Gortyna in Crete see Gortyn Karytaina ( Greek: Καρύταινα also written as Karitena) is a town located in the western part Ilia (Modern Greek Ηλεία - Ileía, also Elia) is a prefecture in the Western Peloponnese and in Western portion of Greece It later flows with the provincial boundary of Olympia and Ilia for the rest of the length and the municipal boundary of Olympia and Alifeira to the south. It later flows to the municipal boundary of Skillounta to the south and along the Pyrgos and Volaka boundary and for a final 2 km, into the wetlands with bushes.
The ancient highway linking Patras and Kalamata ran along this river for most of the length east of Olympia. Patras ( Demotic Greek: Πάτρα, Pátra, ˈpatra Classical Greek: Πάτραι, Pátrai, Patrae is Greece Kalamata (Καλαμάτα Kalamáta, formerly Καλάμαι Kalámai) is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece
Alpheus was also the river which Hercules, in the fifth of his labours, re-routed in order to clean the filth from the Augean Stables in a single day, a task which had been presumed to be impossible. Hercules is the Roman name for the Mythical Greek hero Heracles, son of Zeus and the mortal Alcmena. In Greek mythology, Augeas (or Augeias, Greek: Ἀυγείας whose name means "bright" was king of Elis and husband of Epicaste A poem by Roger Caillois, called Le fleuve Alphée (the Alpheus River), is mainly about this river. Roger Caillois ( 3 March 1913 - 21 December 1978) was a French Intellectual whose idiosyncratic work brought together
"Underground river" in Western esotericism
According to the 1982 controversial non-fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, 15th century French king René of Anjou, who contributed to the formation of the Western esoteric tradition, used the theme of an "underground river" that was equated with the Alfeios River to represent a subculture of Arcadian esotericism, which was seen as an alternative to the mainstream spiritual and religious traditions of Christendom. This is a list of controversial non-fiction books aimed at the general reader which discuss controversial issues or have been (or were at the time of writing discussed for other reasons The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (retitled Holy Blood Holy Grail in the United States) is a controversial book by Michael Baigent This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. René of Anjou ( January 16, 1409 &ndash July 10, 1480) also known as René I of Naples and Good King René ( French Western esotericism (also Western mysticism, Western occult tradition, and Western mystery tradition) is a broad spectrum of spiritual For the term in biology see Subculture (biology. For the song by New Order see Sub-culture (song. This page is about the proverbial land of Arcadia for the province in modern Greece see Arcadia; for other uses see Arcadia (disambiguation Christendom usually refers to Christianity as a territorial phenomenon The book claims that the myth of Arcadia and its underground river became a prominent cultural fashion and inspired various artistic works such as Jerusalem Delivered (1581) by Torquato Tasso, Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia (1590) by Philip Sidney, Les Bergers d’Arcadie (1637 - 1638) by Nicolas Poussin and the Kubla Khan (1816) by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. See also Mythology Myth is derived from the Greek word μύθος mythos, which simply means 'story' Jerusalem Delivered ( La Gerusalemme liberata) (first published 1581 is an Epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso which tells Torquato Tasso ( 11 March 1544 &ndash 25 April 1595) was an Italian Poet of the 16th century best known for his poem The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia, also known simply as The Arcadia is by far Sir Philip Sidney 's most ambitious work Sir Philip Sidney ( November 30, 1554 &ndash October 17, 1586) became one of the Elizabethan Age's most prominent figures "Et in Arcadia ego" is a Latin phrase that most famously appears as the title of two paintings by Nicolas Poussin ( 1594 &ndash 1665) Nicolas Poussin (15 June 1594 – 19 November 1665 was a French painter in the classical style " Kubla Khan or a Vision in a Dream A Fragment " is a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which takes its title from the Mongol and Chinese Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( 21 October 1772 &ndash 25 July 1834) was an English Poet, Critic and philosopher The book speculates that the "underground stream" might also have connoted an unacknowledged and thus "subterranean" bloodline of Jesus. A Jesus bloodline is a hypothetical sequence of direct descendants of the Historical Jesus and Mary Magdalene, or some other woman usually portrayed as [1]
References
- ^ Henry Lincoln, Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, Corgi, 1982. ISBN 0-552-12138-X.