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The Blue Planet Project

This blog has been created to disseminate the information we collect during the activities of the Comenius project: "The Blue Planet: WATER, resource and symbol of the past, the present and the future". This project is funded by the European Community and its duration is 3 years (2003-2006).

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Sunday, April 24, 2005

Myths on Water

The legend of Aretusa Spring


Aretusa was one of Artemis’s nymphs who lived in Acaia , in Greece.
She was considered a very beautiful nymph but she blushed of her natural beauty, feeling this as a fault. Ovid and Virgil narrate her story:
One day returning rather tired from the forest of “Stinfalo” , she stopped at the shore of a little river to refresh herself. Undressed she plunged into the fresh and clean water.
Alfeo, the river in which she was “freshening”, noticed her beauty and assuming human features started to woo her to obtain her love.
Aretusa escaped running as fast as she could till she was exhausted. Till Diana moved by her fear decided to cover her with a cloud , hiding her from Alfeo’s sight.But Alfeo didn’t lose his heart and continued to look for the loved Aretusa. The nymph started weeping tillshe became a river.
Alfeo recognized in the brillant water the loved nymph left his human appearance and returned to be a river to be able to mix his waters with hers.
Eventually Artemide made a tear into the ground that permitted to Aretusa to sink in a dark cave till she reached Ortigia near Siracusa , in Sicily where she resurfaced.

Historical references
  • Ovid : Metamorphosis 5, 572
  • Virgil : Eneid 3, 1092-1097

(This is a work of the Italian School Liceo "Ugo Mursia" in Carini)

posted by Stergios Nastopoulos @ 11:45 AM  

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