DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.2532#0036
THE STREAMS NEAR THE HERAEUM
15
commanded acceptance. He identifies the Asterion with " the river which rises among
the mountains to the northeast of Mycenae, flows down to the eastern flanks of the
Prophet Elias mountain and Euboea, and then, after traversing the narrow glen of
the Klisura, enters the Argolic plain about two and a half miles to the southeast of the
Heraeum. Many small tributaries descend to it from the slopes of Mount Euboea and
Acraea, the two mountains which were mythically represented as the daughters of the
river. Pausanias's statement that the Asterion disappeared in a gully applies well to the
river in question, the water of which, about a quarter of a mile south of its entrance
■■■■■ -C
Fig. 7. — Site of the Heraeum from the Southwest.
The Revma-tou-Kastrou in immediate foreground ; beyond, the succession of terraces. The corner
of the Southwest Stoa shows in the foreground ; above it, in the middle, the West Building.
,93),
into the narrow Klisura glen, vanishes wholly among the shingle and boulders of its
rugged bed." 1 So soon as we interpret Euboea, Acraea, and Prosymna as larger heights
and districts, and not merely as the immediate border-lines of the temple itself, and
remember that Asterion was considered the father of the three localities personified, we
cannot identify him with the small Glykia stream (smaller than the one on the north-
west), but must seek him in one of the larger rivers of the whole Argive district. When
Pausanias, moreover, mentions Inachus, Cephisus, and Asterion as the arbitrators in the
legend of the strife between Poseidon and Hera," this river must be on a scale with
the other two. (Cf. Pigs. 6, 7.)
The same claim for size does not hold good for the Eleutherion. Pausanias at once
indicates the difference in speaking of the Asterion as TroTa/j-o?, while the other, Eleu-
therion, he calls vSwp. We must first examine the passage itself, as given by
Pausanias,3 and see how it defines the exact position and the nature of the Eleutherion.
A good deal will depend upon how we translate the phrase Kara ttjv 6S6v. As Pausa-
nias has just left Mycenae, and speaks of the distance between it and the Heraeum, it
is but natural that his next remark, in which he mentions the road, is made as if from
the road. The usual translation of the phrase in question would be " beside or down
by the road flows," etc. In this case the Eleutherion would be identified with the
Revma-tou-Kastrou running round the northern side of the Heraeum, and immediately
below its western peribolus towards the south of the plain.
1 Frazer, Pausanias, vol. III. p. 181.
- Pans. II. 15. 5.
Pans. I. c.
15
commanded acceptance. He identifies the Asterion with " the river which rises among
the mountains to the northeast of Mycenae, flows down to the eastern flanks of the
Prophet Elias mountain and Euboea, and then, after traversing the narrow glen of
the Klisura, enters the Argolic plain about two and a half miles to the southeast of the
Heraeum. Many small tributaries descend to it from the slopes of Mount Euboea and
Acraea, the two mountains which were mythically represented as the daughters of the
river. Pausanias's statement that the Asterion disappeared in a gully applies well to the
river in question, the water of which, about a quarter of a mile south of its entrance
■■■■■ -C
Fig. 7. — Site of the Heraeum from the Southwest.
The Revma-tou-Kastrou in immediate foreground ; beyond, the succession of terraces. The corner
of the Southwest Stoa shows in the foreground ; above it, in the middle, the West Building.
,93),
into the narrow Klisura glen, vanishes wholly among the shingle and boulders of its
rugged bed." 1 So soon as we interpret Euboea, Acraea, and Prosymna as larger heights
and districts, and not merely as the immediate border-lines of the temple itself, and
remember that Asterion was considered the father of the three localities personified, we
cannot identify him with the small Glykia stream (smaller than the one on the north-
west), but must seek him in one of the larger rivers of the whole Argive district. When
Pausanias, moreover, mentions Inachus, Cephisus, and Asterion as the arbitrators in the
legend of the strife between Poseidon and Hera," this river must be on a scale with
the other two. (Cf. Pigs. 6, 7.)
The same claim for size does not hold good for the Eleutherion. Pausanias at once
indicates the difference in speaking of the Asterion as TroTa/j-o?, while the other, Eleu-
therion, he calls vSwp. We must first examine the passage itself, as given by
Pausanias,3 and see how it defines the exact position and the nature of the Eleutherion.
A good deal will depend upon how we translate the phrase Kara ttjv 6S6v. As Pausa-
nias has just left Mycenae, and speaks of the distance between it and the Heraeum, it
is but natural that his next remark, in which he mentions the road, is made as if from
the road. The usual translation of the phrase in question would be " beside or down
by the road flows," etc. In this case the Eleutherion would be identified with the
Revma-tou-Kastrou running round the northern side of the Heraeum, and immediately
below its western peribolus towards the south of the plain.
1 Frazer, Pausanias, vol. III. p. 181.
- Pans. II. 15. 5.
Pans. I. c.