The Myth of Alpheus and Arethusa and Open-Sea Voyages on the Mediterranean-Stellar Navigation in Antiquity

Abstract

The article offers a new interpretation of the Greek myth of Alpheus and Arethusa, which it is believed emerged as a description of latitude‐sailing between the Peloponnese and Sicily during the Bronze Age. The author discusses the stars which could have assisted navigation on this route. This is followed by a discussion on the ancient practice of determining latitude by observing the altitude of the lower culmination of the last circumpolar star. Some sea‐routes are suggested which could have been traversed using the latitude‐sailing technique, and the stars that could have been used as navigation aids on such voyages. © 2008 The Author

Mycenean Routes Towards the West

“…Prontera 1996, 205;Milán Quiñones de León 2013, 99. 108 There is a very interesting work by Bilić (2009), which, through an interpretation of the myth of Alpheus and Arethousa, demonstrates that direct open sea navigation between the Peloponnese and Sicily was possible, not only following the latitude, but also by observing the stars at night. Bilić 2009, 116-132;Milán Quiñones de León 2013, 99-101. 109 Bilić 2009, 123.…”

A serious game for understanding ancient seafaring in the Mediterranean sea

“…[10] and [11] respectively). Arnauds work ( [12], [13]) on the analysis of ancient geographers, as well as Mortons ( [14]) book on the environmental factors of seafaring in the Aegean, are fundamental, if we want to understand the variables that determine navigation and sea routes in antiquity ( [15], [16], [17]). It is generally accepted, however, that the selection of sea routes is produced by complex interactions, such as winds, currents, topography, and seasonal weather patterns combined with technologies of shipping, propulsion and navigation ( [18]), that drawing sea routes on the map is impossible (see Leidwangers [19] work on modelling distance with time in ancient seaborne connectivity) and that only commercial flux networks can be documented.…”

Ancient Greek Geographer Pausanias as a Qualitative Karst Hydrogeologist

“…Regarding the vast scales of the Meander‐Asopus and Alpheus‐Arethusa myths, perhaps the ancient observers had witnessed local karstic waters and then extrapolated their observations to considerably larger scales. Perhaps religious, sociopolitical, or maritime navigation (the latter as suggested by Bilic [2008]) factored into the hydrologic exaggerations. In any case, the ancient tales of groundwater flow can prompt hydrogeologists to reconsider the distances that potentially could be traversed by groundwater in a well‐confined submarine aquifer.…”