ALPHEUS RIVER

also spelled Alpheius, Modern Greek Alfis Potams, river, the longest of the Peloponnese (Pelopnnisos), Greece, rising near Dhavi in central Arcadia, with a course of about 70 mi (110 km). Leaving the plain of Megalpolis in a rugged gorge, above which it is known as the Elsson, the Alpheus turns abruptly northwest and eventually empties into the Ionian Sea. Its main tributaries are the Ldhon and Ermanthos. The hydroelectric Ldhon Dam near the village of Trpaia has created a lake 4 sq mi (10 sq km) in area. The shallow, gravelly stream receives its name from the ancient river god of the Peloponnese, Alpheus, whose waters were said to pass beneath the Ionian Sea and rise again in the fountain of Arethusa near Syracuse, Sicily. The legend may well have been inspired by the fact that the river disappears several times into the limestone Arcadian mountains and reemerges after flowing some distance underground.