{{for|the river in Elis|Ladon (river of Elis)}} {{Infobox river | name = Ladon | image = Ladonas river.jpg | image_caption = | source1_location = [[Peloponnese]] | mouth_location = [[Alfeios]] | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|37|35|35|N|21|49|13|E|display=inline,title}} | progression = {{RAlfeios}} | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = [[Greece]] | length_km = 70 | source1_elevation = | discharge1_avg = | basin_size = }} [[File:Martin-Opitz-Daniel-Wilhelm-Triller-Teutsche-Gedichte MG 0586.tif|thumb|Martin Tyroff: Rivergod Ladon turns his daughter Daphne into a laurel bush. Martin Opitz, Daniel Wilhelm Triller: ''Teutsche Gedichte'', 1746.]] The '''Ladon''' ([[Ancient Greek]] and [[Katharevousa]]: {{lang|grc|Λάδων}}, ''Ládōn''; [[Demotic Greek]]: {{lang|el|Λάδωνας}}, ''Ládōnas'') is a [[river]] in the [[Peloponnese]] peninsula of [[Greece]]. It features in [[Greek mythology]]. It is a tributary to the river [[Alfeios]], which empties into the [[Ionian Sea]]. It is {{convert|70|km|abbr=on}} long.<ref>[http://www.statistics.gr/documents/20181/1515741/GreeceInFigures_2018Q1_EN.pdf/e90e9c60-ed92-40a7-a1e0-9a58d542d596 Greece in Figures January - March 2018], p. 12</ref>
==Course== The Ladon rises on the western slope of the [[Aroania (mountain)|Aroania]] mountain, near the village [[Kastria|Kastriá]], [[Kleitoria]] municipal unit, [[Achaea]]. It flows south, receives its left tributary [[Aroanios]], flows along [[Kleitoria]] and turns southwest near the [[Arcadia (regional unit)|Arcadia]]n border. It flows through the artificial [[Ladon Lake]], and turns south again near [[Dimitra, Arcadia|Dimitra]]. It flows into the [[Alfeios]] 3 km southeast of the village [[Tripotamia]]. It joins the [[Tragus (river)|Tragus]] near [[Filia, Achaea|Zevgolatio]].
==Mythology==
The river was among those mentioned by [[Hesiod]] in ''[[Theogony]];'' they were "all sons of [[Oceanus]] and queenly [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]" <ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.loggia.com/myth/rivers.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150407003816/http://www.loggia.com/myth/rivers.html | archive-date=2015-04-07 | title=Mythography | the River Gods in Greek Myth and Art }}</ref><ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Ladon 344] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 366–370]</ref> for, according to the image of world hydrography common to the ancients, the fresh water that welled up in springs came from the underworld caverns and pools, and was connected with the salt sea. Rain fertilized crops, but the sense that its runoff filled the rivers did not figure in the Greek mythic picture.
Rivers were personified and credited with wooing [[nymph]]s and human maidens and fathering children. By [[Stymphalis]],<ref>[[Scholia]]st ad [[Pindar]], ''Olympian Ode'' [https://archive.org/details/scholiaveterain00dracgoog/page/184/mode/1up?view=theater 6.144]</ref> Ladon became the father of the [[Arcadia (region)|Arcadian]] [[nymph]] [[Metope (mythology)|Metope]] who wed another [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river god]], [[Asopus]].<ref name="Apollodorus, Bibliotheca, 3. 12. 6">[[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#72.1 4.72.1]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.12.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022:boo=0:chapter=0&highlight=Metope 3.12.6].</ref> The [[naiad]] [[Daphne]], who rejected [[Apollo|Apollo’s]] advances, was the daughter of Ladon<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.20.1&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=:chapter=&highlight=Ladon 8.20.1] & [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+10.7.8&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160:book=:chapter=&highlight=Ladon 10.7.8]; [[Philostratus|Philostrarus]], ''[[Life of Apollonius of Tyana]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/223#1.16 1.16]; [[Statius]], ''[[Thebaid (Latin poem)|Thebaid]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/149#4.824 4.289]; [[Nonnus]], [https://topostext.org/work/529#42.365 42.386]</ref> and Ge (Earth).<ref>[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]] ad [[Lycophron]], [https://topostext.org/work/860#6 6]; [[Vatican Mythographer|First Vatican Mythographer]] 2.216</ref>{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}} The river god’s other progeny were the naiads [[Thelpusa|Telphusa]]<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], 8.52.2; Tzetzes ad Lycophron, [https://topostext.org/work/860#1040 1040]</ref>{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}} and [[Syrinx]]<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 1.689</ref>
Rivers have cleansing effects in Greek mythology. When [[Poseidon]] assaulted [[Demeter#Demeter and Poseidon|Demeter]], she washed away the insult in the waters of the River Ladon. Apparently this was the source of the Arcadian expression that to "giv[e] way to anger is to be furious."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pausanias |first=active approximately c. 160-180 BCE |title=Guide to Greece, volume 2 : Southern Greece |date=1984 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=0-14-044226-X |at=8.25.6 (p. 433) |oclc=317528029}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category-inline|Ladon (river)}}
[[Category:River gods in Greek mythology]] [[Category:Rivers of Greece]] [[Category:Landforms of Achaea]] [[Category:Rivers of Western Greece]] [[Category:Rivers of Peloponnese (region)]] [[Category:Landforms of Arcadia, Peloponnese]] [[Category:Places in Greek mythology]]