ANIGROS

ANIGROS was a river-god of Elis in the Peloponnese, southern Greece. His waters were particularly foul-smelling, having been polluted by the Hydra-venom of Herakles' arrows.

The Anigros was a small stream which flowed down to the Ionian Sea from Mounts Lapithos and Minthe in southern Elis. The next major neighbouring river was the Alpheios (Alpheus) to the north

PARENTS

Presumably OKEANOS & TETHYS

OFFSPRING

THE ANIGRIDES (Pausanias 5.5.11)

CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES

Strabo, Geography 8. 3. 19 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"At the base of these mountains [in the vicinity of Lepreon (Lepreum) in Elis], on the seaboard, are two caves. One is the cave of the Nymphai (Nymphs) called Anigriades . . . For near the cave of the Nymphai called Anigriades is a spring which makes the region that lies below it swampy and marshy. The greater part of the water is received by the Anigros (Anigrus), a river so deep and so sluggish that it forms a marsh; and since the region is muddy, it emits an offensive odor for a distance of twenty stadia, and makes the fish unfit to eat. In the mythical accounts, however, this is attributed by some writers to the fact that certain of the Kentauroi (Centaurs) here washed off the poison they got from the Hydra, and by others to the fact that Melampos used these cleansing waters for the purification of the Proitides (Proetides). The bathing-water from here cures leprosy, elephantiasis, and scabies. It is said, also, that the Alpheios was so named from its being a cure for leprosy."

Pausanias, Description of Greece 5. 5. 9 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"The Anigros (Anigrus) [river of Elis] descends from the mountain Lapithos (Lapithus) in Arkadia (Arcadia), and right from its source its water does not smell sweet but actually stinks horribly . . . Some Greeks say that Khiron (Chiron), other that Pylenor another Kentauros (Centaur), when shot by Herakles fled wounded to this river and washed his hurt in it, and that it was the Hydra's poison which gave the Anigros its nasty smell."

SOURCES

GREEK

• Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
• Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.