A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

(Ἀρέθουσα), one of the Nereids (Hygin. Praef. p. 9, ed. Staveren; Verg. G. 4.344), and the nymph of the famous well Arethusa in the island of Ortygia near Syracuse. [ALPHEIUS.] Virgil (Eclog. 4.1, 10.1) reckons her among the

279

Sicilian nymphs, and as the divinity who inspired pastoral poetry. The Syracusans represented on many of their coins the head of Arethusa surrounded by dolphins. (Rasche, Lex. Numism. 1.1, p. 107.) One of the Hesperides likewise bore the name of Arethusa. (Apollod. 2.5.11.)

[L.S]