ERASINOS RIVER

Text by Nikos Aivalis, research by Elpida Zografidou, translation by Eva Trombetas 

In this feature, we will travel to Argolida, to find the Erasinos river. The river originates from the area of Kefalari, southwest of Argos, near the church of Zoodochos Pigi, at the foot of the hill Profitis Ilias, flows east, crossing the Argolic plain, to reach the Argolic gulf, in the area of Nea Kios.

The river channels its water through canals to almost the whole plain, offering valuable water for crops. In ancient times the Erasinos river was called Stymfalos as it was believed that it originated from Stymfalia lake. You can see our feature about Stymfalia here: Stymfalia Lake. The name of the river comes from the word erao (εράω), erastos (εραστός), meaning beloved. As today, in antiquity it was a very important river for the inhabitants, as it was a source of life, so the Argeians paid tribute to the river and organized festivals for it, such as the Bacchic feast, Tyrvi (tyrvi = noise, because of the sound made by the water). Amymoni, the daughter of the king of Argos, Danaos, had gone to the sources of the river to find drinking water, because Poseidon had drained all the springs of Argos, because the Argeians had chosen Hera as their city's protector. Then, according to the myth, a satyr attacked her to rape her, and then Poseidon intervened by threwing his huge trident and thus instantly killed the satyr. The trident was jammed onto a rock, where the spring of Erasinos came out from. Poseidon fell in love with Amymone, so that's why he revealed to her the sources of Lerni. Poseidon's love for Amymonius gave birth to Nafplios, the founder of today's famous city of Nafplio.

the god Poseidon saves Amymone from the satyr

Despite excessive human intervention and poor management, something that almost all rivers in Greece face, the river retains its natural wealth and is one of the most important wetlands in Argolida, suitable for hiking, excursions, picnics and other activities. The river´s vegetation consists mainly of phrygana, reeds, aquatic plants, shrubs and of course crops. The river is very important for the water birds that visit the mouth of the river in Nea Kios. Birds such as the little ringed plovers, gallinula chloropus ducks, eurasian coots, ducks and even flamingos find shelter in the river. There are also predators like buzzards, short-toed snake eagles, falcons, owls and more. When it comes to mammals we find badgers, ferrets, hedgehogs, foxes, rodents and more. There are also reptiles and amphibians like frogs, toads, vipers, water snakes, turtles etc. Among the fish fauna we find eels, mullets and river urchins.

    Erasinos river

This is the ancient Erasinos river, which is worth taking a trip to and getting to know the richness of it that is a source of life for Argolida.