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Argyra (mythology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Greek mythology, Argyra (/ˈɑːrɪrə/; Ancient Greek: Ἀργυρᾶ) was one of the Naiads, a nymph who lived in a well. There was a city in ancient Achaea, also named Argyra, that was the site of a spring.

Mythology

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According to legend, the nymph Argyra was in love with a shepherd named Selemnus whom she visited frequently.[1] But when he aged and his youthful beauty vanished, she forsook him. When the boy died of grief, the goddess Aphrodite out of pity changed him into a river. There was a popular belief in Achaia that a forsaken lover who bathes in this river will forget their pain.[2]

Notes

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  1. ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 7.23.1
  2. ^ Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio 7.23.2

References

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  • Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
  • Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.