March 24: Women's Month

The nymph Arethousa was one of Artemis’ favourites. Like Artemis herself, she took a vow never to let a man touch her. So, when Alpheios, half brother of Achilles, fell in love with her, she gently turned him down. Of course, it wouldn’t be Greek mythology if Alpheios would take no for an answer. Instead, he – literally - pursued her relentlessly, and she had to flee, away from her homeland, all the way to the island of Sicily, where she sank to the ground, totally exhausted. Her only chance would be some divine intervention, so she cried out to Artemis. The formidable goddess of the hunt could have easily put Alpheios down. (It wouldn’t have been the first time.) Instead, she chose to do away with the problem by changing wheeping Arethousa into a spring. Which didn’t deter Alpheios one bit. In the form of the Alpheios-river – still an important stream in the Peloponnese – he dove under the sea and when he reached the Arethousa spring, he mixed his waters with hers. Wat image this creates in your head, that’s on you.

Arethusa, drachme, Sicily, American Numismatic Society

Arethusa and Alpheus, Battista de Domenico Lorenzi,

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA