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Arethusa, a MythSource painting
Greek

Arethusa

The Ortygian Naiad · The Syracusan Nymph · The Spring of Syracuse

01Identity

Arethusa in Greek tradition

Arethusa flees through Achaia as the river Alpheus pursues her, and seeks refuge with Artemis. Hidden beneath mist, the frightened freshwater nymph is transformed into a spring at Ortygia, associated with Syracuse. Her waters are linked with underground channels, and one tradition says that Alpheus’s waters meet them beneath the sea.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Arethusa?

    Arethusa is a Greek deity associated with freshwater springs, fountains and wells, underground waters, Syracuse and Ortygia.
    Source

    Source

    • Classical Mythology a to Z
    • mythology
    • Dictionary of Mythology

  • What is Arethusa associated with?

    freshwater springs, fountains and wells, underground waters, Syracuse and Ortygia
    Source

    Source

    • Classical Mythology a to Z
    • mythology

  • What happens in Arethusa’s Flight and Transformation into a Spring?

    Arethusa fled through Achaia as Alpheus pursued her, seeking refuge with Artemis.
    Source

    Source

    • Ovid, Metamorphoses
    • The Greek Myths
    • Shakespeare's Ovid, being Arthur Golding's translation of the Metamorphoses
02The names

The names Arethusa answers to

Arethousa

Alternate Greek transliteration of Arethusa

SourceDictionary of Mythology

Naiad of Ortygia

Freshwater nymph associated with Ortygia

Sourcemythology

Syracusan Nymph

Nymph identified with Syracuse

Sourcemythology

Arethusa of Syracuse

The spring nymph and fountain associated with Syracuse

Sourcemythology

03The myths

The myths of Arethusa

1 myth, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources, with 1 reviewed modern rework linked where the evidence supports it.

Arethusa’s Flight and Transformation into a Spring

Arethusa fled through the forests and open country of Achaia, where she had been a hunting nymph in Artemis’s company. She was skilled at pursuing game and setting hunting nets. She had no wish to attract admiration, and regarded her beauty as an unwelcome burden. The river god Alpheus saw her and fell in love with her. He pursued her as she ran, refusing to abandon the chase.

Arethusa reached Artemis and called for protection. Artemis hid her beneath a cloud and covered the ground around her with mist. Alpheus searched the cloud and circled it, watching for any path by which Arethusa might escape. Twice he called her name. She remained motionless, fearing that he would find her. Cold sweat covered her limbs, and drops of water fell from her body.

The water spread as Arethusa changed into a spring. Artemis concealed her from Alpheus, and the spring emerged at Ortygia in Sicily. Alpheus’s waters were said to pass beneath the sea and join hers there. Thus the river god continued to reach Arethusa, though she had escaped his pursuit in human form.

Arethusa’s Flight and Transformation into a Spring, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

The Fountain of Arethusa

Film

The film keeps Arethusa as a naked water nymph pursued along a riverbank by a hunter before she dissolves back into her own spring waters.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-18

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Ovid, MetamorphosesT1

    Quote

    “Arethusa, pursued by Alpheus, was hidden by Artemis in a cloud and changed into a spring at Ortygia, while Alpheus’s river was said to flow beneath the sea and join her waters.”

    Ovid, Metamorphoses

  3. 3Shakespeare's Ovid, being Arthur Golding's translation of the MetamorphosesT1

Also appears in

The myths across MythSource where Arethusa features, each on that figure’s page.

The film

The Underdrawing video on Arethusa embeds here once it publishes.