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Asopus, a MythSource painting
Greek

Asopus

The River God · Father of Aegina · Father of Thebe

01Identity

Asopus in Greek tradition

Thunderbolts wounded Asopus when he pursued Zeus after the abduction of his daughter Aegina. He is a river-god, husband of Metope, and father of Aegina and Thebe, though accounts differ about his own parentage. His waters are linked with springs, streams, fertility, and river ancestry, while coal is gathered from his river bed because of Zeus’s attack. His divine river identity distinguishes him from Aegina, the daughter he sought, and from Zeus, who wounded him.

Top questions

The quick answers

  • Who is Asopus?

    Asopus is a Greek deity associated with the waters of the Asopus River, river springs and streams, riverine fertility, the ancestry of river nymphs, the protection of river communities.
    Source

    Source

    • The Greek Myths
    • Classical Mythology a to Z
    • On Greek Religion
    • for a falcon

  • What is Asopus the god of?

    the waters of the Asopus River, river springs and streams, riverine fertility, the ancestry of river nymphs, the protection of river communities
    Source

    Source

    • The Greek Myths
    • Classical Mythology a to Z
    • On Greek Religion

  • What family links are recorded for Asopus?

    Father: Oceanus, Mother: Celusa, Spouse: Metope, 18 children.
02Family

Asopus’s family, at a glance

Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.

OceanusPoseidonZeusCelusaEurynomePeroTethys
Asopus

with Metope

AeginaAntiopeRhodosSinopePireneSalamisHarpinaCorcyra
NemeaTanagraThebeCombePlataeaThespiaIsmenusEuboeaCleoneIsmene
03The names

The names Asopus answers to

Asopos

Greek transliteration of the name

Sourcefor a falcon

Asopus

Latinized and standard English form of Asopos

SourceThe Greek Myths

Asopus Potamos

The Asopus River, treated as a divine river

SourceThe Greek Myths

04The myths

The myths of Asopus

2 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.

Asopus and Metope

Asopus set out to find his youngest daughter, Aegina, after she disappeared. She was the twin sister of Thebe. At Corinth, he learned that Zeus had carried her off. In one account, Sisyphos revealed this to him. Asopus pursued Zeus and found him embracing Aegina in a wood. Zeus was unarmed, so he fled through the thickets. Once out of sight, he changed himself into a rock and remained there until Asopus had passed.

Zeus then returned to Olympus. From the safety of its walls, he hurled thunderbolts at Asopus and drove him back to his stream. Asopus still moves slowly because of the wounds he received. Pieces of burned coal are said to be collected from the bed of his river. Zeus carried Aegina to the island then called Oinone, which later took her name and became known as Aegina. There he slept with her, and she bore him a son, Aeacus.

Asopus was married to Metope, daughter of the river-god Ladon. They had two sons, the river-gods Ismenus and Pelasgus, and daughters including Aegina, Salamis, Corcyra, Peirene, Thebe, Tanagra, Thespia, Plataea, Harpina, Nemea, Cleone, and Chalcis. Some accounts give twelve daughters, while others give twenty. Several of the daughters were carried off and violated by Zeus, Poseidon, or Apollo on different occasions.

The accounts also differ about Asopus’s parentage. Some call him the son of Oceanus and Tethys. Others make him the son of Poseidon and Pero, or of Zeus and Eurynome. The name of his second son is also given differently. One source calls him Pelasgus, while another calls him Pelagon.

Asopus and Metope, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Apollodorus, The LibraryT1

    Quote

    “Asopus learned from Sisyphus that Zeus had taken Aegina, pursued the god, and was driven back by thunderbolts before Zeus carried Aegina to Oinone, where she bore Aeacus.”

    Apollodorus, The Library

  3. 3The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1

The Thunderbolt and the Black Waters

Asopus pursued Zeus after he learned that the god had taken Aegina, his youngest daughter. He reached Corinth and discovered that Zeus was responsible for her disappearance. He then found Zeus embracing Aegina in a wood. Asopus advanced against him, but Zeus was unarmed and fled through the thickets. When he passed out of sight, Zeus changed himself into a rock and waited until Asopus went by. Zeus then returned secretly to Olympus and hurled thunderbolts at the river god from the safety of its ramparts. The bolts scorched and wounded Asopus, and forced him back to his own stream. Asopus thereafter moved slowly because of his wounds. Burned coal still came from his river bed, blackened by Zeus’s attack.

Zeus took Aegina to the island then called Oinone, which later took her name and became known as Aegina. He slept with her there, and she bore him a son, Aeacus. Because Aeacus was alone on the island, Zeus turned the ants there into people for him. In another telling, Asopus simply returned to his stream after Zeus struck him with the thunderbolts.

Asopus married Metope, the daughter of the river Ladon. They had two sons, Ismenus and Pelagon, and either twelve or twenty daughters. Several of their daughters were taken by Zeus, Poseidon, or Apollo. Aegina was the youngest and the twin sister of Thebe. Some called Asopus the son of Oceanus and Tethys. Others called him the son of Poseidon and Pero, or the son of Zeus and Eurynome.

The Thunderbolt and the Black Waters, a MythSource painting of the scene

In the modern world

No modern rework confirmed yet.

3 sources· checked 2026-08-19

  1. 1The Greek MythsT1
  2. 2Hesiod, TheogonyT1

    Quote

    “Oceanus and Tethys fathered the river Asopus, whose daughter Aegina bore Aeacus to Zeus.”

    Hesiod, Theogony

  3. 3The Library of Greek Mythology (Oxford World's Classics)T1

Also appears in

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

The film

The Underdrawing video on Asopus embeds here once it publishes.

Continue the road

More of Asopus’s family, sourced

PoseidonFatherZeusFather