| Spercheios | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Country | Greece |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Tymfristos |
| Mouth | |
• location | Malian Gulf, Aegean Sea |
• coordinates | 38°51′50″N 22°34′35″E / 38.86389°N 22.57639°E |
| Length | 80 km (50 mi) |
| Basin size | 1,830 km2 (710 sq mi) |
The Spercheios (Greek: Σπερχειός, Sperkheiós), also known as the Spercheus from its Latin name, is a river in Phthiotis in central Greece. It is 80 km (50 mi) long,[1] and its drainage area is 1,830 km2 (710 sq mi).[2] It was worshipped as a god in the ancient Greek religion and appears in some collections of Greek mythology. In antiquity, its upper valley was known as Ainis. In AD 997, its valley was the site of the Battle of Spercheios, which ended Bulgarian incursions into the Byzantine Empire.
It is referenced in a surviving fragment of Aeschylus' play Philoctetes, quoted in The Frogs, as a place for cattle.[3]
- ^ Greece in Figures January - March 2018, p. 12
- ^ "Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment" (in Greek). Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change. p. 61. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020.
- ^ Aristophanes. The Frogs.