KAYSTROS
Greek Name
Καυστρος
Transliteration
Kaystros
Latin Spelling
Cayster
Translation
River Cayster
KAYSTROS (Cayster) was a river-god of Lydia in Anatolia (modern Turkey).
The River Kaystros had its headwaters on Mount Tmolos and flowed into the Aegean Sea near the town of Ephesos on the Lydian border with Karia (Caria). The next major rivers were the Meles and Hermos to the north, and Maiandros (Meander) to the south.
PARENTS
OFFSPRING
EPHESOS (Pausanias 7.2.8)
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
Strabo, Geography 14. 1. 44 (trans. Jones) (Greek geographer C1st B.C. to C1st A.D.) :
"And not far from Leimon [in Karia (Caria)] is . . . a hero-temple of Kaystros (Cayster) and a certain Asios (Asius), and the Kaystros River that streams forth near by."
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7. 2. 8 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :
"Ephesos (Ephesus), who is thought to have been a son of the river Kaystros (Cayster), and from Ephesos the city received its name."
Philostratus the Elder, Imagines 1. 11 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :
"Swans scattered about, breathing sweet notes, will hymn the youth [i.e. Phaethon who was cast from the chariot of the sun]; and flocks of swans rising aloft will sing the story to [the Rivers] Kaÿstros (Cayster) and Istros (Ister); nor will any place fail to hear the strange story."
SOURCES
GREEK
- Strabo, Geography - Greek Geography C1st B.C. - C1st A.D.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece - Greek Travelogue C2nd A.D.
- Philostratus the Elder, Imagines - Greek Rhetoric C3rd A.D.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A complete bibliography of the translations quoted on this page.