Arethusa: the nymph who chose Syracuse
Did you know that… There’s a fountain on the Ortigia waterfront where fresh water flows just a few meters from the open sea. It’s not a modern engineering feat; it’s been there for over 2,700 years, and it has a history behind it that’s worth learning about.
According to mythology, Arethusa was a shy and reserved hunting nymph in the service of Artemis. One day, while bathing in a river in Arcadia, Greece, she caught the attention of the river god Alpheus, who fell madly in love with her. She fled across the sea; he pursued her. Exhausted, Arethusa asked Artemis for help, who transformed her into a freshwater spring and brought her here, to the island of Ortigia.
Alpheus, determined to reach her, refused to give up: he channeled his waters beneath the seabed of the Mediterranean, from Greece all the way to Sicily. Even today, it is said that on days when the sea is rough, golden reflections can be glimpsed in the spring—signs of his distant presence.
Here’s something you might not know: the papyrus plants growing in the fountain are the same ones the Egyptians used to make paper. How they ended up here, no one really knows. That’s Syracuse for you—it always leaves you wondering.
