View source for Pactolus

{{Short description|River in Turkey}}
{{About|the river in Turkey|the two British warships|HMS Pactolus|the Pacific reef|Pactolus Bank}}
[[File:Πακτωλός.jpg|300px|thumb|Pactolus river]]
The '''Pactolus''' ({{langx|el|Πακτωλός}}), also called '''Chrysorrhoas''' (Χρυσορρόας), the modern '''Sart Çayı''' or "{{Gloss|Sardis stream}}", is a river near the [[Aegean coast]] of [[Turkey]]. The river rises from [[Mount Tmolus]], flows through the ruins of the ancient city of [[Sardis]], and empties into the [[Gediz River]], the ancient [[Hermus]].

The Pactolus once contained [[electrum]], which was the basis of the economy of the ancient state of [[Lydia]], where the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver was used to mint the [[History of coins|first coins]] under [[Alyattes|Alyattes of Lydia]].

==Name==
[[Pseudo-Plutarch]] in {{lang | la | [[De fluviis]]}} (second century CE) writes that the river was initially called {{translit | grc | Chrysorrhoas}} (Χρυσορρόας {{Gloss|streaming with gold}}) because according to legend, Chrysorrhoas (the son of [[Apollo]]) threw himself into its waters.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DP%3Aentry+group%3D1%3Aentry%3Dpactolus-geo |title= Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Pactolus |access-date= 2024-02-03 |archive-date= 2024-02-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240203215203/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:alphabetic+letter%3DP:entry+group%3D1:entry%3Dpactolus-geo |url-status= live }}</ref><ref name="De fluviis">{{Cite web |url= https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0400:chapter=7 |title= Pseudo-Plutarch, De fluviis, 7 |access-date= 2024-02-03 |archive-date= 2024-02-03 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20240203220521/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0400:chapter=7 |url-status= live }}</ref>

Later [[Greek mythology]] explains the river's re-naming as ''Pactolus'', from Pactolus, the son of [[Leucothea]], who during a festival of [[Aphrodite]] failed to recognize his own sister, [[Demodice]] of Lydia, and ravished her. Upon realizing what he had done, overwhelmed with grief, he in his turn threw himself into the river. Because of this, the name of the river was changed from Chrysorrhoas to Pactolus.<ref name="De fluviis"/>

The adjective "{{linktext |Pactolian}}" refers to the river.<ref>[[Merriam-Webster Dictionary]], [https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Pactolian Pactolian, adjective], accessed on 3 July 2025: "Pactolian : of or relating to the Pactolus River or its gold-bearing sands : golden"
</ref>

==Legend==
As a [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river-god]], Pactolus was said to be the brother of another river [[Hydaspes (mythology)|Hydaspes]],<ref>[[Nonnus]], [https://topostext.org/work/529#24.49 24.52] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822012435/https://topostext.org/work/529#24.49 |date=2021-08-22 }}</ref> and thus, offspring of the [[Titans]] [[Oceanus]] and [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]].<ref>Nonnus, [https://topostext.org/work/529#23.77 23.99] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822012435/https://topostext.org/work/529#23.77 |date=2021-08-22 }}</ref> He was the father of [[Euryanassa]], one of the possible mothers of [[Tantalus]]'s children.<ref>[[Tzetzes]] ad [[Lycophron]], [https://topostext.org/work/860#52 52] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226075020/https://topostext.org/work/860#52 |date=2024-02-26 }}; [[Scholia]] ad [[Euripides]], ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'' [https://archive.org/details/scholiaineuripi00schwgoog/page/n128/mode/1up?view=theater 4] & [https://archive.org/details/scholiaineuripi00schwgoog/page/96/mode/1up?view=theater 11]</ref>{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}}

The only myth where Pactolus was an active participant is recounted in [[Nonnus|Nonnus]]'s ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' detailing the young god, [[Dionysus]], in his [[History of India|Indian]] campaign. According to legend, King [[Midas]] divested himself of the golden touch by washing himself in the river.<ref>Ovid, ''Met.'' XI.140-144.</ref> The historian [[Herodotus]] claimed that the gold contained in the sediments carried by the river was the source of the wealth of King [[Croesus]], son of Alyattes.

In [[Sophocles]]'s [[Philoctetes (Sophocles play)|Philoctetes]], the chorus recognizes [[Gaia]] as ruler of the "golden stream Pactolus".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sophocles |title=Philoctetes |url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0011.tlg006.perseus-grc1:391-402}}</ref>

The river is mentioned in [[Sextus Propertius]]'s Elegy 1.6.
:"at tu seu mollis qua tendit Ionia, seu qua
:Lydia Pactoli tingit arata liquor..."

("But wherever either soft Ionia extends, or wherever the water of the Pactulus stains the Lydian fields...") <ref>Propertius, Elegies I.XI 31-32.</ref>

== References ==
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[[Category:Rivers of Turkey]]
[[Category:Landforms of Manisa Province]]
[[Category:Water and religion]]
[[Category:Gold]]
[[category:Silver]]
[[Category:Suicides in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Suicides by drowning]]
[[Category:Mythological rapists]]
[[Category:Mythological people involved in incest]]