Pactolus

BW

Template: Infobox River / Obsolete

The Pactolus (Greek Πακτωλός, today's Turkish name Sart Çayı ) is the ancient name of a river near the Aegean coast of Turkey. It is a tributary of the Hermus ( Gediz Turkish ) in western Asia Minor. It rises on Boz Dagi, the ancient Tmolos and flows Salihli in the Gediz.

Plutarch (ca. 46 - ca 125 AD) tells of a river, which he calls Chrysorrhoas (Greek Χρυσορρόας, the leading gold ).

Greek Mythology

In Greek mythology, Pactolus is a river god; how many river gods he is a son of Oceanus ( ancient Greek Ὀκεανός, the Ocean) and Tethys ( ancient Greek Τηθύς ). He led the legend for gold discs with what is generally regarded as a symbol of the wealth of the city of Sardis, but myth, the aim is to have that Midas bathing in the Pactolus, for the gift, that everything he touched turned to gold to submit to the river god.

Poetry

Friedrich Hölderlin mentioned the river in his poem The Neckar.