Sperchīus

, a river of The aly, rising on mount Œta, and falling into the sea in the bay of Malia, near Anticyra. The name is supposed to be derived from its rapidity ( σπερχειν , fest in are ). Peleus vowed to the god of this river the hair of his son Achilles, if ever he returned safe from the Trojan war. Hero dot us , bk. 7 , ch. 198 .— Strabo , bk. 9 .— Homer , Iliad , bk. 23 , li. 144 .— Apollo dor us , bk. 3 , ch. 13 .— Mela , bk. 2 , ch. 3 .— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 1 , li. 557 ; bk. 2 , li. 250 ; bk. 7 , li. 230 .