Eridanus

[Greek Ēridanos, mythical river associated with the myth of Phaeton.]

1. Legendary amber-bearing river, vaguely located by the Greeks in the far north-west, into which Phaethon supposedly fell, the amber being the tears wept by his sisters who were transformed into poplar trees. Herodotus reported that he had heard of it as the source of amber but did not believe it existed. Later Greeks identified it with the river Po (Lat. Padus) in north Italy, and the Roman poets and occasionally prose writers adopted the name.

2. Name of a small tributary of the river Ilissus at Athens.

The name “Eridanus” can refer to:

Rivers

• Eridanos (mythology) (or Eridanus), a river in Greek mythology, somewhere in Central Europe, which was territory that Ancient Greeks knew only vaguely
• The Po River, according to Roman word usage
• Eridanos (Athens), a former river near Athens
• Eridanos (geology), a large river that flowed between forty million and seven hundred thousand years ago from Lapland to the North Sea through where the Baltic Sea is now

Astronomy

• Eridanus (constellation), a southern constellation
• Eridanus Cluster, a young globular cluster in the constellation Eridanus (constellation)
• List of stars in Eridanus
• Delta Eridani, a star
• Eta Eridani, a star
• Gamma Eridani, a star
• Eridanus Supervoid

Miscellaneous

• Eridan, a French rocket
• Eridanosaurus, a dinosaur
• USS Eridanus (AK-92), a ship

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