InGreek mythology,Comaetho (Ancient Greek:Κομαιθώ,romanized: Komaithṓ,lit. 'bright-haired'^[1]) is a queen orNaiad nymph ofCilicia who fell in love with the local river-godCydnus. The goddessAphrodite then transformed her into a spring, and the queen was acquatically joined with her beloved for the rest of time.

The fifth-century poetNonnus describes Comaetho as a daughter ofCydnus, though elsewhere he simply describes her as his lover.^[2] Like Cydnus, now known as theBerdan River, Comaetho was fromCilicia, a region located in southernAsia Minor. Comaetho is both described as a mortal woman and a Naiad nymph.

The maid Comaetho ruled over the Cilicians. As she approached marriage age, the girl fell in love with the river-god Cydnus and pined for him until the goddessAphrodite turned her into a spring, presumably in order to unite the two.^[3][4] Thereafter Comaetho was glad to join him in wedlock and mingle her newly-formed waters with those of Cydnus.^[2][5][6]

The earliest attestation of this story comes from a fragment ofParthenius, preserved byEustathius of Thessalonica who is in turn quoted byStephanus of Byzantium; in this case the story would be the earliest example of a full metamorphosis into a body of sweet water.^[4]

The myth might have arisen as a geographical,aetiological narrative in order to describe a spring nearGlaphyrae, a town in Cilicia, and thus could be traced back to Parthenius's ownMetamorphoses work.^[5] Some doubts have been cast over this assertment, as it is most likely that that work was written in hexameters.^[7]

The story of Comaetho has been compared to that of the river-godAlpheus and the nymphArethusa, owing to their shared theme of contrast of the water and the fire of love.^[4] It also bears similarities with another fragmentary text by Parthenius regarding the story ofByblis; both myths feature maidens suffering from their incestuous passions, if Cydnus is taken to be Comaetho's father.^[5]

Other maidens and their fathers linked incestuously:

• Side andIctinus.
• Myrrha andCinyras/Theias.
• Gorge andOeneus.

• Forbes Irving, Paul M. C. (1990).Metamorphosis in Greek Myths.Clarendon Press.ISBN 0-19-814730-9.
• Graves, Robert (1955).The Greek Myths. Vol. I (3rd 1960 ed.). London: Penguin.ISBN 978-0140010268.{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
• Grimal, Pierre (1987).The Dictionary of Classical Mythology. Wiley-Blackwell.ISBN 0-631-13209-0.
• Klooster, Jacqueline J.H. (2012).""εις έπη και ελεγείας ανάγειν": the Erotika Pathemata of Parthenius of Nicaea"(PDF). In Baumbach, M.; Bär, S. (eds.).Brill's companion to Greek and Latin epyllion and its reception. Brill's companions in classical studies. Leiden: Brill Publications.ISBN 9789004214323.
• Nonnus,Dionysiaca; translated byRouse, W H D, I Books I-XV.Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940.Internet Archive
• Nonnus,Dionysiaca; translated byRouse, W H D, III Books XXXVI-XLVIII.Loeb Classical Library No. 346, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940.Internet Archive.
• Parthenius of Nicaea inHellenistic Collection: Philitas. Alexander of Aetolia. Hermesianax. Euphorion. Parthenius. Edited and translated by J. L. Lightfoot.Loeb Classical Library 508. Cambridge, MA:Harvard University Press, 2010.

• Metamorphoses into bodies of water in Greek mythology
• Naiads
• Deeds of Aphrodite
• Mythological people from Anatolia
• Queens in Greek mythology
• Cilicia
• Children of Greek river gods
• Mythological people involved in incest

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text
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