Title: Game theory application to reframe river myths

Authors: Marianthi V. Podimata; Panayotis C. Yannopoulos

Addresses: Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece ' Environmental Engineering Laboratory, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, 265 04 Patras, Greece

Abstract: Water was viewed as sacred by the very early civilisations. Ancient Greeks had rendered religious reverence and homage to many water deities. The Alpheus River and the Achelous River, worshiped as gods in ancient times, had a central part in Greek mythology and cultural heritage. The present article narrates some of the myths about these two rivers and interprets these stories on a game theory perspective. Through this narration, an alternative way of viewing game theory is presented, by highlighting two river myths and applying illustrations to the study of conflict resolution and the fundamental notion of game theory: strategy.

Keywords: game theory; Alfeios River; Achelous River; river myths; conflict resolution; strategy; Greek mythology; cultural heritage; Greece.

DOI: 10.1504/IJGENVI.2015.071849

International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 2015 Vol.14 No.3/4, pp.238 - 255

Received: 07 Jun 2014
Accepted: 21 Oct 2014

Published online: 21 Sep 2015 *

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