Aletes (deity)

Aletes (Greek: Ἀλήτης), sometimes referred to as Aletos or Alidath, was an individual of disputed origin who lived in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the times preceding the foundation of Qart Hadasht –Cartagena– by the Carthaginian general Asdrubal the Fair in 227 BC, and whose discovery of silver mines in the vicinity of that city earned him a deification by his peers.

The only source about this person is a brief account by the Greek historian Polybius during the topographical description of Cartagena for volume X of his Histories, in which he cites Aletes as a local hero to whom, after the aforementioned deification, one of the foundational hills, which currently corresponds to the hill of San José, was consecrated.

The existence of a temple dedicated to him on that promontory is not certain in view of Polybius' laconism in this respect, but this has not prevented several authors from suggesting his possible presence crowning the sacred precinct.