GODS, GODDESSES AND CREATURES OF THE
WATER IN THE ANCIENT GREEK MYTHOLOGY
Chatzakis Stergios1, Dr Gkiouremou Kalliopi2
Teacher – Biologist, Msc in Environmental Education, Member of the Educational
Team of the Centre of Environmental Education of Archanes,Member of scientif
group of ENOGreece.
2
Biologist, PhD in Hematology,Vice president of the Educational Team of the Centre
of Environmental Education of Archanes,Member of scientif group of ENOGreece.
1
SUMMARY
The ancient Greeks believed that the gods of Olympus ruled the world, but not
from the beginning of the creation of the universe. The oral traditions refer to other
gods and primordial forces that existed in earlier times, when the world was still
young. Hesiod created a vast and complex pedigree with numerous branches to
explain the relationship and interconnections between the Gods and Goddesses. The
idea of a family of gods was a common theme in the ancient world. Endogamy and the
birth of monstrous children are common characteristics of this theory.
According to Hesiod’s Theogony there were first, second and third generation
of Gods and Goddesses of the water. There were also a few creatures of the water.
Apart from Greek mythology where ancient Greeks worshiped the water as deities
and imagined the ocean like a huge river, which flows around the Earth, had no
sources or estuary and was the father of all the river gods, we find the importance of
the life-giving role of waters in the myths of many civilizations. Making a journey
through time and reaching prehistoric times, we find that the ancestral peoples of
humanity were fully aware of the importance of the life-giving role, but also the
terrible power of the water.
KEY WORDS: Hesiod’s Theogony god, goddess, water, greek mythology,
Poseidon, first-second-third generation, sea creatures
INTRODUCTION
According to Hesiod’s Theogony and based on a cosmological approach, all
the gods and goddesses can be divided into three main categories: the primeval gods
represent the elements of the universe - day, night, earth, sea, sky etc. From these
divine creatures originated the Titans, a more personalized team of deities, the reason
for which was the explanation of natural phenomena and characteristics of the world,
such as mountains, oceans and storms, and the origin of the dominant generation of
gods.
Central to the Titanomachy was the rise of Zeus in the highest position of the
Greek pantheon. In Titanomachy the poet recounts the uprising of the god Zeus
against his father Cronus, the leader of the Titans. In the generation that succeeded the
Titans began the development and the differentiation of the various characters of the
gods.
Much of the mythology has to do with Zeus and the countless children he had
with mortal women and goddesses. They are often made references to the anger of his
wife Hera for these relations. Behind this conflict, however, perhaps is hiding a
historical fact that the ancient Greeks remembered only vaguely: the initial setting on
the mainland and the islands of the Aegean. Some legends indicate earliest deities that
were assimilated by the later mythology. The difficult "marriage" was the result of the
introduction of the worship of a heavenly father in the old established religion of an
earthly mother. The complexity and the frequent recurrence of this issue in the myths
that have survived over the centuries, can perhaps partly explain this process of
continuous accretion and enrichment of mythological traditions.
First generation of Gods and Goddesses of the water according to
Hesiod’s Theogony
Pontus or Pontos (Πόντος) (English translation: "sea") was an ancient, preOlympian sea-god, one of the Greek primordial deities. Pontus was Gaia's son and,
according to the Greek poet Hesiod, he was born
without coupling. For Hesiod, Pontus seems little
more than a personification of the sea, by which
Greeks signified the Mediterranean Sea. With Gaia,
he
fathered Nereus (the Old
Man
of
the
Sea), Thaumas (the awe-striking "wonder" of the Sea,
embodiment
of
the
sea's
dangerous
aspects), Phorcys and his sister-consort Ceto, and the
"Strong
Goddess" Eurybia.
With
the
sea
goddess Thalassa (whose own name simply means
"sea" but is derived from a pre-Greek root), he
fathered the Telchines and all sea life.
Thalassa (Θάλασσα, "sea") is a primordial
sea goddess, daughter of Aether and Hemera. Alternative names are Thalatta and
Thalath.
Thalassa was the Protogenos or primeval spirit
of the sea. Coupling with her male counterpart Pontos,
she spawned the tribes of fish. Sometimes, she was
thought of as the mother of Aphrodite with Uranus
and as the mother of Rhodes and Telhinia.
Like the other Protogenoi, Thalassa was
scarcely personified, instead her form was elemental,
the
body
of
the
sea
itself.
Poseidon and Amphitrite were the anthropomorphic
gods equivalent to Pontos and Thalassa. In late
classical times, the two were also confounded with Okeanos and Tethys.
Oceanus (Ωκεανός) was a pseudogeographical feature in classical antiquity,
believed by the ancient Greeks to be the
divine personification of the World Ocean,
an enormous river encircling the world.
Strictly speaking, Oceanus was
the ocean-stream at the Equator in which
floated the habitable hemisphere. In Greek mythology, this world-ocean was
personified as a Titan, a son of Uranus and Gaea. In Hellenistic mosaics, this Titan
was often depicted as having the upper body of a muscular man with a long beard and
horns (often represented as the claws of a crab) and the lower body of a serpent. On a
fragmentary archaic vessel of circa 580 BC, among the gods arriving at the wedding
of Peleus and the sea-nymph Thetis, is a fish-tailed Oceanus, with a fish in one hand
and a serpent in the other, gifts of bounty and prophecy.
Some believe that Oceanus originally represented all bodies of salt water,
including the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, the two largest bodies
known to the ancient Greeks. However, as geography became more accurate, Oceanus
came to represent the stranger, more unknown waters of the Atlantic Ocean (also
called the "Ocean Sea"), while the newcomer of a later generation, Poseidon, ruled
over the Mediterranean.
Oceanus' consort is his sister Tethys, and from their union came the
ocean nymphs, also known as the three-thousand Oceanids, and all the rivers of the
world, fountains, and lakes.
In most variations of the war between the Titans and the Olympians,
or Titanomachy, Oceanus, along with Prometheus and Themis, did not take the side of
his fellow Titans against the Olympians, but instead withdrew from the conflict. In
most variations of this myth, Oceanus also refused to side with Cronus in the latter's
revolt against their father, Uranus.
Tethys (Τηθύς), daughter of Uranus and Gaia was an archaic Titaness
and aquatic sea goddess. Tethys was both sister and wife of Oceanus. She was mother
of the chief rivers of the world known to the Greeks, such as the Nile, the Alpheus,
the Maeander, and about three thousand daughters called the Oceanids, such as
Amphitrite, Asia, Dione, Circe, Rodi and Stiga. Considered as an embodiment of the
waters of the world she also may be seen as a counterpart of Thalassa, the
embodiment of the sea.
Her name may mean "old woman"; certainly it bears some similarity to τήθη,
meaning "grandmother", and she is often portrayed as being extremely ancient.
During the war against the Titans, Tethys raised and educated Hera as her
step-child, who was brought to her by Rhea but there are no records of active cults for
Tethys in historic times.
Tethys must not be confused with another sea goddess the sea-nymph Thetis,
the wife of Peleus and mother of Achilles during Classical times.
Tethys, a moon of the planet Saturn, and the prehistoric Tethys Ocean are
named after this goddess.
The Oceanids (Ωκεανίδες) were the three thousand daughters of
the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Each was the patroness of a particular spring, river,
sea, lake, pond, pasture, flower or cloud. Some of
them were closely associated with the Titan gods
(such as Calypso, Clymene, Asia, Electra) or
personified abstract concepts (Tyche, Peitho).
One of these many daughters was also said
to have been the consort of the god Poseidon,
typically named as Amphitrite. More often,
however, she is called a Nereid.
Oceanus and Tethys also had 3,000 sons,
the
river-gods Potamoi (Ποταμοί,
"rivers"). Whereas most sources limit the term
Oceanids or Oceanides to the daughters, others include both the sons and daughters
under this term.
Second generation of Gods and Goddesses of the water according to
Hesiod’s Theogony
Thaumas (Θαύμας) was an old marine god who personified the wonders of
the sea. His name was derived from the Greek word thauma which means "miracle"
or "wonder." His daughters were the Harpies (Άρπιες) and Iris (Ίρις “rainbow”), and
his wife was Elektra (Ηλέκτρα).
Hydaspes (Υδάσπης) is a titan-descended god, the son of the seagod Thaumas and the cloud-goddess Elektra. He was brother of Iris, the goddess of
the rainbow, and half-brother to the Harpies, the snatching winds.
Phorcys (also Phorkys, Φόρκυς) is a god of the hidden dangers of the deep.
He is a primordial sea god, generally cited
as the son of Pontus and Gaia. According
to
the Orphic hymns,
Phorcys, Cronus and Rhea were the eldest
offspring of Oceanus and Tethys. His wife
was Ceto, and he is most notable in myth
for fathering by Ceto a host of monstrous
children
collectively
known
as
the Phorcydes. Homer, also, refers
to Thoosa, the mother of Polyphemus, as a
daughter of Phorcys.
The ancient Greeks portray him as elder and believed that he lived in Lake
Tritonitida in Libya.
The satellite of asteroid 65489 Ceto was named after him.
Keto or Ceto (Κητώ, "sea monster") is a primordial sea goddess in Greek
mythology, the daughter of Gaia and Pontus. Keto was also variously
called Crataeis (Κράταιις) and Trienus (Τρίενος). As a mythological figure she was
considered the personification of the risks and suffering of the sea, but she is most
notable for bearing by Phorcys a host of monstrous children, collectively known as
the Phorcydes.
This goddess should not be confused with the minor Oceanid also
named Keto or with various mythological beings referred to as ketos; this is a general
term for "sea monster" in Ancient Greek.
Hesiod's Theogony lists the children of Phorcys and Ceto as Echidna, the
Gorgons (Eyryale, Stheno and Medusa), the Graeae (Deino, Enyo, Pemphredo and
sometimes Perso) and Ladon, also called the Drakon Hesperios ("Hesperian Dragon",
or dragon of the Hesperides). These children tend to be consistent across sources,
though Ladon is sometimes cited as a child of Echidna by Typhon and therefore
Phorcys and Keto's grandson. Phorcys and Ceto are cited once as the parents of
the Hesperides, but this assertion is not repeated in other ancient sources.
The asteroid 65489 Ceto was named after her, and its satellite after Phorcys.
A Gorgon (Γοργόνα) is a female creature. While descriptions of Gorgons
(Γοργόνες) vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek
literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair of living,
venomous snakes, and a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone.
Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their
sister Medusa was not, and she was slain by the mythical demigod and hero Perseus.
The concept of the Gorgon is at least as old in classical Greek mythology as Perseus
and Zeus.
Transitions in religious traditions over such long periods of time, may make
some strange turns. Gorgons often are depicted as having wings, brazen claws,
the tusks of boars, and scaly skin. The oldest oracles were said to be protected by
serpents and a Gorgon image often was associated with those
temples. Lionesses or sphinxes frequently are associated with the Gorgon as well. The
powerful image of the Gorgon was adopted for the classical images and myths of
Athena and Zeus, perhaps being worn in continuation of a more ancient religious
imagery. In late myths, the Gorgons were said to be the daughters of sea deities, Ceto
and Phorcys. Their home is on the farthest side of the western ocean, in Libya.
Ancient Libya is identified as a possible source of the deity, Neith, who also was a
creation deity in Ancient Egypt and, when the Greeks occupied Egypt, they said that
Neith was called Athene in Greece. The Attic tradition, regarded Gorgon as a
monster, produced by Gaia to aid her children, the Titans, against the new Olympian
deities. Classical interpretations suggest that Gorgon was slain by Athena, who wore
her skin thereafter.
Medusa was the only one of the three Gorgons who was not immortal.
King Polydectes sent Perseus to kill Medusa in hope of getting him out of the way,
while he pursued Perseus's mother, Danae. Some of these myths relate that Perseus
was armed with a scythe from Hermes and a mirror (or a
shield) from Athena. Perseus could safely cut off
Medusa's head without turning to stone by looking only
at her reflection in the shield. From the blood that
spurted from her neck and falling into the sea,
sprang Pegasus and Chrysaor, her sons by Poseidon.
Other sources say that each drop of blood became a
snake. Perseus is said by some to have given the head,
which retained the power of turning into stone all who
looked upon it, to Athena. She then placed it on the
mirrored shield called Aegis and she gave it to Zeus.
Another source says that Perseus buried the head in the marketplace of Argos.
According to other accounts, either he or Athena used the head to
turn Atlas into stone, transforming him into the Atlas Mountains that held up both
heaven and earth. He also used Gorgon against a competing suitor. Ultimately, he
used her against King Polydectes. When Perseus returned to the court of the king,
Polydectes asked if he had the head of Medusa. Perseus replied "here it is" and held it
aloft, turning the whole court to stone.
Nereus (Νηρεύς) was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (the Earth),
a Titan who with Doris fathered the Nereids,
with whom Nereus lived in the Aegean Sea.
Nereus and Proteus (Πρωτέας) seem to be two
manifestations of the god of the sea who was
supplanted
by Poseidon when Zeus overthrew Cronus.
During the course of the 5th century BC,
Nereus was gradually replaced by Triton, who
does not appear in Homer. Nereus was known
for his truthfulness and virtue: but Pontos, the great sea, was father of truthful Nereus
who tells no lies, eldest of his sons. They call him the Old Gentleman because he is
trustworthy, and gentle, and never forgetful of what is right, but the thoughts of his
mind are mild and righteous.
In Aelian's natural history Nereus was also the father of a watery consort
of Aphrodite named Nerites who was transformed into "a shellfish with a spiral shell,
small in size but of surpassing beauty."
Nereus was father to Thetis, one of the Nereids, who in turn was mother to the
great Greek hero Achilles, and Amphitrite, who married Poseidon.
The asteroid 4660 Nereus (4660 Nereus), discovered in 1982, took its name
from the God.
Doris (Δωρίς), an Oceanid, was a sea nymph in Greek mythology, whose
name represented the bounty of the sea. She was the daughter
of Oceanus and Tethys and the wife of Nereus. She was also aunt to Atlas, the titan
who was made to carry the sky upon his shoulders, whose mother Clymene was a
sister of Doris. Doris was mother to the fifty Nereids, including Thetis
and Amphitrite, Poseidon's wife, and grandmother of Triton.
The Nereids (Νηρηΐδες) were sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the
fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters
to Nerites. They were around fifty and they were
distinct from the mermaid-like Sirens. They
often accompany Poseidon and can be friendly
and helpful to sailors fighting perilous storms.
Nereids are particularly associated with
the Aegean Sea, where they dwelt with their
father in the depths within a silvery cave. The
most notable of them were Amphitrite, Thetis, Psamathia (wife of Aeacus) and
Galateia (wife of cyclop Polyphemus).
According to tradition, they were particularly proud of their beauty. When
Cassiopeia, wife of King Cepheus, boasted that she was more beautiful than the
Nereids they asked Poseidon to punish her. Indeed, Cepheus was forced to tie his
daughter Andromeda to a rock of the sea in order to be devoured by a sea monster.
But Perseus intervened and saved Andromeda.
The Nereids are the namesake of one of the moons of the planet Neptune.
Silver-footed Thetis (Θέτις), disposer or "placer" (the one who places), is
encountered in Greek mythology mostly as a sea nymph or
known as the goddess of water, one of the fifty Nereids,
daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described
as a Nereid in Classical myths, Thetis was the daughter of
Nereus and Doris, and a granddaughter of Tethys with
whom she sometimes shares characteristics. Often she
seems to lead the Nereids as they attend to her tasks.
Sometimes she also is identified with Metis. Some sources
argue that she was one of the earliest of deities worshiped
in Archaic Greece, the oral traditions and records of which are lost. Only one written
record, a fragment, exists attesting to her worship and an early Alcman hymn exists
that identifies Thetis as the creator of the universe. Most extant material about Thetis
concerns her role as mother of Achilles, but there is some evidence that as seagoddess she played a more central role in the religious beliefs and practices of
Archaic Greece. The pre-modern etymology of her name, from tithemi (τίθημι), "to
set up, establish," suggests a perception among Classical Greeks of an
early political role. Her name is also considered as a transformed doublet of Tethys.
Thetis was courted by both Zeus and Poseidon, but Zeus after receiving a
prophecy that Thetis's son would become greater than his father, made arrangements
with Poseidon for her to marry a human, Peleus (with whom she laid Achilles) but
she refused him. Proteus advised Peleus to find the sea nymph when she was asleep
and bind her tightly to keep her from escaping by changing forms. She did shift
shapes, becoming flame, water, a raging lioness, and a serpent. Peleus held fast.
Subdued, she then consented to marry him. The wedding of Thetis and Peleus was
celebrated on Mount Pelion, outside the cave of Chiron, and attended by the deities:
there they celebrated the marriage with feasting. Apollo played the lyre and
the Muses sang. At the wedding Chiron gave Peleus an ashen spear that had been
polished by Athene and had a blade forged by Hephaestus. Poseidon gave him the
immortal horses, Balius and Xanthus. Eris, the goddess of discord, had not been
invited, however. In spite, she threw a golden apple into the midst of the goddesses
that was to be awarded only "to the fairest." In most interpretations, the award was
made during the Judgement of Paris and eventually occasioned the Trojan War.
An other myth links Thetis with Hephaestus. When Hephaestus was thrown
from Olympus, whether cast out by Hera for his lameness or evicted by Zeus for
taking Hera's side, the Oceanid Eurynome and the Nereid Thetis caught him and cared
for him on the volcanic isle of Lemnos, while he labored for them as a smith.
Third generation of Gods and Goddesses of the water according to
Hesiod’s Theogony
Poseidon or Posidon (Ποσειδών) is one of the twelve Olympian deities of
the pantheon in Greek mythology. His main domain is the ocean, and he is called the
"God of the Sea". Additionally, he is referred to as "Earth-Shaker" due to his role in
causing earthquakes, and has been called the "tamer of horses". He is usually depicted
as an older male with curly hair and beard.
Poseidon was venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age
Greece as a chief deity, but he was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother
of Zeus and Hades. According to the references from Plato, the island of Atlantis was
the chosen domain of Poseidon.
Poseidon was a son of Cronus and Rhea. In most accounts he is swallowed by
Cronus at birth but later saved, with his other brothers and sisters, by Zeus. However
in some versions of the story, he, like his brother Zeus, did not share the fate of his
other brother and sisters who were eaten by Cronus. He was saved by his mother
Rhea, who concealed him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have given birth
to a colt, which she gave to Cronus to devour. Nurse of Poseidon was Arne, who
denied knowing where he was, when Cronus came searching. He was raised by
the Telchines on Rhodes, just as Zeus was raised by the Korybantes on Crete.
According to a single reference in the Iliad, when the world was divided by lot
in three, Zeus received the sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon the sea. In
the Odyssey (v.398), Poseidon has a home in Aegae.
The foundation of Athens
Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens after a competition
with Poseidon. Yet Poseidon remained a numinous presence on the Acropolis in the
form of his surrogate, Erechtheus. At the dissolution festival at the end of the year in
the Athenian calendar, the Skira, the priests of Athena and the priest of Poseidon
would process under canopies to Eleusis. They agreed that each would give the
Athenians one gift and the Athenians would choose whichever gift they preferred.
Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up the water was salty
and not very useful, whereas Athena offered them an olive tree.
The Athenians or their king, Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and along with it
Athena as their patron, for the olive tree brought wood, oil and food. After the fight,
infuriated at his loss, Poseidon sent a monstrous flood to the Attic Plain, to punish the
Athenians for not choosing him. The depression made by Poseidon's trident and filled
with salt water was surrounded by the northern hall of the Erechtheum, remaining
open to the air. The contest of Athena and Poseidon was the subject of the reliefs on
the western pediment of the Parthenon, the first sight that greeted the arriving visitor.
This myth is construed by Robert Graves and others as reflecting a clash
between the inhabitants during Mycenaean times and newer immigrants. It is
interesting to note that Athens at its height was a significant sea power, at one point
defeating the Persian fleet at Salamis Island in a sea battle.
The walls of Troy
Poseidon and Apollo, having offended Zeus by their rebellion in Hera's scheme, were
temporarily stripped of their divine authority and sent to serve King Laomedon of
Troy. He had them build huge walls around the city and promised to reward them
well, a promise he then refused to fulfill. In vengeance, before the Trojan War,
Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. The monster was later killed by Heracles.
Consorts and children
Poseidon was said to have had many lovers of both sexes (see expandable list
below). His consort was Amphitrite, a nymph and ancient sea-goddess, daughter
of Nereus and Doris.
Poseidon was the father of many heroes. He is thought to have fathered the
famed Theseus.
A mortal woman named Tyro was married to Cretheus (with whom she had
one son, Aeson) but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her
advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus,
and from their union were born the heroes Pelias and Neleus, twin boys. Poseidon
also had an affair with Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, his son and King
of Eleusis, begetting the Attic hero Hippothoon. Cercyon had his daughter buried
alive but Poseidon turned her into the spring, Alope, near Eleusis.
Poseidon rescued Amymone from a lecherous satyr and then fathered a
child, Nauplius, by her.
After having raped Caeneus, Poseidon fulfilled her request and changed her
into a male warrior.
A mortal woman named Cleito once lived on an isolated island; Poseidon fell
in love with the human mortal and created a dwelling sanctuary at the top of a hill
near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land
to protect her. She gave birth to five sets of twin boys(the firstborn who being
named Atlas) became the first rulers of Atlantis.
Not all of Poseidon's children were human. In an archaic myth, Poseidon once
pursued Demeter. She spurned his advances, turning herself into a mare so that she
could hide in a herd of horses; he saw through the deception and became
a stallion and captured her. Their child was a horse, Arion, which was capable of
human speech. Poseidon also had sexual intercourse with Medusa on the floor of a
temple to Athena. Medusa was then changed into a monster by Athena. When she was
later beheaded by the hero Perseus, Chrysaor and Pegasus emerged from her neck.
There is also Triton (Τρίτων), Polyphemus (Πολύφημος), Alebion (Αλεβίων),
Bergion (Βέργιος), Otos (Ώτος) and Ephialtae (Εφιάλτης) (the giants).
Worship of Poseidon
Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second
only to Athena in importance, while in Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he
was the chief god of thepolis.
In his benign aspect, Poseidon was seen as creating new islands and offering
calm seas. When offended or ignored, he supposedly struck the ground with
his trident and caused chaotic springs, earthquakes, drownings and shipwrecks.
Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a
sacrifice.
In the Iliad Poseidon favors the Greeks, and on several occasion takes an
active part in the battle against the Trojan forces. However, in Book XX he
rescues Aeneas after the Trojan prince is laid low by Achilles.
In the Odyssey, Poseidon is notable for his hatred of Odysseus who blinded the
god's son, the cyclops Polyphemus. The enmity of Poseidon prevented Odysseus's
return home to Ithaca for many years.
Amphitrite (Aμφιτρίτη) was a sea-goddess
and wife of Poseidon. Under the influence of the
Olympian pantheon, she became merely the consort
of Poseidon, and was further diminished by poets to a
symbolic representation of the sea.
Amphitrite
was
a
daughter
of Nereus and Doris (and thus a Nereid), according
to Hesiod's Theogony,
but
of Oceanus and Tethys (and
thus
an Oceanid),
according to the Bibliotheca, which actually lists her
among both of the Nereids and the Oceanids. Others
called her the personification of the sea itself.
Amphitrite's offspring included seals and dolphins.
Poseidon and Amphitrite had a son, Triton who was a merman. Bibliotheca also
mentions a daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite named Benthesikyme.
In the arts of vase-painting and mosaic, Amphitrite was distinguishable from
the other Nereids only by her queenly attributes. In works of art, Amphitrite is
represented either enthroned beside Poseidon or driving with him in a chariot drawn
by sea-horses (hippocamps) or other fabulous creatures of the deep, and attended
by Tritons and Nereids. She is dressed in queenly robes and has nets in her hair.
The asteroid 29 Amphitrite, discovered in 1854, was named after this sea
goddess.
Triton (Τρίτων) is a mythological Greek god, the messenger of the sea. He is
the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, and is herald for his father. He is usually
represented as a merman, having the upper body of a human
and the tail of a fish.
Like his father, Poseidon, he carried a trident. However,
Triton's special attribute was a twisted conch shell, on which
he blew like a trumpet to calm or raise the waves. Its sound
was such a cacophony, that when loudly blown, it put the
giants to flight, who imagined it to be the roar of a dark wild
beast.
According to Hesiod's Theogony, Triton dwelt with his
parents in a golden palace in the depths of the
sea; Homer places his seat in the waters off Aegae. The story of the Argonauts places
his home on the coast of Libya. When the Argonauts were lost in the desert, he guided
them to find the passage from the river back to the sea.
Triton was the father of Pallas and foster parent to the goddess Athena. Pallas
was killed by Athena during a fight between the two goddesses. Triton is also
sometimes cited as the father of Scyllaby Lamia. Triton can sometimes be multiplied
into a host of Tritones, daimones of the sea.
Creatures of the water
The Sirens (Σειρήνες) were dangerous and beautiful creatures, portrayed
as femmes fatales who lured nearby sailors with
their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck
on the rocky coast of their island. In some later
traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery"
island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa, is fixed:
sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the
islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or
in Capreae. All such locations were surrounded
by cliffs and rocks.
When the Sirens were given a name of their own they were considered the
daughters of the river god Achelous. Sirens are found in many Greek stories,
particularly in Homer's Odyssey. Their number is variously reported as between two
and five. In the Odyssey, Homer says nothing of their origin or names, but gives the
number of the Sirens as two.
Sirens combine women and birds in various ways. In early Greek art Sirens
were represented as birds with large women's heads, bird feathers and scaly feet.
Later, they were represented as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without
wings, playing a variety of musical instruments, especially harps.
In Argonautica, Jason had been warned by Chiron that Orpheus would be
necessary in his journey. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew out his lyre and
played his music more beautifully than they, drowning out their voices. One of the
crew, however, the sharp-eared hero Butes, heard the song and leapt into the sea, but
he was caught up and carried safely away by the goddess Aphrodite.
Odysseus was curious as to what the Sirens sang to him, so, on Circe's advice,
he had all of his sailors plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast. He
ordered his men to leave him tied tightly to the mast, no matter how much he would
beg. When he heard their beautiful song, he ordered the sailors to untie him but they
bound him tighter. When they had passed out of earshot, Odysseus demonstrated with
his frowns to be released.
Some post-Homeric authors state that the Sirens were fated to die if someone
heard their singing and escaped them, and that after Odysseus passed by they
therefore flung themselves into the water and perished. It is also said that Hera, queen
of the gods, persuaded the Sirens to enter a singing contest with the Muses. The
Muses won the competition and then plucked out all of the Sirens' feathers and made
crowns out of them. Out of their anguish from losing the competition, the Sirens
turned white and fell into the sea at Aptera ("featherless"), where they formed the
islands in the bay that were called Souda (modern Lefkai).
Scylla, (Σκύλλα) was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of
water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis. The two
sides of the strait were within an arrow's range of
each other—so close that sailors attempting to
avoid Charybdis would pass too close to Scylla
and vice versa.
Traditionally the strait has been associated
with
the Strait
of
Messina between
Italy and Sicily. The idiom 'between Scylla and
Charybdis' has come to mean being between two
dangers, choosing either of which brings harm.
There are various Greek myths accounting
for Scylla's origins and fate. According to some, she was one of the children
of Phorcys and Ceto. Other sources support that her parents were Triton and Lamia
and others that Scylla was a beautiful naiad who was claimed by Poseidon, but the
jealous Amphitrite turned her into a monster by poisoning the water of the spring
where Scylla would bathe.
A similar story supports that Scylla was the daughter of the river
god Crataeis and was loved by Glaucus, but Glaucus himself was also loved by the
sorceress Circe. While Scylla was bathing in the sea, the jealous Circe poured a potion
into the sea water which caused Scylla to transform into a monster with four eyes, six
long necks equipped with grisly heads, each of which contained three rows of sharp
teeth. Her body consisted of twelve tentacle-like legs and a cat's tail while four to six
dog-heads ringed her waist. In this form she attacked the ships of passing sailors,
seizing one of the crew with each of her heads.
In a late Greek myth, Heracles encountered Scylla during a journey to Sicily
and slew her. Her father, the sea-god Phorcys, then applied flaming torches to her
body and restored her to life.
Charybdis or Kharybdis (Χάρυβδις) was a sea monster, later rationalised as
a whirlpool and considered a shipping hazard in the Strait of Messina.
Charybdis was once a beautiful naiad
and the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She
assumes the form of a huge bladder of a
creature whose face is all mouth and whose
arms and legs are flippers. She swallows a huge
amount of water three times a day, before
belching it back out again, creating large
whirlpools capable of dragging a ship
underwater. In some variations of the story, Charybdis is simply a
large whirlpool instead of a sea monster. Once a lovely maiden, Charybdis was loyal
to her father in his endless feud with Zeus. She rode the hungry tides
after Poseidon stirred up a storm, directing them onto beaches, destroying entire
villages, submerging fields and drowning forests, claiming all in her path for the sea.
She claimed so much land for her father's kingdom that Zeus became enraged and
changed her into a monster.
The theoretical size of Charybdis remains unknown, yet in order to
consume Greek ships the whirlpool can be estimated to about 75 feet across.
Charybdis has been associated with the Strait of Messina, off the coast of Sicily and
opposite a rock on the mainland identified with Scylla.Were Charybdis to be located
in the Strait of Messina it would in fact have the size to accommodate the whirlpool.
A whirlpool does exist there, caused by currents meeting, but it is seldom dangerous.
The two known ichthyocentaurs (Ιχθυοκένταυροι) were Bythos (Βυθός SeaDepths) and Aphros(Αφρός, Sea-Foam). Their parents
were the Titan Kronos and Nymph Philyra. These two
were half brothers of Chiron the centaur. They were
regarded as wise teachers, as Chiron also was.They had
the upper body of a man, the lower front of a horse, and
the tail of a fish. Also, they wore lobster-claw horns.
Ichthyocentaur comes from two different words,
ichthyo- and centaur. Ichthyo which means fish; centaur,
is a creature having the head, trunk, and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a
horse. Ichtyocentaurs have both the attributes coming from the two meanings, which
make them a fish-horse-man. They are related to centaurs, sea nymphs and merfolk; It
was believed that the creation of these sea-centaurs were depicted as a collection of
stars within the Constellation Pisces.
The twin ichthyocentaurs appear together in several works of art. A first- or
second-century mosaic from Zeugma, Commagene, depicting the birth of Aphrodite,
is inscribed with the names of Bythos and Aphros, who are lifting the
goddess' cockle-shell out of the sea. Aphros was perhaps regarded as her foster-father,
given their similarity in names. The sea-centaurs were probably derived from the
divine fish of Syrian mythology (possibly identified with Dagon) that
carried Astarte ashore following her watery birth.
These sea-centaurs were thought of to be peaceful water-dwelling creatures;
they tend to hold great value for their family and friends. Most of the time they were
able to get along with other water-dwelling races. Because this type of race is still
related to the wild nature of their centaur cousins, some of them still elicit harsh
behavior, although not as much as the centaurs. The Ichthyocentaurs tend to roam in
milder parties as opposed to more aggressive centaur parties. The ichthyocentaurs'
relationship with the nymphs allowed them to live for centuries, having them tend to
be aware of many situations in the sea.
The Ichthyocentaurs have the ability to both breathe underwater and swim
with great speed. They also have more physical stamina than any of the other aquatic
races. Other abilities include being able to communicate underwater with several
races that live there.
The Naiads (Ναϊάδες) were a type of nymph (female spirit) who presided over
fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater.
Naiads
were
either
daughters
of Poseidon or various Oceanids, but a
genealogy for such ancient, ageless
creatures is easily overstated.
They are distinct from river
gods, who embodied rivers, and the
very ancient spirits that inhabited the
still waters of marshes, ponds and
lagoon-lakes.
The Naiads were associated
with fresh water, as the Oceanids were
with
saltwater
and
the Nereids specifically with the Mediterranean, but because the Greeks thought of
the world's waters as all one system, which percolated in from the sea in deep
cavernous spaces within the earth, there was some overlap. The ancients attributed the
Naiads healing abilities and believed that those who drank or bathed in water sources
that were dedicated to them could be healed from their illnesses. In other cases the
bath was considered sacrilege, because it could cause mysterious illness and insanity.
The most notable was Arethusa, the nymph of a spring who could make her
way through subterranean flows from the Peloponnesus, to surface on the island
of Sicily.
They were often the object of archaic local cults, worshipped as essential to
humans. Boys and girls at coming-of-age ceremonies dedicated their childish locks to
the local naiad of the spring. In places like Lerna their waters' ritual cleansings were
credited with magical medical properties. Animals were ritually drowned there.
Oracles might be situated by ancient springs.
The Naiads sometimes could be dangerous: Hylas of the Argo's crew was lost
when he was taken by the Naiads fascinated by his beauty. The Naiads were also
known to exhibit jealous tendencies. Theocritus' story of naiad jealousy was that of a
shepherd, Daphnis, who was the lover of Nomia or Echenais; Daphnis had on several
occasions been unfaithful to Nomia and as revenge she permanently blinded
him. Salmacis forced the youth Hermaphroditus into a carnal embrace and, when he
sought to get away, fused with him.
The fairies of modern time originate from Naiads.
A Nymph (νύμφη) is a minor
female nature deity typically associated
with a particular location or landform.
There are 5 different types of nymphs,
Celestial Nymphs, Water Nymphs, Land
Nymphs, Plant Nymphs and Underworld
Nymphs. Different from goddesses,
nymphs are generally regarded as divine
spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful,
young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing; their amorous freedom sets them
apart from the restricted and chaste wives and daughters of the Greek polis. They are
believed to dwell in mountains and groves, by springs and rivers, and also in trees and
in valleys and cool grottoes. Although they would never die of old age nor illness, and
could give birth to fully immortal children if mated to a god, they themselves were not
necessarily immortal, and could be beholden to death in various
forms. Charybdis and Scylla were once nymphs.
Other nymphs, always in the shape of young maidens, were part of
the retinue of a god, such as Dionysus, Hermes, or Pan, or a goddess, generally the
huntress Artemis. Nymphs were the frequent target of satyrs. They are frequently
associated with the superior divinities: the huntress Artemis; the prophetic Apollo; the
reveller and god of wine, Dionysus; and rustic gods such as Pan and Hermes.
The Hyades (Υάδες), are a sisterhood of nymphs that bring rain. They were
daughters
of Atlas (by
either Pleione or Aethra,
one
of
the Oceanides) and sisters of Hyas in
most tellings, although one version
gives their parents
as Hyas
and Boeotia. The Hyades are sisters to
the Pleiades and the Hesperides. Their
number varies from three in the
earliest sources to fifteen in the late
ones. The names are also variable,
according to the mythographer.
The main myth concerning them is envisioned to account for their collective
name and to provide an etiology for their weepy raininess: Hyas was killed in a
hunting accident and the Hyades wept from their grief. They were changed into
a cluster of stars, the Hyades, set in the head of Taurus. The Greeks believed that
the heliacal rising and setting of the Hyades star cluster were always attended with
rain.
The Hyades are also thought to have been the tutors of Dionysus, and as such
are equated with the Nysiads, the nymphs who are also believed to have cared for
Dionysus, Some sources relate that they were subject to aging, but Dionysus, to
express his gratitude for having raised him, asked Medea to restore their youth.
Rhode (Ρόδη) also known as Rhodos (Ρόδος) was the sea nymph or goddess
of the island of Rhodes.
Though she does not appear among the lists of nereids in Iliad or Bibliotheke,
such an ancient island nymph in other contexts might gain any of various Olympian
parentages: she was thought of as a daughter of Poseidon with any of several
primordial sea-goddesses — with whom she might be identified herself —
notably Halia or Amphitrite.
In Rhodes, to which she gave her name, she was the consort of Helios and a
co-protector of the island, which was the sole center of her cult. Her name was
applied to the rose, which appeared on Rhodian coinage.
The first inhabitants of Rhodes were identified by Hellenes as the Telchines.
Helios made the island rise from the sea and with Rhode, fathered seven sons there,
the Heliadae and one daughter, Electryone. Electryone died a virgin and the sons
became legendary astronomers and rulers of the island, accounting for the cities
among which it was divided. Rhode was worshipped on Rhodes in her own name, as
well as Halia, the embodiment of the "salt sea" or as the "white goddess", Leucothea.
Maleos or Maleotis (Μαλέος) was known originally as a sea demon whose
name was linked to Cape Malea. According to another tradition, Male stone or
Maleion cape was called an irrelevant with Malea hydrographic element, a reef
before the port of Phaistos, which was dedicated by Malleos to the god Poseidon for
not passing waves Phaistos
Palaemon (Παλαίμων), originally named Melicertes, was a minor, young sea
god, son of Ino (Leucothea). He was deified by the gods
when his mother threw herself from atop a cliff with
Palaemon in her arms, arguably to escape in sanity or to
escape Athanas, King of Thebes at the time, and his
father was driven to a murderous rage after Hera pushed
him to it.
DISCUSSION
Apart from Greek mythology where ancient Greeks worshiped the water as
deities and imagined the ocean like a huge river, which flows around the Earth, had
no sources or estuary and was the father of all the river gods, we find the importance
of the life-giving role of waters in the myths of many civilazations. Making a journey
through time and reaching prehistoric times, we find that the ancestral peoples of
humanity were fully aware of the importance of the life-giving role, but also the
terrible power of water. For this reason they venerated waters as deities, which while
seeking to placate. In the myths of all civilizations, water was an element of
inspiration and doctrine.
The major civilizations were born near the water. Particularly in the
Mediterranean, water played an important role in shaping cultures. On the
Mediterranean coast the most important civilizations appeared , the ancient Greeks,
Phoenicians, Egyptians, Arabs, Romans. In these cultures from antiquity until today
the water has a very great significance. The Egyptian civilization linked the life to the
river Nile, the civilization of Mesopotamia to Tigris and Euphrates, the Greek culture
with its rich coasts. The paths of rivers and seas supplied to human societies not only
water for crops and food, but also a safe and easy way for transportation, trade,
exchange of goods, but also the communication between people, peoples, cultures!
The importance they gave the water reflected in mythology, philosophy,
religion, the manners and customs of the peoples. Sometimes celebrated as a deity,
sometimes considered a source of life and energy that gives strength and good health.
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