|
The NEREIDS are Sea-NYMPHS,
assumed to be fifty in number. Few among them have myths of
their own.
It is told that Queen Cassiopea 2 boasted of being better
than them all, and the NEREIDS were angered. So
Poseidon, sharing their wrath,
sent a flood and a monster against Ethiopia. As a result of
the calamity that followed,
Andromeda was exposed as a prey
to calm the monster, being later delivered by
Perseus 1.
The NEREIDS are also remembered for having helped the
ARGONAUTS to steer their ship
when they encountered Charybdis
and Scylla 1, and the Wandering
Rocks.
|
|
Amphitrite, who sometimes is counted
among the OCEANIDS,
became, through her marriage with
Poseidon, the Queen of
the Sea. Their children are Triton, Rhode 2, and
Benthesicyme.
|
|
|
Arethusa 1 was mother of Abas 1, the king
of Euboea, by Poseidon.
|
|
Cydippe 1 was in the company of
Cyrene.
|
|
Galatea 1 was loved by the Cyclops
Polyphemus 2, but
she, loving Acis, refused him. For this reason Acis
was buried by a rock hurled at him by the jealous
Polyphemus 2, and
was turned into a river.
|
|
|
Psamathe 1 turned herself into a seal to
avoid Aeacus, but
nevertheless she had a son Phocus 3 by him. Phocus
3 was a great athlete and because of this his
half-brothers Peleus and
Telamon plotted against him, and Telamon killed him
in a match by throwing a quoit at his head. Some
affirm Peleus and not
Telamon who killed Phocus 3. But because of this
murder, which some think was committed to please
their mother Endeis (whereas others think it was an
accident and not a murder), both
Peleus and Telamon were
banished from Aegina by
Aeacus.
Some generations later, Pylades plotted together
with Orestes 2 against
Neoptolemus, son of
Achilles, son of
Peleus and Thetis.
Pylades himself was son of Strophius 1, son of
Crisus, son of Phocus 3.
It is said that because of the crime committed
against her son Phocus 3, Psamathe 1 sent a
terrible wolf to destroy the cattle of
Peleus, who could not do
anything except pray to the Nereid that she put
away her wrath. At first she remained unmoved by
these prayers, but Thetis obtained, for her
husband's sake, the forgiveness of Psamathe 1.
After Aeacus, Psamathe
1 married King Proteus
3 of Egypt and had by him a daughter Eido
(Theonoe 2), who was a priestess in Egypt, and a
son Theoclymenus 2, who succeeded his father as
king of Egypt and wished to marry
Helen.
|
|
Thetis. Some interventions of the
enchanting silver-footed Thetis may be read at:
Achilles,
Aphrodite,
Charybdis,
Dionysus 2,
Poseidon,
Priam 1,
Prometheus 1,
Themis,
Trojan War, and
Zeus.
Zeus and
Poseidon were once
rivals for the hand of Thetis, but when
Themis or the
MOERAE or
Proteus 2 prophesied
that the son born of Thetis would be mightier than
his father, they withdrew.
Zeus then, bade his
grandson, mortal Peleus,
to marry her. But because Thetis could easily evade
anyone using her power to change into different
forms, Proteus 2 (who
also knew that art) gave
Peleus the necessary
instructions in order to conquer her. It was at the
wedding of Peleus and
Thetis that Eris (Discord)
threw the fatal Apple, which led to the Judgement
of Paris, which led to the
abduction of Helen, which
led to the Trojan War,
in which her beloved son
Achilles should perish.
A protective mother, Thetis tried to make her child
Achilles immortal but,
as some say, she was prevented by
Peleus. She then left her
husband's home for ever, returning to the sea.
Later, foreseeing that it was fated
Achilles should perish
in the war, she disguised him as a girl and
entrusted him to King Lycomedes 1 of Scyros.
In the last year of the
Trojan War,
Agamemnon outraged
Achilles by taking away
his prize (fair-cheeked
Briseis), thus causing
Achilles' remembered
wrath, which brought countless woes upon the
Achaeans, as the goddess sings. Then Thetis visited
Zeus, and, putting her left
arm round his knees while her right hand touched
his chin, prayed to him:
"Father
Zeus, if ever amid the immortals I gave
you aid by word or deed, grant me this prayer: do
honour to my son, who is already singled out for
early death; yet now
Agamemnon has dishonoured him, for he has
taken and keeps his prize by his own arrogant act.
Avenge my son, Olympian
Zeus, lord of counsel; and give might
to the Trojans, until the Achaeans pay him due
respect, and magnify him with recompense."
[Thetis to Zeus.
Homer,
Iliad
1.500]
And Zeus, listening to
her prayer, allowed the Achaeans to suffer
countless losses.
|
|