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"... I repeat to you what
I said to Cleinias just now, that you do not
perceive the wonderful nature of our visitors'
skill. Only they are unwilling to give us a display
of it in real earnest, but treat us to jugglers'
tricks in the style of Proteus the Egyptian adept.
So let us take our cue from
Menelaus, and not leave hold of these
gentlemen till they give us a sight of their own
serious business." [Plato, Euthydemus
288b]
"... but you are only
deceiving me, and so far from displaying the
subjects of your skill, you decline even to tell me
what they are, for all my entreaties. You are a
perfect Proteus in the way you take on every kind
of shape, twisting about this way and
that..." [Plato, Ion 541e]
"... Proteus, of sea-green
hue, traverses the mighty main in his car drawn by
fishes and a team of two-footed steeds."
[Virgil,
Georgics
4.388]
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Proteus 2, 'The Old Man of the Sea', knows all
that has been, is now, and lies in store. However,
he is reluctant to answer questions about such
matters. Therefore, by his art he changes his real
figure for a false semblance, and when he pleases
he returns to his true form. Proteus 2 lived in the
sea off Egypt, and for that reason he is often
identified with Proteus
3, an Egyptian king.
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Remarkable ability
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The most remarkable feature of Proteus 2 is his
ability to change form. But whereas some whose form
has been changed remain in their new state, Proteus
2 can continuously assume new forms, looking as a
young man, a lion, a boar, a serpent, a bull, a
stone, a tree, water, flame, or whatever he
pleases.
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A seer too
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Proteus 2 is one of the gods who revealed that
Thetis would become the mother of a youth who would
outdo his father's deeds. It is because of this
prophecy that Zeus
renounced her love, and fearing that a son of his
own would take over the rule of the heaven, the god
resolved that she should marry a mortal,
Peleus.
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Peleus unable to win
his bride
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But to conquer the nereid Thetis was not an easy
task for Peleus, since
she, as Proteus 2, could change her form, becoming
in the arms of anyone who strived to hold her, a
bird or a tree. So far
Peleus clung on her, but
when she showed herself in the guise of a tigress,
he lost his courage, and loosed his hold.
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Proteus 2 helps Peleus
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Having failed in his first attempt,
Peleus poured
wine into the sea and
sacrificed to the gods, praying for help; and then
Proteus 2 came from the deep, and instructed him:
"... And
though she take a hundred lying forms, let her not
escape you, but hold her close, whatever she may
be, until she take again the form she had at
first." [Proteus 2 to
Peleus. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
11.250]
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Thetis knows there is a god behind
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Following the god's instructions,
Peleus could finally
conquer Thetis, who was reluctant to marry him. For
a mortal was not the best she could get, being
herself a goddess. But she knew what had happened,
for she said:
"It is not
without some god's assistance that you
conquer." [Thetis to
Peleus. Ovid,
Metamorphoses
11.263]
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Telemachus visits
Menelaus
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Proteus 2 himself was later defeated by
Menelaus in the same
way as Thetis was conquered by
Peleus. Or so
Menelaus himself
claimed when he received
Odysseus' son
Telemachus in his
palace. Telemachus
had come to see whether
Menelaus could give him
any news of his father, whom he wished to find as
soon as possible, given that a set of scoundrels
were plundering his estate while competing with
each other for the hand of his mother
Penelope.
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Menelaus' story
about Proteus 2
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One morning then,
Menelaus told
Telemachus about his
meeting with Proteus 2.
He said that, for having omitted to make
offerings to the gods, these kept him and his men
idle for twenty days in the island of Pharos off
the mouths of the river Nile, not being able to
sail as there was not even a sign of a breeze.
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Goddess wonders about
Menelaus' wits
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When after some time the diminished supplies had
exhausted his men, a goddess took pity on him. She
was Proteus 2's daughter Eidothea 1, whom he met
while he was walking by himself, away from the
others. The goddess, being direct, asked him at
once:
"Sir, are you
an utter fool? Are you weak in the head?"
[Eidothea 1 to
Menelaus. Homer,
Odyssey
4.370]
... or was it, she wondered, that he loved
hardships and to let his men grow weaker day by
day?
Menelaus replied
that the whole thing was against his will, and that
he probably was being punished for having offended
the immortals; but that he would certainly like to
know who among the gods had confined him in that
island, and how he could finally get home.
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Eidothea 1 betrays her father
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It was then that the goddess revealed that the
island was the haunt of Proteus 2, her own father
as it was rumoured. She added that if
Menelaus could set a
trap and catch him, the god would tell him all
about his journey, the distances, and his return
home. In addition, Proteus 2 would tell him
everything about what happened in his palace during
his absence, which was interesting to know, for
many years had passed since
Menelaus left
Sparta to join the army
that sailed against Troy,
and claimed the restoration of
Helen and the Spartan
property stolen by the seducer
Paris.
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Her instructions
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Since mortals can do nothing without the
assistance of the gods, Eidothea 1 also instructed
Menelaus as to how to
catch her father, who used to return to the island
of Pharos every day at noon, and then retire to
sleep into a cave among the seals that followed
him. For, she said,
Menelaus was to
surprise him while he was asleep, holding him tight
regardless of his form until he recovered the shape
he had when he lay down to rest and began to speak.
Then, she concluded,
Menelaus could relax
his pressure, and ask him questions.
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Practical help
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In order to help ambushing the god, Eidothea 1
came the following day carrying the skins of four
seals, under which
Menelaus and three of
his men were to hide. And in order that they could
endure the vile smell of the skins, she applied
ambrosia to each man's nostrils.
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Proteus 2 captured
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Proteus 2 arrived as expected, and after
counting his seals, he lay down to sleep
unsuspicious of the fraud. And when the four men
leapt upon him, the god turned first into a lion,
then into a snake, and then into a panther, a boar,
a tree, and also into simple running water. But
when his magic repertory came to an end, he said as
Thetis before:
"Tell me now,
Menelaus, which of the gods conspired with
you to ambush and capture me?" [Proteus 2 to
Menelaus. Homer,
Odyssey
4.462]
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Revelations (I)
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But Menelaus had
himself many questions to ask, and by the god's
answers he learned many things. First that he had
not offered the due sacrifice to
Zeus and the other gods
before embarking, and therefore, if he wished to
see his country again he should return to Egypt and
make the offerings.
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Revelations (II)
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Secondly, Menelaus
asked about the fate of his comrades, and Proteus 2
told him how Ajax 2, the
man who cowardly raped the Trojan seeress
Cassandra, had
perished through the anger of
Poseidon and
Athena. He also revealed
the terrible fate that awaited
Menelaus' brother
Agamemnon at home. For
there he was murdered by his own wife and the
usurper Aegisthus, her
lover, and not a single man of
Agamemnon's following
escaped death that day. But, Proteus 2 continued,
he would be able to join the funerals of his
brother, and perhaps find
Aegisthus already dead
at the hands of
Agamemnon's son
Orestes 2.
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Revelations (III)
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He also told
Menelaus that instead
of dying the gods would send him to the Elysian
Fields, a wonderful place for a man to live in, for
no snow falls, or strong winds blow, and there is
never rain. For after all,
Menelaus was the
son-in-law of Zeus, having
married beautiful Helen,
who at birth came out of an egg.
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Revelations (IV)
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And about Odysseus
(for this story was being told by
Menelaus to
Telemachus so that he
would learn something about his father's fate), the
god only said that he had caught a glimpse of him
in the island of Calypso
3, where she kept him captive in the bonds of
her love.
These are the stories that are told about
Proteus 2.
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Others with ideentical name
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Proteus 1 is son of Aegyptus 1 and Argyphia. He
married one of the
DANAIDS, either
Gorgophone 1 or Scylla 3, and was murdered by his
bride during the wedding night.
Proteus 3 is the
king of Egypt who is said to have kept
Helen in that country
while Paris went to
Troy with a phantom of her
fashioned out of clouds.
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