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Nereus

For other uses, seeNereus (disambiguation).

InGreek mythology,Nereus(/ˈnɪəriəs/NEER-ee-əs;Ancient Greek:Νηρεύς,romanized:Nēreús) was the eldest son ofPontus(theSea) andGaia(the Earth), with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus andDorisbecame the parents of 50 daughters (theNereids) and a son (Nerites), with whom Nereus lived in theAegean Sea.[1]

Nereus
Member ofSea Gods
Nereus in a frieze of thePergamon Altar(Berlin).
Other namesOld Man of the Sea
AbodeAegean Sea
Genealogy
ParentsPontusandGaia
Siblings
ConsortDoris
Offspring

Name

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The name Nereus is absent fromHomer's epics; the god's name in theIliadis the descriptiveἅλιος γέρων'Old Man of the Sea',and in theOdysseythe combination ofἅλιος γέρωνandΠρωτεύς'Proteus'.[2]Besides Nereus and Proteus, the descriptive "Old Man of the Sea" was also used for otherwater deities in Greek mythology,who share several traits; such asPhorcys,Glaucus,and perhapsTriton.It is suggested that the "Old Man of the Sea" had at one time played a cosmogonic role comparable to that ofOceanus,and could have received different names in different places.[3]It is not known whether the name Nereus was known to Homer or not, but the name of theNereidsis attested before it, and can be found in the Iliad.[2]Since Nereus only has relevance as the father of the Nereids, it has been suggested that his name could actually be derived from that of his daughters;[4]while the derivation of the Nereids from Nereus, as a patronymic, has also been suggested.[5]According toMartin Litchfield West(1966), Nereus is much less important than his daughters, mentioning that Herodotus offered "the Nereids, not Nereus, as an example of a divine name not derived from Egypt".[6]

InHesiod'sTheogony,which is where the name was first attested, Nereus is presented in immediate juxtaposition toEris;something that also extends to their children. First of all, there exists a feminine-masculine opposition. Also, Eris is the oldest and most important child ofNyx,while Nereus isPontus's oldest and most important son. Another example is Hesiod's choice of verbs and adjectives used to describe Nereus in juxtaposition to Eris's children; such asἀ-ψευδέα'does-not-lie'andἀ-ληθέα'does-not-forget',as opposed toΨευδέα'Lies'andΛήθη'Forgetfulness'.[7]This has prompted scholars to propose a derivation fromἜριςEris'Discord'with the negative prefixνη‑ne‑added to it; namely Ne-Eris'Not-Discord',which evolved toΝηρεύς(<νη-ερ(ι)-ευς).[8]Furthermore, Hesiod also played with the verbal likeness between Nereus and his last daughterΝημερτήςNemertes'Unerring',whose name also bears the negative prefixνη‑.[9]

Another possible etymology could be fromνηρόν,nerón'(fresh) water or fish',which is acontractionof the Greek adjectiveνεαρός,nearós'new, fresh, young'.[10]It is commonly believed that the contraction of νεαρός to νηρός happened later than Hesiod; however, the contraction ofεandαtoηis quite old, and is widespread over many Greek dialects.[11]

The name could also be related to theHesychianglossesνηρίδας'hollow rocks'orνηρόν'low-lying'.Robert S. P. Beekes(2010) favors aPre-Greek(pre-Indo-European) origin, as is suggested by the suffix‑εύς,‑eús.[10]Another view is that ofApostolos Athanassakis(1983), who suggested anIllyrianorigin for the name, and compared it to theAlbanianwordnjeri'man'.[12]

According toAugust Fick(1890), the closestIndo-Europeanrelative of Nereus, as well as the Nereids, is theLithuanianverbnérti'to dive';also, the Lithuanian nounnėrõvė'mermaid'has been associated with the Nereids.[13]Papachristophorou (1998) supported a derivation from the aforementioned Lithuanian verb, citingPierre Chantraine(1968),[14]while Tsantsanoglou (2015) considered the relation plausible.[13]

The name of the Nereids has survived inmodern Greek folkloreasνεράιδες,neráides'fairies'.[15]

Mythology

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In theIliad,[16]theOld Man of the Seais the father of Nereids, though Nereus is not directly named. He was never more manifestly the Old Man of the Sea than when he was described, likeProteus,as ashapeshifterwith the power of prophecy, who would aid heroes such asHeracles[17]who managed to catch him even as he changed shapes. Nereus andProteus(the "first" ) seem to be two manifestations of the god of the sea who was supplanted byPoseidonwhenZeusoverthrewCronus.

The earliest poet to link Nereus with thelabours of HeracleswasPherekydes,according to ascholiononApollonius of Rhodes.[18]

During the course of the 5th century BC, Nereus was gradually replaced byTriton,who does not appear in Homer, in the imagery of the struggle between Heracles and the sea-god who had to be restrained in order to deliver his information that was employed by the vase-painters, independent of any literary testimony.[19]

In a late appearance, according to a fragmentarypapyrus,Alexander the Greatpaused at the Syrian seashore before the climactericbattle of Issus(333 BC), and resorted to prayers, "calling onThetis,Nereus and the Nereids, nymphs of the sea, and invokingPoseidonthe sea-god, for whom he ordered afour-horse chariotto be cast into the waves. "[20]

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.[21]

The Attic vase-painters showed the draped torso of Nereus issuing from a long coiling scaly fishlike tail.[22]Bearded Nereus generally wields a staff of authority. He was also shown in scenes depicting the flight of the Nereides as Peleus wrestled their sister Thetis.

InAelian's natural history, written in the early third century,[23]Nereus was also the father of a watery consort ofAphroditeand lover of Poseidon namedNeriteswho was transformed into "a shellfish with a spiral shell, small in size but of surpassing beauty."

Nereus was father toThetis,one of the Nereids, who in turn was mother to the great Greek heroAchilles,andAmphitrite,who marriedPoseidon.

Footnotes

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  1. ^ Hesiod,Theogony233-36, is unequivocal that Nereus istheOld Man of the Sea(ἅλιος γέρων), whereas theOdysseygives the sobriquet to Nereus (xxiv.58) toProteus(iv.365, 387), and toPhorkys(xiii.96, 345).
  2. ^abTsantsanoglou 2015,p. 5;Chantraine 1968,p. 751;"Νηρεύς – Ancient Greek (LSJ)".lsj.gr.
  3. ^Rudhardt 1992,p. 82
  4. ^Beekes & van Beek 2010,pp. ix, xliii, 1017;Tsantsanoglou 2015,p. 14
  5. ^Beekes & van Beek 2010,pp. ix, xliii, 1017
  6. ^Litchfield West 1966,p. 233
  7. ^Litchfield West 1966,pp. 232–234;Prier 1976,pp. 40–41;Scully 2015,pp. 16–18;Scully 2018,pp. 87–89;Vergados 2020,pp. 87–89
  8. ^Scully 2015,p. 18;Scully 2018,p. 88;Vergados 2020,p. 89
  9. ^Prier 1976,p. 40
  10. ^abBeekes & van Beek 2010,pp. ix, xliii, 1017–1018
  11. ^Tsantsanoglou 2015,pp. 11–12
  12. ^Athanassakis 2004,p. 43
  13. ^abTsantsanoglou 2015,p. 14
  14. ^Papachristophorou 1998,p. 190;Chantraine 1968,p. 751
  15. ^Chantraine 1968,p. 751;Papachristophorou 1998,p. 190;Litchfield West 1966,p. 233
  16. ^Iliadi.358, 538, 556; xviii.141; xx.107; xxiv.562.
  17. ^Or, asProteus,Menelaus.
  18. ^On Argonauticaiv.1396f, noted by Ruth Glynn, "Herakles, Nereus and Triton: A Study of Iconography in Sixth Century Athens",American Journal of Archaeology85.2 (April 1981, pp. 121–132) p 121f.
  19. ^Glynn 1981:121–132.
  20. ^Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller's ed. Papyrus OxyrrhincusFragmenta Historicorum Graecorum148, 44, col. 2; quoted by Robin Lane Fox,Alexander the Great(1973) 1986:168 and note. Thetis was the mother of Alexander's heroAchilles.
  21. ^Hesiod,Theogony233
  22. ^Beazley Archive201859;Theoi.com;Glynn 1981.
  23. ^"Aelian,On Animals14.28 ".

References

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