According to the myth, Venus the Roman goddess of love, sex, beauty and fertility brought the statue to life, to answer the prayers of Pygmalion who then married Galatea. When Polyphemus found out about the young lovers, he killed Acis with a large rock.Īnother version of the myth of Galatea, says that ancient sculptor Pygmalion made a statue that was representing his ideal of womanhood and named it Galatea. She was loved by the cyclops Polyphemus, but she loved a young man called Acis. Galatea was the Nereid of "the milky white" sea-foam. The Nereid Galatea - The Creator of Sea-Foam However, the heel by which she held Achilles was not touched by the Styx's waters and failed to be fully protected, therefore leaving behind a weak spot for Achilles that resulted in his death by an arrow at the end of the Trojan war. She wanted to make Achilles invulnerable and therefore, she dipped him in the waters of the Styx (the river of Hades). Thetis, then, gave birth to the famous Greek warrior Achilles who fought in the Trojan war. She was unwilling to be his wife at first, but Peleus, having the assistance of the centaur Chiron, finally managed to capture and marry her. However, when it was revealed by Themis, the Goddess of Justice, that the son she would give birth to, would be mightier than his father, Thetis was given by the two Gods to Peleus, King of the Myrmidons of Thessaly. Thetis was desired by both Zeus, the King of Gods, and Poseidon, the God of Sea. She was the mother of the invulnerable Greek hero Achilles who fought in the Trojan War and was born of her forced marriage to the mortal Peleus. The Nereid Thetis was the protector of "generation" or spawning of fish and their leader. The Nereid Thetis - Protector of "Generation" Poseidon made the dolphin a constellation as a reward. The dolphin brought Amphitrite back to Poseidon and they finally got married. So, Amphitrite fled from Poseidon to Titan Atlas but was retrieved afterwards by a dolphin that was sent by Poseidon. The myth says that at the beginning she did not want to marry Poseidon, who chose her among her 50 or 100 sisters (there is a dispute on the subject) when he saw her on a dance organised by her parents on the island of Naxos. Poseidon and Amphitrite had a son, Triton who was a merman, and a daughter, Rhodos. Together with her sisters Kymatolege and Kymodoke she possessed the power to still the winds and calm the sea. The Nereid Amphitrite was the daughter of Nereus and Doris, wife of Poseidon and, subsequently, the Queen of the Sea. The most well-known Nereids were: The Nereid Amphitrite - The Queen of the Sea Nereids Sea Nymphs NamesĪlthough there are controversies among historians about the etymology of each Nereids’ name, there is a consensus that they personify special attributes or parts of the sea such as seashores, good harbouring or calm seas. They spend their days swimming, playing with dolphins and singing. The “Neraides,” as they are called in contemporary Greek, and translates as “Fairies” in English, were living in the bottom of the sea, in the palace of their father. This is why ancient Greeks had built temples or other similar worshipping structures at harbours and ports. The Nereids were considered to be helpful to sailors and as their protectors. Sometimes they were portrayed as having fish-like tails instead of feet. The Nereids had a very friendly nature and were living in total harmony with sea creatures like dolphins and the hippocampus. They had a pink-red colour skin and each of them had a unique physique.Īlthough the Nereids were different from one another, they could be identified by specific objects, like a comb or a starfish, which signified their oceanic “origins”. They were extremely proud of their beauty and did not allow any of the human females to overcome them.Īccording to Greek mythology, they were found either on the waves of the sea that surrounded ancient Greece or sitting on the rocks of the coasts. The Nereids were considered to be beautiful maidens. They were 50 in total and were daughters of Nereus and Doris and granddaughters of the Titan Ocean. Deeply associated with the element of water, they were the personified female spirits of the sea which were worshipped as the divinities of the sea. The Nereids' Sea Nymphs myth is one of the most fascinating in Greek mythology.
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