Nereids

The Nereids were the fifty sea-goddesses of Greek mythology, daughters of the sea god Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. They lived in the depths of the sea with their father, and the best known of them are Thetis, the mother of Achilles, and Amphitrite, the wife of Poseidon. They appear in Homer, Hesiod, Apollonius of Rhodes and many later poets, usually as helpers and mourners rather than as agents of the plot.

Origins and Family

Parents and Lineage

Hesiod says that Pontus (the Sea) fathered Nereus, the eldest of his children, whom men call the Old Man because he is truthful and gentle, never forgets what is right, and knows just and kindly counsel (Hesiod, Theogony 233–236). By Doris, a daughter of Oceanus, Nereus had “fifty daughters” who knew blameless deeds (Theogony 240–264). Apollodorus gives the same parents (Library 1.2.7). The Nereids are therefore a different family from the Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of Oceanus and Tethys (Theogony 346–366), although their mother Doris was herself an Oceanid. The Nereids' home was under the sea: in the Iliad Thetis sits “in the depths of the sea beside her aged father” when she hears Achilles weeping, and all the Nereids of the deep gather round her (Iliad 18.36–38).

Notable Nereid Sisters

The lists differ from poet to poet. Hesiod names fifty, among them Ploto, Eucrante, Sao, Amphitrite, Eudora, Thetis, Galene, Glauce, Cymothoe, Speo, Thoe, Halie, Doto, Proto, Pherusa, Dynamene, Panopea, Galatea, Psamathe and Nemertes (Theogony 243–262). Homer lists thirty-three by name and adds “the other Nereids in the depths of the sea” (Iliad 18.39–49), and Apollodorus gives a third list (Library 1.2.7). Several stand out in myth:

• Thetis: the mother of Achilles by the mortal Peleus (Theogony 1006–1007).
• Amphitrite: the wife of Poseidon, who bore Triton (Theogony 930–933). Hesiod counts her among the Nereids (Theogony 243), as does Apollodorus' list (Library 1.2.7); elsewhere Apollodorus calls her a daughter of Oceanus (Library 1.4.5). In the story Hyginus takes from Eratosthenes, she fled to Atlas to keep her virginity when Poseidon wished to marry her, and a man named Delphinus, one of those sent to look for her, found her and persuaded her to marry Poseidon; Delphinus managed the wedding, and for this his likeness was set among the stars (Astronomica 2.17).
• Galatea: loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus, who sings to her in Theocritus (Idylls 6 and 11). In Ovid she loves the young Acis, son of Faunus and a nymph; Polyphemus crushes Acis with a rock torn from the mountain, and Galatea turns his blood into a river that keeps his name (Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.738–897).
• Psamathe: bore Phocus to Aeacus, king of Aegina (Theogony 1003–1005).

Myths Involving the Nereids

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis

Thetis was wanted by both Zeus and Poseidon, but when Themis prophesied that her son would be greater than his father, they gave her up. Chiron advised Peleus to seize her and hold on while she changed shape; he did, and she took the form of fire, water and a beast before she yielded (Apollodorus, Library 3.13.5). According to the Cypria (in Proclus' summary), Strife arrived while the gods were feasting at the marriage of Peleus and started the dispute between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite that led to the judgment of Paris; Apollodorus also says that Strife threw the apple of beauty (Epitome 3.2). Their son was Achilles (Theogony 1006–1007).

Mourning for Achilles

When Achilles grieves for Patroclus in the Iliad, Thetis and all the Nereids come to his side, filling the cave with their lament (Iliad 18.35–51). At the death of Achilles himself, his mother rises from the sea with the immortal sea-goddesses and the Greeks are seized by terror; the daughters of the Old Man of the Sea stand around the body, lamenting, and clothe it in immortal garments, while the nine Muses sing the dirge (Odyssey 24.47–62).

Assistance to Heroes

• The Argonauts: Hera sent Thetis to help the Argo. Thetis called her sisters, and the Nereids guided the ship through the Wandering Rocks, passing it from hand to hand over the waves like girls playing ball on a beach, while Hephaestus watched from a cliff top and Hera from the sky (Apollonius, Argonautica 4.930–963; Apollodorus, Library 1.9.25).
• Dionysus: when Lycurgus drove him into the sea, Thetis received him in her lap (Iliad 6.130–137).
• Hephaestus: Thetis and the Oceanid Eurynome took him in and hid him for nine years after Hera threw him from Olympus (Iliad 18.394–405).

Anger of the Nereids

The Nereids could also be offended. Cassiepea, wife of Cepheus of Ethiopia, boasted that she was more beautiful than the Nereids; they were angry, and Poseidon sent a flood and a sea monster against the country. Her daughter Andromeda was exposed to the monster and was rescued by Perseus (Apollodorus, Library 2.4.3).

Cult

The Greeks honoured the Nereids with altars and precincts. Pausanias says that he knew of altars to them in several parts of Greece, and that some Greeks had given them sacred precincts by the shore, where honours were also paid to Achilles (Pausanias 2.1.8). In Herodotus the Persian priests, when a storm wrecked their fleet off Magnesia, sacrificed to Thetis and the Nereids and the wind dropped on the fourth day (Herodotus 7.191).

Misconceptions and Lesser-Known Facts

Nereids vs. Sirens and Naiads

The Nereids are sea-goddesses, daughters of Nereus. They are not Sirens, who in the Odyssey sit in a meadow and bewitch passing men with their clear song, leaving heaps of bones (Odyssey 12.39–46), and they are not the Oceanids, daughters of Oceanus. Naiads are the nymphs of springs and rivers; the Nereids belong to the salt sea.

The Number of Nereids

The usual number is fifty, which is the count of Hesiod (Theogony 264). Homer gives no total, only a list of thirty-three names followed by “the other Nereids” (Iliad 18.39–49), and the names in Hesiod, Homer and Apollodorus (Library 1.2.7) are not the same, so the sisters are not a fixed list.

Nereids Sources

Homer, Iliad 6.130–137, 18.35–51, 18.394–405 and Odyssey 12.39–46, 24.47–62; Hesiod, Theogony 233–264, 346–366, 930–933, 1003–1007; Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.930–963; Apollodorus, Library 1.2.7, 1.4.5, 1.9.25, 2.4.3, 3.13.5 and Epitome 3.2; Cypria (Proclus' summary); Theocritus, Idylls 6 and 11; Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.738–897; Hyginus, Astronomica 2.17; Pausanias 2.1.8; Herodotus 7.191.

See Also: Nereus, Doris, Thetis, Amphitrite, Achilles, Peleus, Galatea, Nymphs