Triton in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Triton

11 passages from 7 ancient authors that tell of Triton, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Triton was a merman in Greek mythology, messenger god of the sea and son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. He had a conch shell which he used as a trumpet i... For the story in one place, read our article on Triton.

Hesiod (1)

Hesiod, Theogony 930–959Poseidon, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus and Heracles (930-959)Poseidon and Amphitrite have Triton, and Aphrodite bears Panic and Fear to Ares, and Harmonia, whom Cadmus marries. Maia bears Hermes, Semele bears Dionysus and Alcmene bears Heracles, who is finally wed to Hebe and lives among the gods. Hephaestus marries Aglaea, Dionysus marries Ariadne, and Perseis bears Circe and Aeetes to Helios, with Aeetes' daughter Medea at the end.

Apollonius Rhodius (3)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.1537–1693Triton, and Talos of CreteTriton, in the form of a young man, gives Euphemus a clod of earth and later shows the way out of Lake Triton to the sea. At Crete the bronze man Talos hurls rocks at Argo until Medea overcomes him with her spells and he falls.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.1694–1781Darkness at sea and the return to IolcusNight covers the Cretan sea until Apollo lights the way and the heroes land at Anaphe, where they make offerings. Euphemus' dream of the clod is fulfilled when it becomes the island Calliste, later Thera. Argo sails on past Aegina to Pagasae, where the heroes step ashore.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.1228–1392Storm and the Libyan SyrtisA storm drives Argo into the shallows of the Libyan Syrtis, where the heroes despair of ever sailing out. The heroines of Libya tell Jason to repay their mother, a sea-horse appears, and Peleus understands that they must carry Argo overland; the heroes carry her on their shoulders for twelve days to Lake Triton.

Diodorus Siculus (1)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.68.1–5.72.5Zeus and the children of Cronus in CreteAccording to the Cretans the children of Cronus and Rhea discovered or introduced many arts, and the sea, the hearth and the corn belong to Poseidon, Hestia and Demeter. The historian gives the conflicting accounts of how Zeus became king, the places in Crete tied to his infancy, his benefactions to mankind and the punishment of the Giants.

Ovid (1)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 1.313–415Deucalion and PyrrhaThe flood drowns beasts and men, and starvation takes those it spares. Only Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, who have always worshipped the gods, are saved when their boat comes to rest on Parnassus. Zeus (Jupiter) calms the waters, and the two, alone in the silent world, seek the oracle of Themis, who tells them to throw behind them the bones of their great mother. They understand that she means the stones of the earth, and the stones they throw turn into men and women.

Pausanias (2)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.20.1–5Tanagra: Poemander, Corinna, the tomb of Orion, Hermes and the Triton of DionysusPausanias gives the Tanagrans' account of their founder Poemander and of the city's name, which came from Tanagra, also called Graea, a daughter of Aeolus or of Asopus. He mentions the tomb of Orion, Mount Cerycius, where Hermes was born, and the place called Polus. In the temple of Dionysus he describes the image by Calamis and the headless Triton, killed either in a fight with Dionysus or when he was lured by a bowl of wine.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.33.1–7Haliartus, Tilphusa and Alalcomenae: Tiresias' grave and the temple of AthenaPausanias describes Haliartus with the shrine of Cecrops, and the spring Tilphusa where Tiresias died and was buried. He notes the open-air sanctuary of the Praxidicae, the roofless temples without images, and the river Lophis, named after the son who was sacrificed to bring water. At Alalcomenae he describes the temple of Athena, whose ancient ivory image Sulla carried off, and the little torrent called the Triton.

Nonnus of Panopolis (2)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 1.0–133Book 1: Invocation; Zeus carries Europa across the seaThe poet asks the Muse to tell of the twice-born Dionysos and calls for the wand, cymbals and fawnskin of his rites, picturing Proteus's many shapes as the god's. Zeus, as a bull, carries Europa over the sea while Eros drives him and the sea-gods marvel. The girl cries out to the shores, to her father and to Boreas.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 43.143–224Book 43: Poseidon's threats; the Tritons and Pan fight on the wavesPoseidon mocks Dionysos as a god who fled from Lycurgos and threatens to drown the Bacchants. He calls up his Tritons and yokes his sea-horses. Triton sounds the charge, Glaucos drives a team over the surface, and Pan skips on the water chasing the echo of his own pipes.

Lycophron (1)

Lycophron, Alexandra 839–978Alexandra 839–978: Landfalls in Italy and Libya, the builder of the horse, and the exiles in SicilyThe husband seeking his bride passes the scene of an old slaying of a whale, sleeps among foul-smelling beasts and reaches Siris and Lacinium, where the women are to mourn a nine-cubit hero, third in descent from Aeacus and Doris. Other Greeks are wrecked on the Libyan coast at Taucheira, where a blade of the Argo marks a tomb and Triton is given a golden bowl, while a leader and his men from many named towns bewail their lack of funeral rites. One hero, killed by the Pellenians, is buried near Crathis and honoured as a god at Macalla, and the builder of the horse settles at Lagaria, paying for his father's false oath. In Sicily the daughters of Phoenodamas found a shrine, one of them bears a son to the river Crimisus, and he guides the bastard scion of Anchises to the island's farthest bounds.