In ancient

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

, Amphitrite (; grc-gre, Ἀμφιτρίτη, Amphitrítē) was the goddess of the sea, the queen of the sea, and the wife of

Poseidon Poseidon (; grc-gre, Ποσειδῶν) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a ...

. She was a daughter of

Nereus In Greek mythology, Nereus ( ; ) was the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia ( the Earth), with Pontus himself being a son of Gaia. Nereus and Doris became the parents of 50 daughters (the Nereids) and a son ( Nerites), with whom Nereus ...

and Doris (or Oceanus and Tethys).Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). Under the influence of the Olympian pantheon, she became the consort of Poseidon and was later used as a symbolic representation of the sea. Her Roman counterpart is Salacia, a comparatively minor figure, and the goddess of saltwater.

Mythology

Amphitrite was a daughter of

and Doris (and thus a

Nereid In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the ' Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters ...

), according to

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet ...

's ''

Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...

'', but of Oceanus and Tethys (and thus an Oceanid), according to the '' Bibliotheca'', which actually lists her among both the Nereids and the Oceanids. Others called her the personification of the sea itself (

saltwater Saline water (more commonly known as salt water) is water that contains a high concentration of dissolved salts (mainly sodium chloride). On the United States Geological Survey (USGS) salinity scale, saline water is saltier than brackish water, ...

Marriage to Poseidon

When Poseidon desired to marry her, Amphitrite, wanting to protect "her virginity", fled to the Atlas mountains. Poseidon sent many creatures to find her. A dolphin came across Amphitrite and convinced her to marry Poseidon. As a reward for the dolphin's help, Poseidon created the Delphinus constellation. Amphitrite's offspring included seals and dolphins. She also bred sea monsters and her great waves crashed against the rocks, putting sailors at risk. Poseidon and Amphitrite had a son, Triton who was a merman, and a daughter,

Rhodos In Greek mythology, Rhodos/Rhodus () or Rhode (), was the goddess and personification of the island of Rhodes and a wife of the sun god Helios. Parentage Various parents were given for Rhodos. Pindar makes her a daughter of Aphrodite with no ...

(if this Rhodos was not actually fathered by Poseidon on Halia or was not the daughter of

Asopus Asopus (; grc, Ἀ̄σωπός ''Āsōpos'') is the name of four different rivers in Greece and one in Turkey. In Greek mythology, it was also the name of the gods of those rivers. Zeus carried off Aegina, Asopus' daughter, and Sisyphus, who h ...

as others claim). ''Bibliotheca'' (3.15.4) also mentions a daughter of Poseidon and Amphitrite named Kymopoleia. Amphitrite is not fully personified in the Homeric epics: "out on the open sea, in Amphitrite's breakers" (''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

'' iii.101), "moaning Amphitrite" nourishes fishes "in numbers past all counting" (''Odyssey'' xii.119). She shares her

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

ic epithet ''Halosydne'' ( grc-gre, Ἁλοσύδνη, Halosúdnē, sea-nourished) with

Thetis Thetis (; grc-gre, Θέτις ), is a figure from Greek mythology with varying mythological roles. She mainly appears as a sea nymph, a goddess of water, or one of the 50 Nereids, daughters of the ancient sea god Nereus. When described as ...

. In some sense, the sea-nymphs are doublets.

Representation and cult

Though Amphitrite does not figure in Greek ''

cultus Cultus may refer to: *Cult (religious practice) * ''Cultus'' (stonefly), a genus of stoneflies * Cultus Bay, a bay in Washington * Cultus Lake (disambiguation) *Cultus River, a river in Oregon *Suzuki Cultus The Suzuki Cultus is a supermini car ...

'', at an archaic stage she was of outstanding importance, for in the Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo, she appears at the birthing of Apollo among, in Hugh G. Evelyn-White's translation, "all the chiefest of the goddesses, Dione and Rhea and

Ichnaea __NOTOC__ In Greek mythology, Ichnaea (Ikhnaia) ( el, Ιχναίη), "the tracker" was an epithet that could be applied to Themis, as in the '' Homeric Hymn to Delian Apollo'', or to Nemesis, who was venerated at Ichnae, a Greek city in Macedon. ...

and

Themis In Greek mythology and religion, Themis (; grc, Θέμις, Themis, justice, law, custom) is one of the twelve Titan children of Gaia and Uranus, and the second wife of Zeus. She is the goddess and personification of justice, divine order, fai ...

and loud-moaning Amphitrite"; more recent translators are unanimous in rendering "Ichnaean Themis" rather than treating "Ichnae" as a separate identity.

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describ ...

in the submarine halls of his father Poseidon saw the daughters of Nereus dancing with liquid feet, and "august, ox-eyed Amphitrite", who wreathed him with her wedding wreath, according to a fragment of

Bacchylides Bacchylides (; grc-gre, Βακχυλίδης; – ) was a Greek lyric poet. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets, which included his uncle Simonides. The elegance and polished style of his lyrics have been noted ...

. Jane Ellen Harrison recognized in the poetic treatment an authentic echo of Amphitrite's early importance: "It would have been much simpler for Poseidon to recognize his own son… the myth belongs to that early stratum of mythology when Poseidon was not yet god of the sea, or, at least, no-wise supreme there—Amphitrite and the Nereids ruled there, with their servants the Tritons. Even so late as the ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'' Amphitrite is not yet 'Neptuni uxor' eptune's wife" Amphitrite, "the third one who encircles he sea, was so entirely confined in her authority to the sea and the creatures in it that she was almost never associated with her husband, either for purposes of worship or in works of art, except when he was to be distinctly regarded as the god who controlled the sea. An exception may be the cult image of Amphitrite that

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

saw in the temple of Poseidon at the Isthmus of Corinth (ii.1.7).

Pindar Pindar (; grc-gre, Πίνδαρος , ; la, Pindarus; ) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet from Thebes. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian wrote, "Of the nine lyric poets, Pindar ...

, in his sixth Olympian Ode, recognized Poseidon's role as "great god of the sea, husband of Amphitrite, goddess of the golden spindle." For later poets, Amphitrite became simply a metaphor for the sea: Euripides, in ''Cyclops'' (702) and

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

, ''

Metamorphoses The ''Metamorphoses'' ( la, Metamorphōsēs, from grc, μεταμορφώσεις: "Transformations") is a Latin narrative poem from 8 CE by the Roman poet Ovid. It is considered his ''magnum opus''. The poem chronicles the history of the ...

'', (i.14). Eustathius said that Poseidon first saw her dancing at

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

among the other Nereids, and carried her off. But in another version of the myth, she fled from his advances to

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geograp ...

, at the farthest ends of the sea; there the dolphin of Poseidon sought her through the islands of the sea, and finding her, spoke persuasively on behalf of Poseidon, if we may believe Hyginus and was rewarded by being placed among the stars as the constellation Delphinus.'' Catasterismi''
31

Hyginus Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...

, ''Poetical Astronomy'', ii.17, .132. In the arts of vase-painting and mosaic, Amphitrite was distinguishable from the other

s only by her queenly attributes. In works of art, both ancient ones and post-Renaissance paintings, Amphitrite is represented either enthroned beside Poseidon or driving with him in a chariot drawn by sea-horses (''

hippocamp The hippocampus or hippocamp, also ''hippokampos'' (plural: hippocampi or hippocamps; grc, ἱππόκαμπος, from , "horse" and , "sea monster"

s'') or other fabulous creatures of the deep, and attended by Tritons and

Nereids In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the ' Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanid Doris, sisters ...

. She is dressed in queenly robes and has nets in her hair. The pincers of a crab are sometimes shown attached to her temples. File:Theseus Athena Amphitrite Louvre G104.jpg, Theseus and Amphitrite clasp hands, with Athena looking on ( red-figure cup by Euphronios and Onesimos, 500–490 BC) File:Sea thiasos Amphitrite Poseidon Glyptothek Munich 239 front n3.jpg, Sea

thiasos In Greek mythology and religion, the ''thiasus'' ( el, θίασος, thíasos), was the ecstatic retinue of Dionysus, often pictured as inebriated revelers. Many of the myths of Dionysus are connected with his arrival in the form of a processio ...

depicting the wedding of

and Amphitrite, from the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus in the Field of Mars,

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

, 2nd century BC File:Affreschi romani - nettuno anfitrine - pompei.JPG, Poseidon and Amphitrite. Ancient Roman fresco (50-79 AD), Pompeii,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. File:House of the Neptune Mosaic (7254082844).jpg, A

Roman mosaic A Roman mosaic is a mosaic made during the Roman period, throughout the Roman Republic and later Empire. Mosaics were used in a variety of private and public buildings, on both floors and walls, though they competed with cheaper frescos for the ...

on a wall in the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, Herculaneum, Italy Image:JacobdeGheynII-NeptuneandAmphitrite.jpg, ''Neptune and Amphitrite'' by Jacob de Gheyn II (latter 16th-century) File:Nicolas Poussin, French - The Birth of Venus - Google Art Project.jpg, ''The Triumph of Neptune'' by Nicolas Poussin, showing Amphitrite '' velificans'' (1634) File:Cirta mosaic.jpg, ''Triumph of Poseidon and Amphitrite'' showing the couple in procession, detail of a vast

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

from Cirta, Roman Africa (, now at the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

) File:Giovanni Battista Crosato, The Triumph of Amphitrite, 1745-1750, NGA 80940.jpg, Drawing of Amphitrite sitting in a sea shell surrounded by her subjects. The Triumph of Amphitrite by Giovanni Battista Crosato (1745–1750). Held at the National Gallery of Art.

Amphitrite legacy

* Amphitrite is the name of a genus of the worm family '' Terebellidae''. * In poetry, Amphitrite's name is often used for the sea, as a synonym of Thalassa. * Seven ships of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

were named HMS ''Amphitrite'' * , which wrecked in 1833 with heavy loss of life while transporting convicts to New South Wales * At least one ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy was named HM ''Amphitrite'' (corvette, in service 1830s). * Three ships of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

were named USS ''Amphitrite''. * An asteroid, 29 Amphitrite, is named for her. * The figure of Amphitrite plays a role in the 1918 Spanish novel ''Mare Nostrum'' by

Vicente Blasco Ibáñez Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (, 29 January 1867 – 28 January 1928) was a journalist, politician and bestselling Spanish novelist in various genres whose most widespread and lasting fame in the English-speaking world is from Hollywood films that were ...

and its 1926 film adaptation. * In 1936, Australia used an image of Amphitrite on a

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...

as a classical

allusion Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...

for the submarine communications cable across Bass Strait from Apollo Bay, Victoria to

Stanley, Tasmania Stanley is a town on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is the second-last major township on the north-west coast when travelling west, Smithton being the larger township in the Circular Head municipality. According to the , Stanle ...

. * The name of the former Greek Royal Yacht. * Amphitrite Pool, a shallow ceremonial pool on the grounds of the

United States Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serve as officers in the United States Merchant ...

Kings Point, New York Kings Point is a village located on the Great Neck Peninsula in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 5,005 at the 2010 census. History The Village of Ki ...

contains a statue of Amphitrite. When First Classmen are taking their Third Mate or Third Assistant Engineer License Examinations, it is considered good luck if they bounce a coin off Amphitrite into a seashell at her feet.

Citations

General references

* and

External links

Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
(c. 130 images of Amphitrite) {{Authority control Characters in Greek mythology Greek sea goddesses Nereids Oceanids Queens in Greek mythology Women in Greek mythology Greek goddesses Sea and river goddesses Women of Poseidon Nymphs