Thalassa (; grc-gre, Θάλασσα, Thálassa, sea;

Attic Greek Attic Greek is the Greek dialect of the ancient region of Attica, including the '' polis'' of Athens. Often called classical Greek, it was the prestige dialect of the Greek world for centuries and remains the standard form of the language that ...

: , ''Thálatta'') was the general word for 'sea' and for its divine female personification in

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 o ...

. The word may have been of Pre-Greek origin.

Mythology

According to a scholion on

Apollonius of Rhodes Apollonius of Rhodes ( grc, Ἀπολλώνιος Ῥόδιος ''Apollṓnios Rhódios''; la, Apollonius Rhodius; fl. first half of 3rd century BC) was an ancient Greek author, best known for the '' Argonautica'', an epic poem about Jason and ...

, the fifth-century BC poet

Ion of Chios Ion of Chios (; grc-gre, Ἴων ὁ Χῖος; c. 490/480 – c. 420 BC) was a Greek writer, dramatist, lyric poet and philosopher. He was a contemporary of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles. Of his many plays and poems only a few titles and fr ...

had Thalassa as the mother of Aegaeon (Briareus, one of the

Hecatoncheires In Greek mythology, the Hecatoncheires ( grc-gre, Ἑκατόγχειρες, , Hundred-Handed Ones), or Hundred-Handers, also called the Centimanes, (; la, Centimani), named Cottus, Briareus (or Aegaeon) and Gyges (or Gyes), were three monstrous ...

Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ; 1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history '' Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which ...

( 1st century BC), in his ''

Bibliotheca historica ''Bibliotheca historica'' ( grc, Βιβλιοθήκη Ἱστορική, ) is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, ...

'', states that "Thalatta" is the mother of the

Telchines In Greek mythology, the Telchines ( grc, Τελχῖνες, ''Telkhines'') were the original inhabitants of the island of Rhodes and were known in Crete and Cyprus. Family Their parents were either Pontus and Gaia or Tartarus and Nemesis or else ...

and the sea-nymph Halia, while in the ''

Orphic Hymn Orpheus (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρφεύς, classical pronunciation: ; french: Orphée) is a Thracian bard, legendary musician and prophet in ancient Greek religion. He was also a renowned poet and, according to the legend, travelled with Jason ...

to the Sea'', Tethys, who is here equated with Thalassa, is called the mother of Kypris (

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols incl ...

). The Roman mythographer

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 ...

(c. 64 BC – AD 17), in the preface to his ''

Fabulae 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 ...

'', calls "Mare" (Sea) the daughter of Aether and

Dies Dies may refer to: * Dies (deity), the Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Hemera, the personification of day, daughter of Nox (Night) and Erebus (Darkness). * Albert Christoph Dies (1755–1822), German painter, composer, and biographer * Jos ...

(Day), and thus the sister of

Terra Terra may often refer to: * Terra (mythology), primeval Roman goddess * An alternate name for planet Earth, as well as the Latin name for the planet Terra may also refer to: Geography Astronomy * Terra (satellite), a multi-national NASA scienti ...

(Earth) and

Caelus Caelus or Coelus was a primal god of the sky in Roman myth and theology, iconography, and literature (compare ''caelum'', the Latin word for "sky" or "the heaven", hence English "celestial"). The deity's name usually appears in masculine gram ...

(Sky). With her male counterpart

Pontus Pontus or Pontos may refer to: * Short Latin name for the Pontus Euxinus, the Greek name for the Black Sea (aka the Euxine sea) * Pontus (mythology), a sea god in Greek mythology * Pontus (region), on the southern coast of the Black Sea, in modern ...

, she spawns the species of fish.

Literature

Two rather similar fables are recorded by

Babrius Babrius ( grc-gre, Βάβριος, ''Bábrios''; century),"Babrius" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 21. also known as Babrias () or Gabrias (), was the author of a collection of Greek fables, many of whic ...

. In one, numbered 168 in the

Perry Index The Perry Index is a widely used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC. The index was created by Ben Edwin Perry, a professor of classics at the Un ...

, a farmer witnesses a shipwreck and reproaches the sea for being “an enemy of mankind”. Assuming the form of a woman, she answers by blaming the winds for her turbulence. Otherwise, “I am gentler than that dry land of yours.” In the other, a survivor from a shipwreck accuses the sea of treachery and receives the same excuse. But for the winds, “by nature I am as calm and safe as the land.” In yet another fable, Perry’s number 412 and only recorded by

Syntipas Syntipas ( el, Συντίπας) is the Greek form of a name also rendered Sindibad ( ar, سندباد), Sandbad ( fa, سندباد), Sendabar ( he, סנדבר), Çendubete (Spanish) and Siddhapati ( sa, सिद्धपति) in other versions ...

, the rivers complain to the sea that their sweet water is turned undrinkably salty by contact with her. The sea replies that if they know as much, they should avoid such contact. The commentary suggests that the tale may be applied to people who criticize someone inappropriately even though they may actually be helping them. In the 2nd century CE, Lucian represented Thalassa in a comic dialogue with Xanthus, the god of the River

Scamander Scamander (; also Skamandros ( grc, Σκάμανδρος) or Xanthos () was a river god in Greek mythology. Etymology The meaning of this name is uncertain. The second element looks like it is derived from Greek () meaning 'of a man', but t ...

, who had been attacked by a rival Greek deity for complaining that his course was being choked with dead bodies during the

Trojan War In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans ( Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...

. In this case he had been badly scorched and asks her to soothe his wounds.

Art

While the sea-divinities Tethys and Oceanus were formerly represented in Roman-era mosaics, they were replaced at a later period by the figure of Thalassa, especially in

Western Asia Western Asia, West Asia, or Southwest Asia, is the westernmost subregion of the larger geographical region of Asia, as defined by some academics, UN bodies and other institutions. It is almost entirely a part of the Middle East, and includes A ...

. There she was depicted as a woman clothed in bands of seaweed and half submerged in the sea, with the crab-claw horns that were formerly an attribute of Oceanus now transferred to her head. In one hand she holds a ship's oar, and in the other a dolphin.Eraslan
pp. 5–7
In 2011,

Swoon Swoon may refer to: * Swoon hypothesis, a number of theories about the resurrection of Jesus Christ * ''Swoon'' (film), a film on the 1924 Leopold and Loeb murder case *Swoon (artist) Caledonia Curry (born 1977), whose work appears under the na ...

created a site-specific

installation Installation may refer to: * Installation (computer programs) * Installation, work of installation art * Installation, military base * Installation, into an office, especially a religious (Installation (Christianity) Installation is a Christian li ...

depicting the goddess in the atrium of the

New Orleans Museum of Art The New Orleans Museum of Art (or NOMA) is the oldest fine arts museum in the city of New Orleans. It is situated within City Park, a short distance from the intersection of Carrollton Avenue and Esplanade Avenue, and near the terminus of the ...

. In fall 2016, the installation was erected once more in the atrium of the

Detroit Institute of Arts The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA), located in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, has one of the largest and most significant art collections in the United States. With over 100 galleries, it covers with a major renovation and expansion project comple ...

Notes

References

* Athanassakis, Apostolos N., and Benjamin M. Wolkow, ''The Orphic Hymns'', Johns Hopkins University Press, 2013. . *

, Phaedrus, ''Fables''. Translated by Ben Edwin Perry.

Loeb Classical Library The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a series of books originally published by Heinemann in London, but is currently published by Harvard University Press. The library contains important works of ancient Greek and ...

No. 436. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1965
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Beekes, Robert S. P., ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', 2 vols, Leiden, Brill, 2009.
Online version at Brill
* Campbell, David A., ''Greek Lyric, Volume IV: Bacchylides, Corinna'',

No. 461. Cambridge, Massachusetts,

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retir ...

, 1992.
Online version at Harvard University Press
*

, '' Library of History, Volume III: Books 4.59-8'', translated by C. H. Oldfather,

No. 340, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

, 1939.
Online version at Harvard University Press
* Eraslan, Şehnaz, "Tethys and Thalassa in mosaic art", in ''Art Sanat'', Vol. 4, pp. 1–13
PDF
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''

'' in ''Apollodorus' ''Library'' and Hyginus' ''Fabulae'': Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma'', Hackett Publishing, 2007.
Google Books
* Hyginus, Gaius Julius, ''Hygini Fabulae'', edited by

Herbert Jennings Rose Herbert Jennings Rose FBA (5 May 1883, in Orillia – 31 July 1961, in St Andrews) was a Canadian-born British classical scholar, best remembered as the author of ''A Handbook of Greek Mythology'', originally published in 1928, which became fo ...

, Leiden, Sijthoff, 1934
Online version at Packhum
*

Lucian Lucian of Samosata, '; la, Lucianus Samosatensis ( 125 – after 180) was a Hellenized Syrian satirist, rhetorician and pamphleteer who is best known for his characteristic tongue-in-cheek style, with which he frequently ridiculed supersti ...

, ''Lucian of Samosata, from the Greek, with the Comments and Illustrations of Wieland and others'', Volume I, translated by

William Tooke William Tooke (1744 – 17 November 1820) was a British clergyman and historian of Russia. Life Tooke was the second son of Thomas Tooke (1705–1773) of St. John's, Clerkenwell, by his wife Hannah, only daughter of Thomas Mann of St. James's, ...

, London, 1820
Google Books
* Morand, Anne-France, ''Études sur les Hymnes Orphiques'', Brill, 2001.
Online version at Brill
* Silva, Moises, ''God, Language and Scripture: Reading the Bible in the light of general linguistics'', Zondervan, 1990. . * Wendel, Carl, ''Scholia in Apollonium Rhodium vetera'', Hildesheim, Weidmann, 1999. .

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thalassa (Mythology) Greek sea goddesses Aesop's Fables Greek primordial deities Sea and river goddesses Personifications in Greek mythology Personifications