Pontus (mythology)

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In Greek mythology, Pontus (or Pontos, English translation: "sea") was an ancient, pre-Olympian sea-god, son of Gaia, the Earth. Hesiod (Theogony, line 116) says that Gaia brought forth Pontos out of herself, without coupling. For Hesiod, Pontos seems little more than a personification of the sea. With Gaia, he was the father of Nereus (the Old Man of the Sea), Thaumas (the awe-striking "wonder" of the Sea), of the sea's dangerous aspects, Phorcys and his sister-consort Ceto, and of the "Strong Goddess" Eurybia. With Thalassa (whose own name simply means "sea" but derived from a pre-Greek root), he was the father of the Telchines. Compare the sea-Titan Oceanus, who was more vividly realized than Pontus among the Hellenes.

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Last updated on Tuesday February 26, 2008 at 22:17:46 PST (GMT -0800)
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