Phorcys

Phorcys was the Titan sea-god of the hidden dangers of the deep.

Residence: The Sea
Parents: Pontus and Gaia
Siblings: Ceto, Nereus and Eurybia
Consort: Ceto
Children: The Gorgons, The Graeae, The Sirens, Thoosa, Scylla and Ladon

Phorkys Mosaic Bardo.jpg
Late Roman mosaic from the Trajan Baths of Acholla, showing three aquatic deities: Phorcys and Ceto. Bardo National Museum, Tunis. (c) Dennis Jarvis

He and his wife Ceto were also gods of the largest of sea creatures. Ceto‘s name means “whale” or “sea-monster” and Phorcys’ perhaps means “seal” (phokes in Greek).

Phorcys and the Nereid Dynamene, Roman mosaic from Antioch, 4th c. AD. Hatay Archeology Museum. (c) theoi.com

Their children were dangerous sea-monsters: Scylla, a monster who devoured passing sailors, Thoosa, mother of the rock-tossing Cyclops Polyphemus, Ladon, a hundred-headed sea-serpent, Echidna, a she-dragon, the Graeae, spirits of the sea-foam, and the Gorgons, whose petrifying gaze probably created the dangerous rocks and reefs of the sea.

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