The Nereids

NEH ree ids

Νηρηιδες

The Daughters of Nereus

The Nereids are the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris. Their name simply means, Children of Nereus.

They are also called the Daughters of the Sea because that is where they make their homes but they are not sea-creatures in the traditional sense. They are capable of living on the land and flying through the sky as well as staying under water for infinite periods of time. Only Thetis is described in any physical detail so we can assume that her sisters were similar to her in appearance ... therefore, we can safely say that the Nereids do not have gills or fins and are in the form of young women. Hesiod uses adjectives like: comely, rosy-armed, lovely and divine but, in many cases, their names describe their powers, such as: Wave-Receiver, Truthful and Unerring.

Nereus is appropriately called The Old Man of the Sea or The Ancient of the Sea because he is primarily a sea dweller and he is truly ancient. Little is known about Doris other than that she was the mother of the Nereids.

Nereus had the ability to change shapes at will. He could assume the guise of an animal or a force of nature. He was also noted for his wisdom and his gift of prophecy. Nereus encountered Herakles (Heracles) and was forced to fight the hero and reveal the location of the Garden of the Hesperides.

The oldest mention of the Nereids comes from a rather late literary source, Plato. When Plato was describing the Temple of Poseidon on the central island of Atlantis, he said that there was a golden statue of Poseidon with one hundred sculptured Nereids riding dolphins around the base of the statue. He further states that one hundred was the accepted number of Nereids at that time, which would have been prior to 9000 BCE. This is a curious statement because we must assume that Plato was well versed in the writing of Homer and Hesiod who both categorically stated that the Nereids were fifty in number.

Other than a passing reference to the individual daughters of Nereus, the only Nereid to receive any individual attention in the ancient literature was Thetis. As the mother of Achilles and one of the few goddesses to refuse the amorous intentions of Zeus, Thetis was unique. When the Immortals needed the Nereids, they called upon Thetis to rally her sisters for whatever task was needed.

A generation before the Trojan War the Nereids encountered Jason and the Argonauts during their Quest for the Golden Fleece. The goddess Hera summoned Thetis to Mount Olympos (Olympus) and asked her to gather her sisters and help protect Jason from the wrath of Zeus. Jason and Princess Medeia (Medea) had murdered Medeia's half-brother Apsyrtos (Apsyrtus) in their haste to escape King Aietes (Aeetes) with the Golden Fleece.

Zeus was intent on punishing Jason and Medeia but Hera thought that there was the possibility that they might be absolved of their blood-guilt by Medeia's aunt, the Dread-Goddess Kirke (Circe). In order to reach Kirke's island, Jason had to sail the Argo past the six-headed Skylla (Scylla) and the whirlpool Charybdis, and then navigate the waters of the forbidding Planktae (Planctae), also known as the Wandering Rocks or the Rovers. The giant stone islands would clash together and destroy anyone and anything caught in their midst. The Planktae were so notorious and dangerous that doves carrying ambrosia to Zeus were killed when they tried to fly between them.

Thetis called her sisters and explained Hera's wishes. The Nereids swam to the Argonauts and a truly amazing spectacle took place. On one side of the sea passage was the steep rock of Skylla and on the other side Charybdis spouted and roared ... further on, the Planktae boomed beneath the sea surge. As the Argo drew near the Planktae, the Nereids surrounded the vessel as Thetis grasped the rudder-blade under the ship. In a way reminiscent of dolphins, the Nereids darted upward and circled around the ship while Thetis guided its course.

When the Argo was about to smash against the Planktae, the Nereids immediately raised the edge of their garments and darted up on the rocky cliffs above the waves and then jumped from one side to the other. As the ship was raised aloft by the waves, the Nereids caught it and toss it to and fro like young girls throwing a ball for sport. The waves rose like towering crags and then plummeted to the depths of the sea ... water poured over the Argo in floods. When Hera saw the ship being bounced and swamped by the waves, she was seized by fear and threw her arms around Athene (Athena) for comfort. The frenzy continued until the Argo was clear of the Planktae and the Argonauts could catch the wind and sail on.

We next encounter the Nereids at the funeral of Patroklos (Patroclus). In the last year of the Trojan War, Achilles's companion Patroklos was killed. Achilles took Patroklos's death very hard and called out to his mother Thetis for consolation. Thetis and the Nereids rose from the sea and graced the dead body of Patroklos with their divine presence. Thetis promised Achilles that she would protect body of Patroklos from all types of degradation until his body could be burned.

Not long after the funeral of Patroklos, the Nereids again rose from the sea to attend the funeral of Achilles. The death of Achilles was one of the most dramatic events of the Trojan War because he was without doubt the most feared warrior in the Achaean (Achaian) army ... he was of course feared by Trojans but his own army feared him too because he was utterly ruthless. Also, as the son of Thetis, Achilles's death had a particular significance for the Nereids. When Achilles's body was laid on the funeral pyre, the Nereids marched onto the beach in a solemn procession ... the Muses sang and all the soldiers cried.

The Nereids are often seen riding on sea creatures such as hippocamps or dolphins. Their presence is always a favorable sign to sailors even though their father Nereus was awesome and forbidding.

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The Nereid Monument from Xanthos (Xanthus) in southwest Turkey.

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Individual Nereids in The Iliad

(listed by book and line from four different translations)

(Richmond Larrimore - Loeb Classical Library - Robert Fagles - Robert Fitzgerald)

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Other Text References

Theogony

(listed by line number)

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Argonautika

• book 4, line 824 - Hera says to Thetis: "The rocks and the tyrannous waves are my fear, they alone, and them thou canst foil with thy sisters' [the Nereids] aid. And let them not fall in their helplessness into Charybdis lest she swallow them at one gulp, or approach the hideous lair of Skylla (Scylla) ..."
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• book 4, line 844 - [Thetis came] darting down from the sky fell amid the eddies of the dark blue sea; and she called to aid her the rest of the Nereids, her own sisters; and they heard her and gathered together; and Thetis declared to them Hera's behests, and quickly sped them all on their way to the Ausonian sea.
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• book 4, line 859 - Thetis says to Peleus: "No longer now must you stay sitting on the Tyrrhenian beach, but at dawn loosen the hawsers of your swift ship, in obedience to Hera, your helper. For at her behest the maiden daughters of Nereus have met together to draw your ship through the midst of the rocks which are called Planctae, for that is your destined path."
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• book 4, line 930 - Then, though Hephaistos (Hephaistos) had ceased from his toils, the sea was still sending up a warm vapor. Hereupon on this side and on that the daughters of Nereus met them [the Argonauts]; and behind, lady Thetis set her hand to the rudder-blade, to guide them amid the Wandering rocks.
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• book 4, line 936 - And as when in fair weather herds of dolphins come up from the depths and sport in circles round a ship as it speeds along, now seen in front, now behind, now again at the side and delight comes to the sailors; so the Nereids darted upward and circled in their ranks round the ship Argo, while Thetis guided its course.
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• book 4, line 1743 - Triton gave Euphemos (Euphemus) a sacred clod of dirt and it spoke to him in a dream: "Daughter of Triton am I, dear friend, and nurse of thy children, no maiden; Triton and Libya are my parents. But restore me to the daughters of Nereus to dwell in the sea near Anaphe; I shall return again to the light of the sun, to prepare a home for thy descendants."

Plato

• Kritias (Critias), 116-E

Pindar

• Isthmian Odes, 6.6 (Nereids)
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• Pythian Odes, 11.2 (Nereids)
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• Nemean Odes, 4.65 (Thetis); 5.7 (Nereids) and 5.36 (Thetis)

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