In , Pontus (; : Πόντος Pontos, "Sea") was an ancient, pre-Olympian sea-god, one of the . Pontus was 's son and, according to the Greek poet , he was born without coupling, though according to , Pontus was fathered by . For Hesiod, Pontus seems little more than a personification of the sea, ho pontos, "the Road", by which Hellenes signified the . With Gaia, he fathered (the ), (the awe-striking "wonder" of the Sea, embodiment of the sea's dangerous aspects), and his sister-consort , and the "Strong Goddess" . With the sea goddess (whose own name simply means "sea" but is derived from a root), he fathered the and all sea life.
Depiction of Pontos at the Constanţa Museum of National History
In a Roman sculpture of the 2nd century AD, Pontus, rising from seaweed, grasps a rudder with his right hand and leans on the prow of a ship. He wears a , and accompanies , whose draperies appear at the left, as twin patron deities of the port of in .
Quotes from classical literature;
She [Gaia] bore also the fruitless deep with his raging swell, Pontus, without sweet union of love.
— Hesiod, (130)
And Sea begat Nereus, the eldest of his children, who is true and lies not: and men call him the Old Man because he is trusty and gentle and does not forget the laws of righteousness, but thinks just and kindly thoughts. And yet again he got great Thaumas and proud Phorcys, being mated with Earth, and fair-cheeked Ceto and Eurybia who has a heart of flint within her.
— Hesiod, Theogony (231–239)
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Myths and Mortals (Greek Mythology)
FantasyDo you know your Artemis from your Aphrodite? Can you name the god of the Underworld, the sea, the sun? Which god rules them all, holding a thunderbolt in his hand, or claw, when he transforms into an eagle? Or what monsters lurk in the depths of Ta...
