Greek sea god

1. Proteus Greek sea god

2. Myth • The myth of Proteus: Commonly known as the "Old Man of the Sea". Son of Okeanos and Tethys. He was a shepherd of sea creatures

3. Symbol • The symbol of Proteus ;

4. Proteus had the ability to change shape at will, a common trait of Greek sea deities. He was also known for his oracular powers and vast knowledge he often changed his appearance form man to dragon

5. but had to be forced to divulge any of his knowledge. In such circumstances, he would use all his skills as a shape-shifter to escape.

6. Proteus was said to live either on the island of Pharos near the mouth of the Nile, or on the island of Carpathus between Crete and Rhodes.

7. According to Homer (Odyssey iv:412), the sandy nation of Pharos situated off the coast of the Nile Delta was the home of Proteus, the oracular Old Man of the Sea and herdsman of the sea-beasts. In the Odyssey, Menelaus relates to Telemachus that he had been becalmed here on his journey home from the Trojan War

8. . He learned from Proteus' daughter, Eidothea ("the very image of the Goddess"), that if he could capture her father he could force him to reveal which of the gods he had offended, and how he could propitiate them and return home. Proteus emerged from the sea to sleep among his colony of seals, but Menelaus was holding on to him, though Proteus took the forms of a lion, a serpent, a leopard, a pig, even of water or a tree

9. Proteus then answered truthfully, further informing Menelaus that his brother Agamemnon had been murdered on his return home, that Ajax the Lesser had been shipwrecked and killed, and that Odysseus was stranded on Calypso's Isle Ogygia.

10. According to Virgil in the fourth Georgic, at one time the bees of Aristaeus, son of Apollo, all died of a disease. Aristaeus went to his mother, Cyrene, for help; she told him that Proteus could tell him how to prevent another such disaster, but would do so only if compelled.

11. Aristaeus had to seize Proteus and hold him, no matter what he would change into. Aristeus did so, and Proteus eventually gave up and told him to sacrifice 12 animals to the gods, leave the corpses in the place of sacrifice, and return three days later.

12. When Aristaeus returned after the three days he found in one of the carcasses a swarm of bees, which he took to his apiary. The bees were never again troubled by disease

13. Proteus was yet another god of the sea. He was not nearly as well known as both Poseidon or Oceanus, and was pretty much known more as their servant.

14. Proteus had the great ability to change his shape at will. He was also known as a type of mystic and would answer your questions if you managed to capture him.

15. However, Proteus would change shapes as often as possible to escape their grasp

16. Menelaus and Aristaeus were the only two to capture him. He told Menelaus that in order to get off the coast of Egypt he should pay honor to the god Zeus.

17. Aristaeus was a god enamored with bees and their keeping, and sought from Proteus one of the greatest ways of accumulating more. Proteus told him to sacrifice cattle to the gods Out of the rotting corpses of the cattle came great swarms of bees.