Triton, Messenger of the Big sea.
History
Triton is a mythological Greek god, son of poseidon, god of the sea, and Amphitrite, goddess of the sea. He lived at the bottom of the sea with his parents and was often called the god of the massive Libyan salt lake called ‘tritonis’. Through out history he has being represented as a merman, half man (upper body) half fish ( lower body).
Similar to his father he carried a trident, a spear with three spikes at the tip. However his special attribute was a twisted conch shell, which he blew like a trumpet to calm the or raise the seas. It was also used to scare giants and other creatures away as they imagined it to be a roar of a dark wild beast. He was first written about by Homer, a Greek poet, and in even greater detail by his contemporary,hesiod also a Greek poet, in theogony.
Hesiods theogony, is a large scale synthesis written around 700bc describing the origins and the genealogies of the Greek gods and there traditions. Its also the first to describe there permanent control over the cosmos and the roles they played to create an orderly universe from a chaotic one. Along with the highly influential Homer there poetry became known as Greek mythology.
Greek mythology can be traced back to the Mycenaean age (c. 1900 BC – c. 1100 BC, a cultural period of bronze age Greece. Martin P Nilsson, a Swedish Mythographer and philologist, states that “It is evident that the heroes whose names belong to the series ending in -eus go back to earlier times than the heroes with common names, and to this philological fact corresponds the mythological fact that the latter are said to be sons and descendants of the former. But the latter are quite current in Homeric poetry; their ancestors must consequently go back to much earlier, pre-Homeric times. That this time is the Mycenaean”. if we want to go back further in history, it is thought that the early inhabitants of the Balkan peninsula, who assigned a spirit for everything in nature, later assumed human forms and entered local mythology as gods. When tribes from the north Balkan peninsula invaded, they brought a new pantheon of gods which eventually fused with those of which they invaded.
Appearance
Triton is always depicted as a merman and holding a trident. In Greek vase art he was depicted sometimes youthful sometimes bearded. In sculptures and mosaic art he would often have a twin fish tail or a dolphin tail. His skin would be ‘green tinged’ and have either blonde or black curly hair. His main attribute of course, would be his conch shell. His shoulders where often barnacled with sea shells as well.
Adventures
One story is that the argonauts ( a band of heroes in Greek mythology) where stranded in a desert and had to carry there ship to lake trito.Triton raised up from the seas and guided them back to the Mediterranean sea.
Another story is that he aided Zeus in the battle against the giants by blowing in his conch shell, frightening them and fleeing.
Relationships
Triton was the father of pallas and foster parent to the goddess Athena. Pallas was eventually killed by Athena in a feud. He is also sometimes cited to be the father of Schylla (a sea monster) and Lamia (a queen of ancient Libya). His wives name has never being specified.
Symbols
The most recognizable symbol in reference to triton is of course, King triton from the little mermaid. He has very similar characteristics to the orginal appearance of triton in Greek mythology. He is king of the seas and ruler of ‘atlantica’. He has appeared in ‘god of war’ a game on the psp where he is depicted as a statue and his trident used as a weapon, he has appeared in the tv series Hercules and in the 1963 film ‘Jason and the argonauts’.
Evolution
Most people would recognize triton in his depiction in the little mermaid. Overtime the name triton became associated with a group of mermaid - like creatures which could be either male or female, they where called ‘the tritons’, He is also the mascot at the university of San diego.
List of sports
Triton would be good at representing most watersports. For example-
Swimming (racing)
Water polo
Canoeing
Fishing
Underwater rugby
Diving
Rowing
River rafting
Surfing
Water skating
Yachting
Wake boarding
kayaking
Bibliography
http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/mog/mog02.htm#page_26
http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Triton.html
http://www.alzand.com/triton.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_water_sports
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triton_(mythology)
robert graves - the Greek myths part 1 and 2, the folio society
Jason and the argonauts - p523
stories of the gods - pg64
No comments:
Post a Comment