In
Greek mythology,
Triton is the son of
Poseidon and Amphi-trite, the personification of the roaring waters. According to
Hesiod (Theog. 930), he dwelt with his parents in a golden palace in the depths of the sea. The story of the
Argonauts places his home on the coast of
Libya. When the
Argo was driven ashore on the
Lesser Syrtes[?] the crew carried the vessel to Lake Tritonis, whence Triton, the local deity, guided them across to the
Mediterranean (Apollonius Rhodius iv. 1552). He was represented as human down to the waist, with the tail of a
fish. His special attribute was a twisted
seashell, on which he blew to calm or raise the waves. Its sound was so terrible, when loudly blown, that it put the giants to flight, who imagined it to be the roar of a mighty wild beast (Hyginus, Poet, aslronom. ii. 23). When
Misenus, the trumpeter of
Aeneas, challenged him to a contest of blowing, Triton in his jealousy flung him into the sea. In course of time Triton became the name for individuals of a class, like
Pan and
Silenus, and Tritons (male and female) are mentioned in the plural, usually as forming the escort of marine divinities. The beings called Centauro-Tritons or Ichthyocentaurs were of a triple nature, with the forefeet of a
horse in addition to the human body and fish tail. Pausanias (ix. 21) gives a detailed description of the ordinary Triton. It is probable that the idea of Triton owes its origin to the
Phoenician fish-deities.
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