View source for Oceanus

{{Short description|Ancient Greek god of the earth-encircling river, Oceanos}}
{{about|the personification of the world-ocean in Greek myth}}
{{redirect|Okeanos|the NOAA research vessel|NOAAS Okeanos Explorer{{!}}NOAAS ''Okeanos Explorer''}}
{{Infobox deity
| type         = Greek
| name         = Oceanus
| deity_of     = 
| member_of    = the [[Titans]]
| image        = Oceanus (Trevi fountain).jpg
| caption      = Oceanus in the [[Trevi Fountain]], [[Rome]]
| other_names  = Ogen or Ogenus
| consort      = [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]
| parents      = [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] and [[Gaia]] 
| siblings     = {{Collapsible list
 | title =[[Titans]]
 | bullets = on
 | [[Crius]]
 | [[Cronus]]
 | [[Coeus]]
 | [[Hyperion (mythology)|Hyperion]]
 | [[Iapetus]]
 | [[Mnemosyne]]
 | [[Phoebe (Titaness)|Phoebe]]
 | [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]
 | [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]
 | [[Theia]]
 | [[Themis]]
}}
{{Collapsible list
 | title=[[Hecatoncheires]]
 | bullets = on
 | Briareus
 | Cottus
 | Gyges
}}
{{Collapsible list
 | title=[[Cyclopes]]
 | bullets = on
 | [[Arges (Cyclops)|Arges]]
 | Brontes
 | Steropes
}}
{{Collapsible list
| title= Other siblings
| bullets = on
| [[Gigantes]]
| [[Erinyes]] (the Furies)
| [[Meliae]]
}}
{{Collapsible list
| title=[[Half-siblings]]
| bullets = on
| [[Aphrodite]]
| [[Eurybia (mythology)|Eurybia]]
| [[Ceto]]
| [[Nereus]]
| [[Phorcys]]
| [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]]
| [[Python (mythology)|Python]]
| [[Thaumas]]
| [[Typhon]]
| [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]]
}}
| offspring    = Many [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river gods]] including:
:[[Achelous]], [[Alpheus (deity)|Alpheus]], and [[Scamander]]
Many [[Oceanid]]s including:
:[[Callirrhoe (Oceanid)|Callirhoe]], [[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]], [[Eurynome (Oceanid)|Eurynome]], [[Doris (Oceanid)|Doris]], [[Idyia]], [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], [[Perse (mythology)|Perseis]], [[Styx]], and [[Theia (Oceanid)|Theia]]
}}
{{Greek deities (water)}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Oceanus'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|oʊ|ˈ|s|iː|ə|n|ə|s}} {{respell|oh|SEE|ə|nəs}};<ref>''[[Collins English Dictionary]]'' [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/oceanus s.v. Oceanus]; [[Dictionary.com]] [https://www.dictionary.com/browse/oceanus s.v. Oceanus]; {{MW|Oceanus}}.</ref> {{langx|grc|{{linktext|Ὠκεανός}}}}<ref>[[LSJ]] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=*)wkeano/s s.v. Ὠκεανός].</ref> {{IPA|grc|ɔːke.anós|}}, also {{lang|grc|Ὠγενός}} {{IPA|grc|ɔːɡenós|}}, {{lang|grc|Ὤγενος}} {{IPA|grc|ɔ̌ːɡenos|}}, or {{lang|grc|Ὠγήν}} {{IPA|grc|ɔːɡɛ̌ːn|}})<ref>West 1966, p. 201 on line 133; [[LSJ]] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=*wgenos s.v. Ωγενος]</ref>}} was a [[Titans|Titan]] son of [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]] and [[Gaia]], the husband of his sister the Titan [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]], and the father of the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river gods]] and the [[Oceanids]], as well as being the great river which encircled the entire world.

== Etymology ==

According to [[M. L. West]], the etymology of Oceanus is "obscure" and "cannot be explained from Greek".<ref>West 1997, 146; see also  Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40]</ref> The use by [[Pherecydes of Syros]] of the form {{Transliteration|grc|Ōgenós}} ({{lang|grc|Ὠγενός}})<ref>Marmoz, Julien. "La Cosmogonie de Phérécyde de Syros". In: ''Nouvelle Mythologie Comparée'' n. 5 (2019-2020). pp. 5-41.</ref> for the name lends support for the name being a [[loanword]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; West 1997, p. 146; [[Pherecydes of Syros]], ''[[Vorsokr.]]'' 7 B 2.</ref> However, according to West, no "very convincing" foreign models have been found.<ref>West 1997, p. 146.</ref> A Semitic derivation has been suggested by several scholars,<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; West 1997, pp. 146–147.</ref> while [[R. S. P. Beekes]] has suggested a loanword from the Aegean [[Pre-Greek]] non-[[Indo-European]] [[Stratum (linguistics)|substrate]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11 n. 34]; Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'' s.v.</ref> Nevertheless, Michael Janda sees possible Indo-European connections.<ref>Janda, pp. 57 ff.</ref>

==Genealogy==
Oceanus was the eldest of the Titan offspring of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth).<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+132 132–138]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.3 1.1.3]. Compare with [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/5D*.html#66 5.66.1–3], which says that the Titans (including Oceanus) "were born, as certain writers of myths relate, of Uranus and Gê, but according to others, of one of the [[Korybantes|Curetes]] and Titaea, from whom as their mother they derive the name".</ref> [[Hesiod]] lists his Titan siblings as [[Coeus]], [[Crius]], [[Hyperion (mythology)|Hyperion]], [[Iapetus]], [[Theia]], [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]], [[Themis]], [[Mnemosyne]], [[Phoebe (Titaness)|Phoebe]], [[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]], and [[Cronus]].<ref>Apollodorus adds [[Dione (Titaness)|Dione]] to this list, while Diodorus Siculus leaves out Theia.</ref> Oceanus married his sister Tethys, and was by her the father of numerous sons, the [[River gods (Greek mythology)|river gods]], and numerous daughters, the [[Oceanids]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 337–370]; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.193-14.241 200–210], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D14%3Acard%3D270 14.300–304], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D21%3Acard%3D161 21.195–197]; [[Aeschylus]], ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' 137–138 (Sommerstein, [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.459.xml pp. 458, 459]), ''[[Seven Against Thebes]]'' 310–311 (Sommerstein, [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-seven_thebes/2009/pb_LCL145.185.xml?rskey=PAw97K&result=1&mainRsKey=7AntI7 pp. 184, 185]); [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' Preface (Smith and Trzaskoma, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vczTNMWLGdoC&pg=PA95 p. 95]). For Oceanus as father of the river gods, see also: [[Diodorus Siculus]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#69 4.69.1], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4D*.html#72 72.1]. For Oceanus as father of the Oceanids, see also: [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.2 1.2.2]; [[Callimachus]], ''Hymn'' 3.40–45 (Mair, [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/62/mode/2up pp. 62, 63]); [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'', 242–244 (Seaton, [https://archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/210/mode/2up pp. 210, 211]). For a discussion of these offspring of Oceanus and Tethys see Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 pp. 43].</ref>

According to Hesiod, there were three thousand (i.e. innumerable) river gods.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:337-370 364&ndash;368], which says there are "as many" rivers as the "three thousand neat-ankled daughters of Ocean", and at [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:337-370 330&ndash;345], names 25 of these river gods: [[Nilus (mythology)|Nilus]], [[Alpheus (deity)|Alpheus]], [[Eridanos (river of Hades)|Eridanos]], [[Strymon (mythology)|Strymon]], [[Maiandros]], [[Danube|Istros]], [[Phasis (mythology)|Phasis]], Rhesus, [[Achelous]], Nessos, Rhodius, [[Haliacmon]], Heptaporus, [[Biga Çayı|Granicus]], [[Aesepus]], [[Simoeis]], [[Peneus]], [[Hermus]], [[Caicus]], [[Sangarius (mythology)|Sangarius]], [[Ladon (river)|Ladon]], [[Bartın River|Parthenius]], [[Evenus (mythology)|Evenus]], Aldeskos, and [[Scamander]]. Compare with [[Acusilaus]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA4 fr. 1 Fowler] [= ''[[FGrHist]]'' 2 1 = ''[[Vorsokr.]]'' 9 B 21 = [[Macrobius]], ''[[Saturnalia (Macrobius)|Saturnalia]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/macrobius-saturnalia/2011/pb_LCL511.425.xml 5.18.9&ndash;10], which says that from Oceanus and Tethys, "spring three thousand rivers".</ref> These included: [[Achelous]], the god of the [[Achelous River]], the largest river in Greece, who gave his daughter in marriage to [[Alcmaeon (mythology)|Alcmaeon]]<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.7.5 3.7.5].</ref> and was defeated by [[Heracles]] in a wrestling contest for the right to marry [[Deianira]];<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.8.1 1.8.1], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.7.5 2.7.5].</ref> [[Alpheus (deity)|Alpheus]], who fell in love with the [[nymph]] [[Arethusa (nymph)|Arethusa]] and pursued her to [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] where she was transformed into a spring by [[Artemis]];<ref>Smith, ''s.v.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aentry%3Dalpheius-bio-1 "Alpheius"].</ref> and [[Scamander]] who fought on the side of the [[Troy|Trojans]] during the [[Trojan War]] and got offended when [[Achilles]] polluted his waters with a large number of Trojan corpses, overflowed his banks nearly drowning Achilles.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:20.54-20.85 20.74], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:21.200-21.232 21.211 ff.].</ref>

According to Hesiod, there were also three thousand Oceanids.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:337-370 346&ndash;366], which names 41 Oceanids: [[Peitho]], [[Admete (Oceanid)|Admete]], Ianthe, Electra, [[Doris (Oceanid)|Doris]], Prymno, Urania, Hippo, [[Clymene (mythology)|Clymene]], Rhodea, [[Callirrhoe (Oceanid)|Callirhoe]], [[Zeuxo (Greek mythology)|Zeuxo]], [[Clytie (Oceanid)|Clytie]], [[Idyia]], Pasithoe, Plexaura, Galaxaura, [[Dione (Titaness)|Dione]], Melobosis, Thoe, [[Polydora]], Cerceis, [[Plouto (Oceanid)|Plouto]], [[Perse (mythology)|Perseis]], [[Ianeira]], [[Acaste (Oceanid)|Acaste]], Xanthe, Petraea, Menestho, Europa, [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], [[Eurynome (Oceanid)|Eurynome]], [[Telesto (mythology)|Telesto]], Chryseis, [[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]], Calypso, Eudora, [[Tyche]], Amphirho, [[Ocyrhoe]], and [[Styx]].</ref> These  included: [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], [[Zeus]]'s first wife, whom Zeus impregnated with [[Athena]] and then swallowed;<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+886 886–900]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.6 1.3.6].</ref> [[Eurynome (Oceanid)|Eurynome]], Zeus's third wife, and mother of the [[Charites]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+907 907–909]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.1 1.3.1]. Other sources give the Charites other parents, see Smith, ''s.v.'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D19%3Aentry%3Dcharis-bio-1 "Charis"].</ref> [[Doris (Oceanid)|Doris]], the wife of [[Nereus]] and mother of the [[Nereids]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+240 240–264]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.7 1.2.7].</ref> [[Callirrhoe (Oceanid)|Callirhoe]], the wife of [[Chrysaor]] and mother of [[Geryon]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+286 286–288]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.10 2.5.10].</ref> [[Clymene (wife of Iapetus)|Clymene]], the wife of Iapetus, and mother of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]], [[Menoetius]], [[Prometheus]], and [[Epimetheus]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+351 351], however according to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.3 1.2.3], another Oceanid, [[Asia (Oceanid)|Asia]] was their mother by Iapetus.</ref> [[Perse (mythology)|Perseis]], wife of [[Helios]] and mother of [[Circe]] and [[Aeetes]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+956 956–957]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.9.1 1.9.1].</ref> [[Idyia]], wife of Aeetes and mother of [[Medea]];<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+958 958–962]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.9.23 1.9.23].</ref> and [[Styx]], the great river of the underworld river, and the wife of [[Pallas (Titan)|Pallas]] and mother of [[Zelus]], [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], [[Kratos (mythology)|Kratos]], and [[Bia (mythology)|Bia]].<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+383 383–385]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.4 1.2.4].</ref>

According to [[Epimenides]]'s ''Theogony'', Oceanus was the father, by [[Gaia]], of the [[Harpies]].<ref>Gantz, p. 18.</ref> Oceanus was also said to be the father, by Gaia, of [[Triptolemus]].<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.5.2 1.5.2], attributing [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]] [= Pherecydes [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA307 fr. 53 Fowler]; [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.14.3 1.14.3], attributing "Musaeus" presumably [[Musaeus of Athens]].</ref> [[Nonnus]], in his poem ''[[Dionysiaca]]'', described "the lakes" as "liquid daughters cut off from Oceanos".<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' 6.252.</ref> He was said to have fathered the [[Cercopes]] on one of his daughters, [[Theia (Oceanid)|Theia]].<ref>[[Tzetzes]] ad [[Lycophron]], [https://topostext.org/work/860#91 91] [https://archive.org/details/hin-wel-all-00000373-002/page/n41/mode/2up?view=theater (Gk text)]; Fowler, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA323 323]; "[http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/kappa/1405 Cercopes] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241203120827/http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/kappa/1405 |date=2024-12-03 }}." Suda On Line. Tr. Jennifer Benedict. 11 April 2009</ref>{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}}

{{chart top|Oceanus's immediate family, according to Hesiod's ''Theogony'' <ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+132 132&ndash;138], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 337&ndash;411], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+453 453&ndash;520], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+901 901&ndash;906, 915&ndash;920]; Caldwell, pp. 8&ndash;11, tables 11&ndash;14.</ref>|collapsed=yes}}
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{{tree chart| | | | | | | | | | |URA |y|GAI |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|y|~|PON|URA=[[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]]|GAI=[[Gaia]]|PON=[[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]]}}
{{tree chart|,|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | |!}}
{{tree chart|!|OCE |y|TET | | |COE |y|PHO | | | | |CRI |y|EUR|OCE='''OCEANUS'''|TET=[[Tethys (mythology)|Tethys]]|COE=[[Coeus]]|PHO=[[Phoebe (Titaness)|Phoebe]]|CRI=[[Crius]]|EUR=[[Eurybia (mythology)|Eurybia]]}}
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{{tree chart|!|RIV | |OCES | | |LET | |ASTE | | |ASTR | |PAL | |PER | RIV=<small>The&nbsp;[[River gods (Greek mythology)|Rivers]]</small>|OCES=<small>The&nbsp;[[Oceanids]]</small>|LET=[[Leto]]|ASTE=[[Asteria]]|ASTR=[[Astraeus]]|PAL=[[Pallas (Titan)|Pallas]]|PER=[[Perses (Titan)|Perses]]}}
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{{tree chart|)|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | | }}
{{tree chart|!| | |HYP |y|THE | | | | | | | | | |IAP |y|CLY |HYP=[[Hyperion (mythology)|Hyperion]]|THE=[[Theia]]|IAP=[[Iapetus]]|CLY=[[Clymene (wife of Iapetus)|Clymene]]&nbsp;<ref>One of the [[Oceanid]] daughters of Oceanus and Tethys, at [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+351 351]. However, according to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D3 1.2.3], a different Oceanid, Asia was the mother, by Iapetus, of Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus.</ref>}}
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{{tree chart|!|HEL | |SEL | |EOS | | | |ATL | |MEN | |PRO | |EPI | |HEL=[[Helios]]|SEL=[[Selene]]&nbsp;<ref>Although usually, as here, the daughter of Hyperion and Theia, in the ''[[Homeric Hymn]] to Hermes'' (4), [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=HH+4+99&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138 99&ndash;100], Selene is instead made the daughter of Pallas the son of Megamedes.</ref>|EOS=[[Eos]]|ATL=[[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]]&nbsp;<ref>According to [[Plato]], ''[[Critias (dialogue)|Critias]]'', [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg032.perseus-eng1:113d 113d&ndash;114a], Atlas was the son of [[Poseidon]] and the mortal [[Cleito]].</ref>|MEN=[[Menoetius]]|PRO=[[Prometheus]]&nbsp;<ref>In [[Aeschylus]], ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' 18, 211, 873 (Sommerstein, pp. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.445.xml 444&ndash;445 n. 2], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.467.xml 446&ndash;447 n. 24], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.539.xml 538&ndash;539 n. 113]) Prometheus is made to be the son of [[Themis]].</ref>|EPI=[[Epimetheus]]}}
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{{tree chart|!| | | | | | | | | |CRO |y|RHE | | | | | | | |CRO=[[Cronus]]|RHE=[[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]]}}
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{{tree chart|!| |HES | |DEM | |HER | |HAD | |POS | |ZEU | |HES=[[Hestia]]|DEM=[[Demeter]]|HER=[[Hera]]|HAD=[[Hades]]|POS=[[Poseidon]]|ZEU=[[Zeus]]}}
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{{tree chart| | | | |THE |~|~|y|~|~|ZEU |~|~|y|~|~|MNE |THE=[[Themis]]|ZEU=(Zeus)|MNE=[[Mnemosyne]]}}
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{{tree chart| | | | | | |HOR | |MOR | | | |MUS |HOR=<small>The&nbsp;[[Horae]]</small>|MOR=<small>The&nbsp;[[Moirai]]</small> <ref>Although, at [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+217 217], the Moirai are said to be the daughters of [[Nyx]] (Night).</ref>|MUS=<small>The&nbsp;[[Muse]]s</small>}}
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===Primeval father?===

[[File:ZeugmaMuseum3.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Mosaic depicting Oceanus and Tethys, [[Zeugma Mosaic Museum]], [[Gaziantep]]]]

Passages in a section of the  ''[[Iliad]]'' called the [[Deception of Zeus]], suggest the possibility that [[Homer]] knew a tradition in which Oceanus and Tethys (rather than Uranus and Gaia, as in Hesiod) were the primeval parents of the gods.<ref>Fowler 2013, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA8 8], [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 11]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA36 pp. 36–37], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40]; West 1997, p. 147; Gantz, p. 11; Burkert 1995, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cIiUL7dWqNIC&pg=PA91 pp. 91–92]; West 1983, pp. 119&ndash;120.</ref> Twice Homer has [[Hera]] describe the pair as "Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys".<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.193-14.241 14.201], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D14%3Acard%3D270 302] [= 201].</ref> According to [[M. L. West]], these lines suggests a myth in which Oceanus and Tethys are the "first parents of the whole race of gods."<ref>West 1997, p. 147.</ref> However, as [[Timothy Gantz]] points out, "mother" could simply refer to the fact that Tethys was Hera's foster mother for a time, as Hera tells us in the lines immediately following, while the reference to Oceanus as the genesis of the gods "might be simply a formulaic epithet indicating the numberless rivers and springs descended from Okeanos" (compare with ''Iliad'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D21%3Acard%3D161 21.195–197]).<ref>Gantz, p. 11.</ref> But, in a later ''Iliad'' passage, [[Hypnos]] also describes Oceanus as "''genesis'' for all", which, according to Gantz, is hard to understand as meaning other than that, for Homer, Oceanus was the father of the Titans.<ref>Gantz, p. 11; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.242-14.269 14.245].</ref>

[[Plato]], in his ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'', provides a genealogy (probably [[Orphism|Orphic]]) which perhaps reflected an attempt to reconcile this apparent divergence between Homer and Hesiod, in which Uranus and Gaia are the parents of Oceanus and Tethys, and Oceanus and Tethys are the parents of Cronus and Rhea and the other Titans, as well as [[Phorcys]].<ref>Gantz, pp. 11–12; West 1983, pp. 117&ndash;118;  Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; [[Plato]], ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=4DAC0911EDDE8F410A4FED46380ED2C0?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0180%3Atext%3DTim.%3Asection%3D40d 40d–e].</ref> In his  ''[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]]'', Plato quotes [[Orpheus]] as saying that Oceanus and Tethys were "the first to marry", possibly also reflecting an Orphic theogony in which Oceanus and Tethys, rather than Uranus and Gaia, were the primeval parents.<ref>West 1983, pp. 118&ndash;120; Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; [[Plato]], ''[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg005.perseus-eng1:402b 402b] [= Orphic [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/86/mode/2up fr. 15 Kern].</ref> Plato's apparent inclusion of Phorcys as a Titan (being the brother of Cronus and Rhea), and the mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]]'s inclusion of [[Dione (Titaness)|Dione]], the mother of [[Aphrodite]] by Zeus, as a thirteenth Titan,<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.3 1.1.3], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3 1.3.1].</ref> suggests an Orphic tradition in which the Titan offspring of Oceanus and Tethys consisted of Hesiod's twelve Titans, with Phorcys and Dione taking the place of Oceanus and Tethys.<ref>Gantz, p. 743.</ref>

According to [[Epimenides]], the first two beings, [[Nyx|Night]] and Aer, produced [[Tartarus]], who in turn produced two Titans (possibly Oceanus and Tethys) from whom came the [[world egg]].<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA7 pp. 7&ndash;8].</ref>

==Mythology==

[[File:München — Staatliche Antikensammlungen — 2013-05-12 Mattes (16).JPG|thumb|left|Oceanus-faced [[gargoyle]], originally from [[Treuchtlingen]], [[Bavaria]], now at the [[Staatliche Antikensammlungen]], [[Munich]]]]

When Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, overthrew his father [[Uranus (mythology)|Uranus]], thereby becoming the ruler of the cosmos, according to Hesiod, none of the other Titans participated in the attack on Uranus.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:139-172 165&ndash;181].</ref> However, according to the mythographer [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], all the Titans&mdash;except Oceanus&mdash;attacked Uranus.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA37 p. 37]; [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.4 1.1.4].</ref> [[Proclus]], in his commentary on Plato's ''Timaeus'', quotes several lines of a poem (probably Orphic) which has an angry Oceanus brooding aloud as to whether he should join Cronus and the other Titans in the attack on Uranus. And, according to Proclus, Oceanus did not in fact take part in the attack.<ref>Gantz, pp. 12, 28; West 1983, p. 130; Orphic fr. 135 Kern.</ref>

Oceanus seemingly also did not join the Titans in the ''[[Titanomachy]]'', the great war between Cronus and his fellow Titans, and [[Zeus]] and his fellow [[Twelve Olympians|Olympians]], for control of the cosmos; and following the war, although Cronus and the other Titans were imprisoned, Oceanus certainly seems to have remained free.<ref>Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA37 p. 37]; Gantz, pp. 28, 46; West 1983, p. 119.</ref> In Hesiod, Oceanus sends his daughter [[Styx]], with her children [[Zelus]] (Envy), [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]] (Victory), [[Cratos]] (Power), and [[Bia (mythology)|Bia]] (Force), to fight on Zeus's side against the Titans,<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA37 p. 37]; Gantz, p. 28; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:371-403 337&ndash;398]. The translations of the names used here follow Caldwell, p. 8.</ref> And in the ''Iliad'', Hera says that during the war she was sent to Oceanus and Tethys for safekeeping.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40]; Gantz, p. 11; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.193-14.241 14.200&ndash;204].</ref>

Sometime after the war, [[Aeschylus]]'s ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', has Oceanus visit his nephew the enchained [[Prometheus]], who is being punished by Zeus for his theft of fire.<ref>Gantz, p. 28; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40]; [[Aeschylus]] (?), ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:279-299 286&ndash;398].</ref> Oceanus arrives riding a winged steed,<ref>[[Aeschylus]] (?), ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:279-299 286&ndash;289], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:379-398 395] (which describes the beast as "four-footed"). Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40] suggests that Oceanus' steed is a griffin or griffin-like, while Gantz, p. 28, suggests griffin or hippocamp.</ref> saying that he is sympathetic to Prometheus's plight and wishes to help him if he can.<ref>[[Aeschylus]] (?), ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:279-299 290&ndash;299].</ref> But Prometheus mocks Oceanus, asking him: "How did you summon courage to quit the stream that bears your name and the rock-roofed caves you yourself have made ..."<ref>[[Aeschylus]] (?), ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:300-331 301&ndash;303].</ref> Oceanus advises Prometheus to humble himself before the new ruler Zeus, and so avoid making his situation any worse. But Prometheus replies: "I envy you because you have escaped blame for having dared to share with me in my troubles."<ref>[[Aeschylus]] (?), ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:332-342 332&ndash;333].</ref>

According to [[Pherecydes of Athens|Pherecydes]], while [[Heracles]] was travelling in [[Helios]]'s golden cup, on his way to [[Erytheia]] to fetch the cattle of [[Geryon]], Oceanus challenged Heracles by sending high waves rocking the cup, but Heracles threatened to shoot Oceanus with his bow, and Oceanus in fear stopped.<ref>Gantz, p. 404; Frazer's note 7 to [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.10 2.5.10]; Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 p. 40].</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Naples Archaeology Museum (5914746240).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|River Divinity, second century AD, [[Farnese collection]], [[Naples National Archaeological Museum]]]]

Although sometimes treated as a person (such as Oceanus visiting Prometheus in Aeschylus's ''[[Prometheus Bound]]'', see above) Oceanus is more usually considered to be a place,<ref>Gantz, p. 28.</ref> that is, as the great world-encircling river.<ref>Hard, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA36 36], [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA40 40]; Gantz, p. 27; West 1966, p. 201 on line 133.</ref> Twice Hesiod calls Oceanus "the perfect river" (''τελήεντος ποταμοῖο''),<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:240-269 242], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:938-962 959].</ref> and Homer refers to the "stream of the river Oceanus" (''ποταμοῖο λίπεν ῥόον Ὠκεανοῖο'').<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D12%3Acard%3D1 12.1].</ref> Both Hesiod and Homer call Oceanus "backflowing" (''ἀψορρόου''), since, as the great stream encircles the earth, it flows back into itself.<ref>[[LSJ]] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Da)yo%2Frroos s.v. ἀψόρροος]; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:767-806 767]; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.388-18.427 18.399], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:20.44-20.90 20.65].</ref> Hesiod also calls Oceanus "deep-swirling" (''βαθυδίνης''),<ref>[[LSJ]] s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dbaqudi%2Fnhs1 βαθυδίνης], [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:104–138 133].</ref> while Homer calls him "deep-flowing" (''βαθυρρόου'').<ref>[[LSJ]] s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dbaqu%2Frroos βαθυρρόου]; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.398-7.441 7.422] = ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:19.405-19.454 19.434].</ref> [[Homer]] says that Oceanus "bounds the Earth",<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:11.1-11.50 11.13].</ref> and Oceanus was depicted on the [[shield of Achilles]], encircling its rim,<ref>Gantz, p. 27; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.590 18.607&ndash;608].</ref> and so also on the shield of Heracles.<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Shield of Heracles]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg003.perseus-eng1:280-326 314&ndash;317].</ref>

Both Hesiod and Homer locate Oceanus at the ends of the earth, near Tartarus, in the ''Theogony'',<ref>Gantz, p. 27; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:729-766 729&ndash;792].</ref> or near [[Elysium]], in the ''Iliad'',<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:14.193-14.241 14.200&ndash;201], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:4.554-4.592 4.563&ndash;568].</ref> and in the ''Odyssey'', has to be crossed in order to reach the "dank house of [[Hades]]".<ref>Gantz, pp. 27, 123, 124; [[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:10.503-10.545 10.508&ndash;512], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:11.1-11.50 11.13&ndash;22].</ref> And for both Hesiod and Homer, Oceanus seems to have marked a boundary beyond which the cosmos became more fantastical.<ref>As [[George M. A. Hanfmann]], ''[[Oxford Classical Dictionary]]'' s.v. Oceanus, p. 744, puts it: "the land where reality ends and everything is fabulous".</ref> The ''[[Theogony]]'' has such fabulous creatures as the [[Hesperides]], with their golden apples, the three-headed giant [[Geryon]], and the snake-haired [[Gorgons]], all residing "beyond glorious Ocean".<ref>[[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:207-239 215&ndash;216] (Hesperides), [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:270-303 287&ndash;299] (Geryon), [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:270-303 274] (Gorgons).</ref> While Homer located such exotic tribes as the [[Cimmerians]], the [[Aethiopia]]ns, and the [[Pygmy (Greek mythology)|Pygmies]] as living nearby Oceanus.<ref>Cimmerians: ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:11.1-11.50 11.13&ndash;14]; Aethiopians:  ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:23.192-23.225 23.205&ndash;206], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:1.1-1.43 1.22&ndash;24]  (since Oceanus is where the sun, Helios Hyperion, rises and sets); Pygmies: ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.1-3.37 1.5&ndash;6].</ref>

In Homer, [[Helios]] the sun, rises from Oceanus in the east,<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.398-7.441 7.421&ndash;422], = ''[[Odyssey]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:19.405-19.454 19.433&ndash;434].</ref> and at the end of the day sinks back into Oceanus in the west,<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.469-8.511 8.485], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.219-18.242 18.239&ndash;240].</ref> and the stars bathe in the "stream of Ocean".<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.1-5.42 5.5&ndash;6], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.462-18.489 18.485&ndash;489]. Compare with [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:23.192-23.225 23.205] which has [[Iris (mythology)|Iris]], the personification of the rainbow, say "I must go back unto the streams of Oceanus".</ref> According to later sources, after setting, Helios sails back along Oceanus during the night from west to east.<ref>Gantz, pp. 27, 30.</ref>

Just as Oceanus the god was the father of the river gods, Oceanus the river was said to be the source of all other rivers, and in fact all sources of water, both salt and fresh.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA36 p. 36]; Gantz, p. 27.</ref> According to Homer, from Oceanus "all rivers flow and every sea, and all the springs and deep wells".<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:21.161-21.199 21.195&ndash;197].</ref> Being the source of rivers and springs would seem logically to require that Oceanus was himself a freshwater river, and so different from the salt sea, and in fact Hesiod seems to distinguish between Oceanus and [[Pontus (mythology)|Pontus]], the personification of the sea.<ref>West 1966, p. 201 on line 133.</ref> However elsewhere the distinction between fresh and salt water seems not to apply. For example, in Hesiod [[Nereus]] and [[Thaumus]], both sons of Pontus, marry daughters of Oceanus, and in Homer (who makes no mention of Pontus), [[Thetis]], the daughter of Nereus, and [[Eurynome]] the daughter of Oceanus, live together.<ref>Gantz, p. 27; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.388-18.427 398&ndash;399].</ref> In any case, Oceanus can also to be identified with the sea.<ref>West 1966, p. 201 on line 133.</ref>

The concept of the surrounding Ocean, as expressed by Homer and Hesiod, remained in common use throughout antiquity. The Roman geographer [[Pomponius Mela]] said that the inhabited earth "is entirely surrounded by the Ocean, from which it receives four seas".<ref>[[Pomponius Mela]], ''De situ orbis'', [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015042048507&view=1up&seq=46 1.5].</ref>  These four seas were the [[Caspian Sea]], the [[Persian Gulf]], the [[Red Sea|Arabian Gulf]], and the [[Mediterranean Sea]]. However increasing knowledge of the seas led to modifications in this view. The Greek geographer [[Ptolemy]] identified various different oceans.<ref>William Smith (ed.), ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography]]'', 'Atlanticum Mare', at [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:id=atlanticum-mare-geo Perseus].</ref> One of these, the Western Ocean (the [[Atlantic Ocean]]) was often called simply "'the Ocean"', for instance by [[Julius Caesar]].<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], [[De Bello Gallico]], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Gallic_War/3*.html#7 3.7].</ref>

==Iconography==

[[File:Okeanos London 1971.11-1.1.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Detail of Oceanus attending the wedding of Peleus and Thetis on an [[Attica]]n [[black-figure]] [[dinos]] by [[Sophilos]], c. 600&ndash;550 BC, [[British Museum]] 971.11–1.1.<ref>''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ff7fcf74949-a 6487 (Okeanos 1)]; [[Beazley Archive]] [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/6A8CA1F1-9682-4D63-B3FB-8989AC4BF9DD 350099]; Avi [https://www.avi.unibas.ch/DB/searchform.html?ID=4924 4748].</ref>]]

Oceanus is represented, identified by inscription, as part of an illustration of the wedding of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]] on the early sixth century BC [[Attic]] [[black-figure]] "Erskine" [[dinos]] by [[Sophilos]] ([[British Museum]] 1971.111–1.1).<ref>''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ff7fcf74949-a 6487 (Tethys I (S) 1)]; [[Beazley Archive]] [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/6A8CA1F1-9682-4D63-B3FB-8989AC4BF9DD 350099]; Avi [https://www.avi.unibas.ch/DB/searchform.html?ID=4924 4748]; Gantz, pp. 28, 229&ndash;230; Burkert, [https://books.google.com/books?id=cIiUL7dWqNIC&pg=PA202 p. 202]; Williams, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=exArAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 27 fig. 34], [https://books.google.com/books?id=exArAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA29 29], [https://books.google.com/books?id=exArAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 31–32]; Perseus: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=London+1971.11-1.1&object=vase London 1971.11–1.1 (Vase)]; [[British Museum]] [https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=399358&partId=1&searchText=Tethys&page=1 1971,1101.1].</ref> Oceanus appears near the end of a long procession of gods and goddesses arriving at the palace of Peleus for the wedding. Oceanus follows a chariot driven by [[Athena]] and containing [[Artemis]]. Oceanus has bull horns, holds a snake in his left hand and a fish in his right, and has the body of a fish from the waist down. He is closely followed by Tethys and [[Eileithyia]], with [[Hephaestus]] following on his mule ending the procession.

[[File:Nereus,_Doris,_Okeanos_Pergamonaltar.JPG|thumb|right|175px|Left to right: [[Nereus]], [[Doris (Oceanid)|Doris]], a Giant (kneeling), Oceanus, detail from the [[Pergamon Altar]] [[Gigantomachy]].<ref>''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ac4ebff2462-9 617 (Okeanos 7)].</ref>]]

Oceanus also appears, as part of a very similar procession of Peleus and Thetis's wedding guests, on another early sixth century BC Attic black-figure pot, the [[François Vase]] (Florence 4209).<ref>''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ba21e3def85-9 1602 (Okeanos 3)]; [[Beazley Archive]] [http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/record/35ACBA5B-7FF1-4572-BA34-6AC260F62A33 300000]; AVI [https://www.avi.unibas.ch/DB/searchform.html?ID=3753 3576].</ref> As in Sophilos's dinos, Oceanus appears at the end of the long procession, following after the last chariot, with Hephaestus on his mule bringing up the rear. Although little remains of Oceanus, he was apparently shown here with a bull's head.<ref>Gantz, pp. 28, 229&ndash;230; Beazley, [https://books.google.com/books?id=rrhKNJaNBgAC&pg=PA27 p. 27]; Perseus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=Florence+4209&object=vase Florence 4209 (Vase)]. Compare with [[Euripides]], ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg016.perseus-eng1:1366-1392 1375&ndash;1379], which calls Oceanus "bull-headed" (''ταυρόκρανος '').</ref> The similarity in the order of the wedding guests on these two vases, as well as on the fragments a second Sophilos vase (Athens Akr 587), suggests the possibility of a literary source.<ref>Gantz, pp. 229&ndash;230; Williams, [https://books.google.com/books?id=exArAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 p. 33]; Perseus: [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/artifact?name=London+1971.11-1.1&object=vase London 1971.11-1.1 (Vase)].</ref>

Oceanus is depicted (labeled) as one of the gods fighting the [[Giants (Greek mythology)|Giants]] in the [[Gigantomachy]] frieze of the second century BC [[Pergamon Altar]].<ref>''[[Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae|LIMC]]'' [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ac4ebff2462-9 617 (Okeanos 7)]; Jentel, p. 1195; Queyrel, p. 67; Pollit, [https://books.google.com/books?id=vt9JwsNcKzwC&pg=PA96 p. 96].</ref> Oceanus stands half nude, facing right, battling a giant falling to the right. Nearby Oceanus are fragments of a figure thought to be Tethys: a part of a [[Chiton (costume)|chiton]] below Oceanus's left arm and a hand clutching a large tree branch visible behind Oceanus's head.

In Hellenistic and Roman mosaics, this Titan was often depicted as having the upper body of a muscular man with a long beard and horns (often represented as the claws of a crab) and the lower body of a [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]] (''cfr.'' [[Typhon]]).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barry |first=Fabio |date=2011 |title=The Mouth of Truth and the Forum Boarium: Oceanus, Hercules, and Hadrian |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23046567 |journal=The Art Bulletin |volume=93 |issue=1 |pages=7–37 |doi=10.1080/00043079.2011.10785994 |jstor=23046567 |issn=0004-3079}}</ref> In Roman mosaics, such as that from [[Le Bardo|Bardo]], he might carry a steering-oar and cradle a ship.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

==Cosmography==

[[File:Head of Oceanus, found at Hadrian's Villa, Vatican Museums (12014574136).jpg|thumb|right|Head of Oceanus from [[Tivoli, Lazio|Tivoli]]'s second century [[Hadrian's Villa]], [[Vatican Museum]]]]

Oceanus appears in Hellenic [[cosmography]] as well as [[myth]]. Cartographers continued to represent the encircling equatorial stream much as it had appeared on [[Achilles]]'s shield.<ref name="Stecchini">{{Cite web|url=http://www.metrum.org/mapping/cosmol.htm|title=Ancient Cosmology|website=www.metrum.org|author=Livio Catullo Stecchini|access-date=2017-03-30|archive-date=2017-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171029113455/http://www.metrum.org/mapping/cosmol.htm|url-status=bot: unknown}} (archived)</ref>

[[Herodotus]] was skeptical about the physical existence of Oceanus and rejected the reasoning—proposed by some of his coevals—according to which the uncommon phenomenon of the summerly [[Nile flood]] was caused by the river's connection to the mighty Oceanus. Speaking about the Oceanus myth itself he declared: 
<blockquote>As for the writer who attributes the phenomenon to the ocean, his account is involved in such obscurity that it is impossible to disprove it by argument. For my part I know of no river called Ocean, and I think that Homer, or one of the earlier poets, invented the name, and introduced it into his poetry.<ref>''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' II, 21 ff.</ref></blockquote>

Some scholars{{who|date=April 2017}} believe that Oceanus originally represented all bodies of salt water, including the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and the [[Atlantic Ocean]], the two largest bodies known to the ancient Greeks.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} However, as geography became more accurate, Oceanus came to represent the stranger, more unknown waters of the Atlantic Ocean (also called the "[[Ocean Sea]]"), while the newcomer of a later generation, [[Poseidon]], ruled over the Mediterranean Sea.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}}

Late attestations for an equation with the [[Black Sea]] abound, the cause being&nbsp;– as it appears&nbsp;– Odysseus's travel to the [[Cimmerians]] whose fatherland, lying beyond the Oceanus, is described as a country divested from sunlight.<ref name="Odyssey XI, 13-19">[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+11.13&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136:book=11:chapter=13&highlight=Oceanus 11.13–19].</ref> In the fourth century BC, [[Hecataeus of Abdera]] writes that the Oceanus of the [[Hyperboreans]] is neither the Arctic nor Western Ocean, but the sea located to the north of the ancient Greek world, namely the [[Black Sea]], called "the most admirable of all seas" by [[Herodotus]],<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/22 4.85].</ref> labelled the "immense sea" by [[Pomponius Mela]]<ref>''De situ orbis'' I, 19.</ref> and by [[Dionysius Periegetes]],<ref>''Orbis Descriptio'' V, 165.</ref> and which is named ''Mare majus'' on medieval geographic maps. [[Apollonius of Rhodes]], similarly, calls the lower Danube the ''Kéras Okeanoío'' ("Gulf" or "Horn of Oceanus").<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' [https://topostext.org/work/126#4.261 4.282].</ref>

[[Hecataeus of Abdera]] also refers to a holy island, sacred to the Pelasgian (and later, Greek) [[Apollo]], situated in the westernmost part of the ''Okeanós Potamós'', and called in different times Leuke or Leukos, Alba, Fidonisi or [[Snake Island (Black Sea)|Isle of Snakes]]. It was on Leuke, in one version of his legend, that the hero [[Achilles]], in a hilly tumulus, was buried (which is [[Folk etymology|erroneously]] connected to the modern town of [[Kiliya]], at the [[Danube delta]]). <!-- These remarks seem to have no connection to the article's subject: [[Leto]], the Hyperborean goddess, after nine days and nine nights of labour on the island of Delos ([[Pelasgian]] for hill, related to [[Tell (archaeology)|tell]]) "gave birth to the great god of the antique light".<ref>[[Pseudo-Apollodorus]], ''Bibliotheca'' I, 4.1.</ref> Old Romanian folk songs sing of a white monastery on a white island with nine priests, nine singers, nine altars, on a part of the [[Black Sea]] known as the White Sea.<ref name=Densusianu>[http://www.pelasgians.org ''Dacia Preistorica''], Nicolae Densusianu (1913).</ref> --> ''Accion'' ("ocean"), in the fourth century AD [[Gallo-Romance languages|Gaulish Latin]] of [[Avienius]]'s ''Ora maritima'', was applied to great lakes.<ref>Mullerus in ''Cl. Ptolemaei Geographia'', ed. Didot, p.&nbsp;235.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Greece|Myths|}}
* [[NOAAS Okeanos Explorer (R 337)]]
* [[Ogyges]]
* [[Rasā]]
* [[Jörmungandr]]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
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==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20171029113455/http://www.metrum.org/mapping/cosmol.htm Livio Catullo Stecchini, "Ancient Cosmology"] (archived)
* {{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Oceanus |short=x}}

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[[Category:Characters in Greek mythology]]
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