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InGreek mythology,Proteus (/ˈproʊtiəs,ˈproʊt.juːs/PROH-tee-əs,PROHT-yooss;[1]Ancient Greek:Πρωτεύς,romanized: Prōteús) is an earlypropheticsea god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whomHomer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" (hálios gérôn).[2] Some who ascribe a specific domain to Proteus call him the god of "elusive sea change", which suggests the changeable nature of the sea or the liquid quality of water. He can foretell the future, but, in amytheme familiar to several cultures, will change his shape to avoid doing so; he answers only to those who are capable of capturing him. From this feature of Proteus comes theadjectiveprotean, meaning "versatile", "mutable", or "capable of assuming many forms". "Protean" has positive connotations of flexibility, versatility and adaptability.
Proteus's name suggests the "first" (fromGreek "πρῶτος"prōtos, "first"), asprōtogonos (πρωτόγονος) is the "primordial" or the "firstborn". It is not certain to what this refers, but in myths where he is the son ofPoseidon, it possibly refers to his being Poseidon's eldest son, older than Poseidon's other son, the sea-godTriton. The first attestation of the name is inMycenaean Greek, although it is not certain whether it refers to the god or just a person; the attested form, inLinear B, is𐀡𐀫𐀳𐀄,po-ro-te-u.[3][4][5]
Proteus was generally regarded as the son of the sea-god Poseidon[6] andPhoenice,[7] a daughter of KingPhoenix ofPhoenicia.[8]
The children of Proteus byTorone (Chrysonoe) ofPhlegra werePolygonus (Tmolus) andTelegonus. They both challengedHeracles at the behest ofHera and were killed by the hero.[9] Another son of Proteus,Eioneus, became the father ofDymas, king ofPhrygia, father ofHecuba.[10] By theNereidPsamathe, Proteus fatheredTheoclymenos andTheonoe[11] (Eidothea[12] orEurynome[13]).Cabeiro, mother of theCabeiri and the three Cabeiriannymphs byHephaestus, was also called the daughter of Proteus.[14] Other daughters wereRhoiteia who gave her name to the city ofRhoiteion inTroad,[15]Thebe who became the eponym ofThebes in Egypt[16] andThaicrucia who motheredNympheus byZeus.[17]
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According toHomer (Odyssey iv: 365), the sandy island ofPharos situated off the coast of theNile Delta was the home of Proteus, the oracular Old Man of the Sea and herdsman of the sea-beasts. In theOdyssey,Menelaus relates toTelemachus that he had been becalmed here on his journey home from theTrojan War. He learned from Proteus's 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 ofseals, but Menelaus was successful in holding him, though Proteus took the forms of alion, aserpent, aleopard, a pig, even ofwater or atree. Proteus then answered truthfully, further informing Menelaus that his brotherAgamemnon had been murdered on his return home, thatAjax the Lesser had been shipwrecked and killed, and thatOdysseus was stranded onCalypso's IsleOgygia.
According toVirgil in the fourthGeorgic, at one time the bees ofAristaeus, son ofApollo, 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. Aristaeus had to seize Proteus and hold him, no matter what he would change into. Aristaeus did so, and Proteus eventually gave up and told him that the bees' death was a punishment for causing the death ofEurydice. To make amends, Aristaeus needed to sacrifice 12 animals to the gods, leave the carcasses in the place of sacrifice, and return three days later. He followed these instructions, and upon returning, he found in one of the carcasses a swarm of bees which he took to hisapiary. The bees were never again troubled by disease.
There are also legends concerningApollonius of Tyana that say Proteus incarnated himself as the 1st-century philosopher. These legends are mentioned in the 3rd-century biographical workLife of Apollonius of Tyana.
In theOdyssey (iv.430ff) Menelaus wrestles with "Proteus of Egypt, the immortal old man of the sea who never lies, who sounds the deep in all its depths, Poseidon's servant" (Robert Fagles's translation). Proteus of Egypt is mentioned in an alternative version of the story ofHelen of Troy in the tragedyHelen ofEuripides (produced in 412 BC). The often unconventional playwright introduces a "real" Helen and a "phantom" Helen (who caused theTrojan War), and gives a backstory that makes the father of his characterTheoclymenus, Proteus, a king in Egypt who had been wed to aNereid Psamathe. In keeping with one of his themes inHelen, Euripides mentions in passingEido ("image"), a daughter of the king and therefore sister of Theoclymenus who underwent a name-change after her adolescence and becameTheonoë, "god-minded", since she was as it turned out capable of foreseeing the future—as such, she is a prophet who appears as a crucial character in the play. The play's king Proteus is already dead at the start of the action, and his tomb is present onstage. It appears that he is only marginally related to the "Old Man of the Sea"[18] and should not be confused with the sea god Proteus, although it is tempting to see Euripides as playing a complex literary game with the sea god's history—both Proteuses, for example, are protectors of the house of Menelaus, both are connected with the sea, both dwell in Egypt, and both are "grandfatherly" or "ancient" figures.
AtPharos a king of Egypt named Proteus welcomed the young godDionysus in his wanderings.[19] In Hellenistic times, Pharos was the site of theLighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.[20]
Proteus as a cultural reference has been used in various contexts with different nuances according to each of the aspects of the myth: a shepherd of sea-creatures, a prophet who does not reveal their knowledge, a shape-changing god, the power to transform matter, or the primary matter that can become different materials. The adjectiveprotean has come to mean versatile, ever-changing, or varied in nature.[21]
The German mystical alchemistHeinrich Khunrath wrote of the shape-changing sea-god who, because of his relationship to the sea, is both a symbol of the unconscious as well as the perfection of the art. Alluding to thescintilla, the spark from ‘the light of nature’ and symbol of theanima mundi, Khunrath inGnostic vein stated of the Protean element Mercury:
In modern times, the Swiss psychologistCarl Jung defined the mythological figure of Proteus as a personification of the unconscious, who, because of his gift of prophecy and shape-changing, has much in common with the central but elusive figure of alchemy,Mercurius. The quote below gives further elaboration.
Our Catholick Mercury, by virtue of his universal fiery spark of the light of nature, is beyond doubt Proteus, the sea god of the ancient pagan sages, who hath the key to the sea and ... power over all things.
The poetJohn Milton, aware of the association of Proteus with the Hermetic art ofalchemy, wrote inParadise Lost of alchemists who sought thephilosopher's stone:
In vain, though by their powerful Art they bind
VolatileHermes, and call up unbound
In various shapes old Proteus from the Sea,
Drain'd through aLimbec to his native form.— John Milton,Paradise Lost, III.603–06
Shakespeare uses the image of Proteus to establish the character of his great royal villainRichard III in the playHenry VI, Part Three, in which the future usurper boasts:
I can add colours to the chameleon,
Change shapes with Proteus for advantages,
And set the murderous Machiavel to school.
Can I do this, and cannot get a crown?
Tut, were it farther off, I'll pluck it down.— William Shakespeare,Henry VI, Part Three, Act III, Scene ii
Shakespeare also names one of the main characters of his playThe Two Gentlemen of Verona Proteus.
In 1807,William Wordsworth finished hissonnet on the theme of a modernity deadened toNature, which opens "The world is too much with us", with a sense of nostalgia for the lost richness of a world numinous with deities:
James Joyce'sUlysses[23] uses Protean transformations of matter in time for self-exploration. "Proteus" is the title provided for the third chapter in theLinati schema for Ulysses.
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Media related toProteus (sea-god) at Wikimedia Commons
The dictionary definition ofProteus at Wiktionary| Characters |
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