There are two myths which involve Psamathe. The first is the story of her violation by Aeacus. Upon his advances, she transforms herself into a seal in an attempt to escape. She is unsuccessful, however, and from their union is born Phocus, whose name (phoke meaning "seal") recalls his mother's metamorphosis.[5]
Peleus andTelamon are the sons of Aeacus by his wifeEndeis.[6] The two of them kill their half-brother Phocus,[7] and they are subsequently exiled from Aegina by their father.[8] The second story which features Psamathe involves her sending of a wolf at the herds ofPeleus, out of revenge for her son's death. After the wolf eats part of Peleus's herd, it is turned to stone by either Psamathe herself, or her sisterThetis.[9]
Psamathe is first mentioned inHesiod'sTheogony (c. 730–700 BC), where she described as "Psamathe of charming figure" and "the fair goddess". Hesiod lists her among the Nereids, and calls her the mother of Phocus by Aeacus.[10]Pindar (c. 518–438 BC), who calls her "Psamatheia" (Ψαμάθεια), says that she bore Phocus by the shore of the sea,[11] whileEuripides, in his playHelen (c. 412 BC), offers a very different account of Psamathe, in which, "after she left Aiakos's bed", she is the wife ofProteus, the king of Egypt, by whom she has two children,Theoclymenus andEido (the latter of which is later known asTheonoe).[12]
The myth of Psmathe's transformation into a seal comes from the mythographerApollodorus (first or second century AD) and a scholiast on Euripides's playAndromache,[13] while multiple versions of the story of the wolf are given by different authors.Ovid, in hisMetamorphoses (c. 8 AD), presents the most detailed account. After Phocus is killed by his half-brothers Peleus and Telamon, they are exiled from the island of Aegina by their father Aeacus. Psamathe, out of revenge for her son's murder, sends at Peleus's herd of cattle a wolf that is described as a "huge beast", with "great, murderous jaws" and "eyes blazing with red fire".[14] Peleus is informed of the wolf by his herdsman, and "well [knows] that the bereaved Nereid [is] sending this calamity upon him".[15] In desperation, he prays to Psamathe to "put away her wrath and come to his help";[16] she remains unmoved, however, until her sisterThetis prays for her forgiveness alongside Peleus, at which point she transforms the wolf into what Ovid describes as "marble".[17]Antoninus Liberalis (second to third century AD), in hisMetamorphoses, presents a much briefer version, which he attributes toNicander of Colophon (second century BC). In this version the origin of the wolf is not specified, and it is transformed into stone, not by Psamathe, but by "divine will".[18] A wolf is similarly mentioned by theHellenistic poetLycophron (born 330–325 BC), in hisAlexandra: "... the Wolf that devoured the atonement and was turned to stone ...".[19] The byzantine poetJohn Tzetzes (c. 1110–1180), in his commentary on Lycophron'sAlexandra, presents a version of the story in which Psamathe sends the wolf, but does not transform it herself; instead it is Thetis who turns it to stone.[20]
Psamathe also appears in book 43 ofNonnus'sDionysiaca (c. fifth century AD), during the fight betweenPoseidon andDionysus, where, from the beach, she pleads toZeus to end the battle.[21]
Psamathe is depicted on a number of Attic vases dating from the late fifth century BC.[22] The iconography of Psamathe is typical for a Nereid,[23] and she is depicted in such scenes as the fight between Peleus and Thetis,[24] and the transportation of the weapons and armour ofAchilles, where she is among the Nereids carrying his weaponry while riding on a dolphin.[25]
^The manner in which Phocus is killed and the motivations for his murder vary between versions. For an extensive discussion of Phocus's death by his half-brothers, seeBNJ,commentary on 289 F4; see also Gantz, pp. 222–3; Hard,p. 531; Frazer,n. 14 to 3.16.2.
Hard, Robin,The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004.ISBN978-0-415-18636-0.Google Books.
Paschalis, Michael, "Narratives ofamor,arma andarmenta in Ovid’s Metamorphoses", inTrends in Classics, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 154–171.Online version at De Gruyter.
Plutarch,Moralia, Volume IV: Roman Questions. Greek Questions. Greek and Roman Parallel Stories. On the Fortune of the Romans. On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander. Were the Athenians More Famous in War or in Wisdom?, translated by Frank Cole Babbitt,Loeb Classical Library No. 305, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1936.ISBN978-0-674-99336-5.Online version at Harvard University Press.
Richter, Gisela M. A.,Red-Figured Athenian Vases in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Volume I, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1936.Google Books.
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