THAUMAS, PHORCYS, and CETO.

THAUMAS, PHORCYS, and CETO.

The early Greeks, with their extraordinary power of personifying all
and every attribute of Nature, gave a distinct personality to those
mighty wonders of the deep, which, in all ages, have afforded matter of
speculation to educated and uneducated alike. Among these
personifications we find Thaumas, Phorcys, and their sister Ceto, who
were the offspring of Pontus.

Thaumas (whose name signifies Wonder) typifies that peculiar,
translucent condition of the surface of the sea when it reflects,
mirror-like, various images, and appears to hold in its transparent
embrace the flaming stars and illuminated cities, which are so frequently
reflected on its glassy bosom.

Thaumas married the lovely Electra (whose name signifies the sparkling
light produced by electricity), daughter of Oceanus. Her amber-coloured
hair was of such rare beauty that none of her fair-haired sisters could
compare with her, and when she wept, her tears, being too precious to be
lost, formed drops of shining amber.

Phorcys and Ceto personified more especially the hidden perils and
terrors of the ocean. They were the parents of the Gorgons, the Græa, and
the Dragon which guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides.