GREEK GODS AND GODDESSES OF THE SEA

Since the sea is an essential part of life in Greece throughout its history, it makes sense that many of the Gods, Goddesses, and creatures in Greek Religion originated in the water. Though most of us think of the Olympian Gods and Goddesses when we recall Greek Religion, the Gods and Goddesses of the sea, or Theoi Halloi, are also important parts of the Tradition.

Poseidon

Poseidon is the main deity who controls the sea. As the brother of Zeus and Hades, He is very powerful. Every sea creature and sea God and Goddess fell under Poseidon’s domain. In some depictions, Poseidon is actually represented as a merman. In others, He is shown as an older man with long white hair and a white beard.

He is always depicted with his trident, a powerful weapon that was forged by Hephaestus, the blacksmith of the Gods. He is also referred to as the “Earth-shaker” because of His ability to start earthquakes. His consort is Goddess Amphitrite. Poseidon is a major character of the Olympian tradition. Some of the following Gods and Goddesses predate the Olympians.

Aigaios

The Ancient Greeks attributed storms that originated in the sea to  God Aigaios. Though he isn’t a Titan, he is one of their allies.In some stories, it is mentioned that the Aegean Sea was named after Him. He has a son named Briareos, who had a hundred hands and fifty heads.

Aeolus

He is in command of all the winds associated with storms, including sea storms. Aeolus keeps the winds hidden on a floating island, only to be released when the Gods tell Him to do so. In the case of sea storms, He awaits Poseidon’s word, since He is the Ruler of the sea.

Phorcys 

 Phorcys  is a primordial sea God, generally cited as the son of Pontus and Gaia. According to the Orphic hymns, Phorcys, Cronos and Rhea are the eldest offspring of Oceanus and Tethys.His wife is Keto, and He is most notable in myth for fathering by Keto a host of monstrous children. In extant Hellenistic-Roman mosaics, Phorcys was depicted as a fish-tailed merman with crab-claw forelegs and red, spiky skin.

Hesiod's Theogony lists the children of Phorcys and Keto as the Graeae , the Gorgons ,probably Echidna and Ceto's "youngest, the awful snake who guards the apples all of gold in the secret places of the dark earth at its great bounds", also called the Drakon Hesperios ("Hesperian Dragon", or dragon of the Hesperides) or Ladon. These children tend to be consistent across sources, though Ladon is often cited as a child of Echidna by Typhon and therefore Phorcys and Keto's grandson.

Keto

Also referred to as Ceto, She is the Goddess of sea monsters. Keto is the daughter of Gaia and Pontus, who was the God of the sea before Poseidon took that role. Pontus, Gaia, and Keto all predate the Olympian Gods and Goddesses. 

Oceanids

The Oceanids are sea Nymphs. Though they aren’t technically considered Goddesses, they are minor deities who care for the natural world. The Oceanids’ domain is the sea. They are the children of Oceanus, the Titan God of the sea.

Palaemon

Palaemon is the God who protects sailors, fishermen, and anyone else embarking on a sea journey. He is always pictured as a small boy, riding on the back of a dolphin. However, he wasn’t always Palaemon. Before He became a God, his name was Melicertes. Hera drove his father mad,as a revenge because his mother Ino had helped in the raising of Dionysos. Ino and her son were chased by her insane husband and they jumped into the sea in despair. Melicertes transformed into Palaemon and his mother became Leukothea, another sea deity. 

Thalassa

The Modern Greek word for sea is “Thalassa”, which also bears the name of this primordial sea Goddess. She is the mother of all the fish in the sea. She is often associated with Pontus, another sea God.

Oceanos

According to Homer, Oceanos is the ocean-stream at the margin of the habitable world , the father of everything, limiting it from the underworld and flowing around the Elysium. In the Iliad, Hera mentions her intended journey to her foster parents, namely "Oceanos, from whom they all are sprung": In Greek Religion, this ocean-stream is in fact a Titan, the eldest son of Uranus and Gaia. Oceanos' consort is his sister Tethys, and from their union came the ocean Nymphs, also referred to as the three-thousand Oceanids, and all the rivers of the world, fountains, and lakes.

In most variations of the war between the Titans and the Olympians, or Titanomachy, Oceanos, along with Prometheus and Themis, did not take the side of his fellow Titans against the Olympians, but instead withdrew from the conflict. In most variations of this story, Oceanos also refused to side with Cronos in the latter's revolt against their father, Uranus. He is, it appears, some sort of an outlaw to the society of Gods, as he also does not—and unlike all the other river Gods, his sons—take part in the convention of Gods on Mount Olympus.

Tethys 

Tethys is a Titaness, sister and wife of Oceanos. There are a few stories about Her. In the Iliad,  Hera says that, when Zeus was in the process of deposing Cronus, she was given by her mother Rhea to Tethys and Oceanus, for safekeeping, and that they "lovingly nursed and cherished me in their halls".
The only other story involving Tethys is about the polar constellation Ursa Major (the Great Bear), which was thought to represent the catasterism of Callisto, who was transformed into a bear, and placed by Zeus among the stars. The story explains why the constellation never sets below the horizon, saying that since Callisto had been Zeus's lover, she was forbidden by Tethys from "touching Ocean's deep", out of concern for her foster-child Hera, Zeus's jealous wife.

Nereus

 Nereus is the eldest son of Pontus (the Sea) and Gaia (the Earth), whom with Doris fathered the Nereids and Nerites, with whom Nereus lived in the Aegean Sea.

Pontus 

 Pontus is another primordial sea-God and He is Gaia's son. He has no father; according to the Greek poet Hesiod, he was born without coupling, though according to Hyginus, Pontus is the son of Aether and Gaia.

In Ancient Greece, if it weren’t for the sea, many people wouldn’t have had a chance to make a living. The fact that there were so many sea Gods and Goddesses is a reflection of how much the Greeks acknowledged the importance of the sea for their culture and their livelihood.

EDITED FROM: greekboston.com