Oceanus#Geography

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

Oceanus was the eldest of the Titan offspring of Uranus (Sky) and Gaia (Earth).Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+132 132–138]; 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 Curetes and Titaea, from whom as their mother they derive the name". Hesiod lists his Titan siblings as Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus, Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys, and Cronus.Apollodorus adds Dione to this list, while Diodorus Siculus leaves out Theia. Oceanus married his sister Tethys, and was by her the father of numerous sons, the river gods and numerous daughters, the Oceanids.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]); 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: 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].

According to Hesiod, there were three thousand (i.e. innumerable) river gods.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-eng1:337-370 364–368], 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-eng1:337-370 330–345], names 25 of these river gods: Nilus, Alpheus, Eridanos, Strymon, Maiandros, Istros, Phasis, Rhesus, Achelous, Nessos, Rhodius, Haliacmon, Heptaporus, Granicus, Aesepus, Simoeis, Peneus, Hermus, Caicus, Sangarius, Ladon, Parthenius, 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 [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/macrobius-saturnalia/2011/pb_LCL511.425.xml 5.18.9–10], which says that from Oceanus and Tethys, "spring three thousand rivers". These included: Achelous, the god of the Achelous River, the largest river in Greece, who gave his daughter in marriage to AlcmaeonApollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.7.5 3.7.5]. and was defeated by Heracles in a wrestling contest for the right to marry Deianira;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]. Alpheus, who fell in love with the nymph Arethusa and pursued her to Syracuse where she was transformed into a spring by Artemis;Smith, s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aentry%3Dalpheius-bio-1 "Alpheius"]. and Scamander who fought on the side of the 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.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.].

According to Hesiod, there were also three thousand Oceanids.Hesiod, Theogony [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:337-370 346–366], which names 41 Oceanids: Peitho, Admete, Ianthe, Electra, Doris, Prymno, Urania, Hippo, Clymene, Rhodea, Callirhoe, Zeuxo, Clytie, Idyia, Pasithoe, Plexaura, Galaxaura, Dione, Melobosis, Thoe, Polydora, Cerceis, Plouto, Perseis, Ianeira, Acaste, Xanthe, Petraea, Menestho, Europa, Metis, Eurynome, Telesto, Chryseis, Asia, Calypso, Eudora, Tyche, Amphirho, Ocyrhoe, and Styx. These included: Metis, Zeus' first wife, whom Zeus impregnated with Athena and then swallowed;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+886 886–900]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.3.6 1.3.6]. Eurynome, Zeus' third wife, and mother of the Charites;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+907 907–909]; 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"]. Doris, the wife of Nereus and mother of the Nereids;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+240 240–264]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.7 1.2.7]. Callirhoe, the wife of Chrysaor and mother of Geryon;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+286 286–288]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.5.10 2.5.10]. Clymene, the wife of Iapetus, and mother of Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+351 351], however according to Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.3 1.2.3], another Oceanid, Asia was their mother by Iapetus. Perseis, wife of Helios and mother of Circe and Aeetes;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+956 956–957]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.9.1 1.9.1]. Idyia, wife of Aeetes and mother of Medea;Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+958 958–962]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.9.23 1.9.23]. and Styx, the great river of the underworld river, and the wife of Pallas and mother of Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia.Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+383 383–385]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.2.4 1.2.4].

According to Epimenides' Theogony, Oceanus was the father, by Gaia, of the Harpies.Gantz, p. 18. Oceanus was also said to be the father, by Gaia, of Triptolemus.Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.5.2 1.5.2], attributing Pherecydes [= Pherecydes [https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA307 fr. 53 Fowler]; 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. Nonnus, in his poem Dionysiaca, described "the lakes" as "liquid daughters cut off from Oceanos".Nonnus, 'Dionysiaca'' 6.252. He was said to have fathered the Cercopes on one of his daughters, Theia.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]." Suda On Line. Tr. Jennifer Benedict. 11 April 2009{{AI-generated source|date=November 2024}}

{{chart top|Oceanus's immediate family, according to Hesiod's Theogony Hesiod, Theogony [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+132 132–138], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+337 337–411], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+453 453–520], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hes.+Th.+901 901–906, 915–920]; Caldwell, pp. 8–11, tables 11–14.|collapsed=yes}}

{{chart/start}}

{{chart|}}

{{chart| | | | | | | | | | |URA |y|GAI |~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|~|y|~|PON|URA=Uranus|GAI=Gaia|PON=Pontus}}

{{chart|,|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|.| | | |!}}

{{chart|!|OCE |y|TET | | |COE |y|PHO | | | | |CRI |y|EUR|OCE=OCEANUS|TET=Tethys|COE=Coeus|PHO=Phoebe|CRI=Crius|EUR=Eurybia}}

{{chart|!| |,|-|^|-|.| | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart|!|RIV | |OCES | | |LET | |ASTE | | |ASTR | |PAL | |PER | RIV=The Rivers|OCES=The Oceanids|LET=Leto|ASTE=Asteria|ASTR=Astraeus|PAL=Pallas|PER=Perses}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{chart|)|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.| | | | }}

{{chart|!| | |HYP |y|THE | | | | | | | | | |IAP |y|CLY |HYP=Hyperion|THE=Theia|IAP=Iapetus|CLY=Clymene 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 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.}}

{{chart|!| |,|-|-|-|+|-|-|-|.| | | | | |,|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart|!|HEL | |SEL | |EOS | | | |ATL | |MEN | |PRO | |EPI | |HEL=Helios|SEL=Selene 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 99–100], Selene is instead made the daughter of Pallas the son of Megamedes.|EOS=Eos|ATL=Atlas According to Plato, Critias, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg032.perseus-eng1:113d 113d–114a], Atlas was the son of Poseidon and the mortal Cleito.|MEN=Menoetius|PRO=Prometheus In Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound 18, 211, 873 (Sommerstein, pp. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.445.xml 444–445 n. 2], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.467.xml 446–447 n. 24], [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-prometheus_bound/2009/pb_LCL145.539.xml 538–539 n. 113]) Prometheus is made to be the son of Themis.|EPI=Epimetheus}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{chart|)|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.|}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | |CRO |y|RHE | | | | | | | |CRO=Cronus|RHE=Rhea}}

{{chart|!| | |,|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|^|-|v|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|.|}}

{{chart|!| |HES | |DEM | |HER | |HAD | |POS | |ZEU | |HES=Hestia|DEM=Demeter|HER=Hera|HAD=Hades|POS=Poseidon|ZEU=Zeus}}

{{chart|!| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |}}

{{chart|`|-|-|-|-|v|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|.}}

{{chart| | | | |THE |~|~|y|~|~|ZEU |~|~|y|~|~|MNE |THE=Themis|ZEU=(Zeus)|MNE=Mnemosyne}}

{{chart| | | | | | | |,|-|^|-|.| | | | | |!}}

{{chart| | | | | | |HOR | |MOR | | | |MUS |HOR=The Horae|MOR=The Moirai 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).|MUS=The Muses}}

{{chart/end}}

{{chart bottom}}

File:ZeugmaMuseum3.jpg, 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.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. 119–120. Twice Homer has Hera describe the pair as "Oceanus, from whom the gods are sprung, and mother Tethys".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]. 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."West 1997, p. 147. 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]).Gantz, p. 11. 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.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].

Plato, in his Timaeus, provides a genealogy (probably 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.Gantz, pp. 11–12; West 1983, pp. 117–118; Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; Plato, Timaeus [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=4DAC0911EDDE8F410A4FED46380ED2C0?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0180%3Atext%3DTim.%3Asection%3D40d 40d–e]. In his 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.West 1983, pp. 118–120; Fowler 2013, [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA11 p. 11]; Plato, 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]. Plato's apparent inclusion of Phorcys as a Titan (being the brother of Cronus and Rhea), and the mythographer Apollodorus's inclusion of Dione, the mother of Aphrodite by Zeus, as a thirteenth Titan,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]. 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.Gantz, p. 743.

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

File:München — Staatliche Antikensammlungen — 2013-05-12 Mattes (16).JPG, originally from Treuchtlingen, Bavaria, now at the Staatliche Antikensammlungen, Munich]]

When Cronus, the youngest of the Titans, overthrew his father Uranus, thereby becoming the ruler of the cosmos, according to Hesiod, none of the other Titans participated in the attack on Uranus.Hesiod, Theogony [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg001.perseus-eng1:139-172 165–181]. However, according to the mythographer Apollodorus, all the Titans—except Oceanus—attacked Uranus.Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA37 p. 37]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1.4 1.1.4]. 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.Gantz, pp. 12, 28; West 1983, p. 130; Orphic fr. 135 Kern.

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 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.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. In Hesiod, Oceanus sends his daughter Styx, with her children Zelus (Envy), Nike (Victory), Cratos (Power), and Bia (Force), to fight on Zeus' side against the Titans,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-eng1:371-403 337–398]. The translations of the names used here follow Caldwell, p. 8. And in the Iliad, Hera says that during the war she was sent to Oceanus and Tethys for safekeeping.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 14.200–204].

Sometime after the war, Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, has Oceanus visit his nephew the enchained Prometheus, who is being punished by Zeus for his theft of fire.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-eng1:279-299 286–398]. Oceanus arrives riding a winged steed,Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:279-299 286–289], [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. saying that he is sympathetic to Prometheus' plight and wishes to help him if he can.Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:279-299 290–299]. 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 ..."Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:300-331 301–303]. 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."Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0085.tlg003.perseus-eng1:332-342 332–333].

According to 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.Gantz, p. 404; Frazer's note 7 to 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].

File:Naples Archaeology Museum (5914746240).jpg, Naples National Archaeological Museum]]

Although sometimes treated as a person (such as Oceanus visiting Prometheus in Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, see above) Oceanus is more usually considered to be a place,Gantz, p. 28. that is, as the great world-encircling river.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. Twice Hesiod calls Oceanus "the perfect river" (τελήεντος ποταμοῖο),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]. and Homer refers to the "stream of the river Oceanus" (ποταμοῖο λίπεν ῥόον Ὠκεανοῖο).Homer, Iliad [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D12%3Acard%3D1 12.1]. Both Hesiod and Homer call Oceanus "backflowing" (ἀψορρόου), since, as the great stream encircles the earth, it flows back into itself.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]. Hesiod also calls Oceanus "deep-swirling" (βαθυδίνης),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]. while Homer calls him "deep-flowing" (βαθυρρόου).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]. Homer says that Oceanus "bounds the Earth",Homer, Odyssey [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:11.1-11.50 11.13]. and Oceanus was depicted on the shield of Achilles, encircling its rim,Gantz, p. 27; Homer, Iliad [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.590 18.607–608]. and so also on the shield of Heracles.Hesiod, Shield of Heracles [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0020.tlg003.perseus-eng1:280-326 314–317].

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

In Homer, Helios the sun, rises from Oceanus in the east,Homer, Iliad [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:7.398-7.441 7.421–422], = Odyssey [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg002.perseus-eng1:19.405-19.454 19.433–434]. and at the end of the day sinks back into Oceanus in the west,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 18.239–240]. and the stars bathe in the "stream of Ocean".Homer, Iliad [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:5.1-5.42 5.5–6], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.462-18.489 18.485–489]. 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, the personification of the rainbow, say "I must go back unto the streams of Oceanus". According to later sources, after setting, Helios sails back along Oceanus during the night from west to east.Gantz, pp. 27, 30.

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.Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA36 p. 36]; Gantz, p. 27. According to Homer, from Oceanus "all rivers flow and every sea, and all the springs and deep wells".Homer, Iliad [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:21.161-21.199 21.195–197]. 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, the personification of the sea.West 1966, p. 201 on line 133. 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.Gantz, p. 27; Homer, Iliad [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:18.388-18.427 398–399]. In any case, Oceanus can also to be identified with the sea.West 1966, p. 201 on line 133.

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’.Pomponius Mela, De situ orbis, [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015042048507&view=1up&seq=46 1.5]. These four seas were the Caspian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the 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.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]. One of these, the Western Ocean (the Atlantic Ocean) was often called simply ‘the Ocean’, for instance by Julius Caesar.Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Caesar/Gallic_War/3*.html#7 3.7].

File:Okeanos London 1971.11-1.1.jpgn black-figure dinos by Sophilos, c. 600–550 BC, British Museum 971.11–1.1.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].]]

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).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, 229–230; 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]. 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, Doris, a Giant (kneeling), Oceanus, detail from the Pergamon Altar Gigantomachy.LIMC [http://ark.dasch.swiss/ark:/72163/080e-73ac4ebff2462-9 617 (Okeanos 7)].]]

Oceanus also appears, as part of a very similar procession of Peleus and Thetis' wedding guests, on another early sixth century BC Attic black-figure pot, the François Vase (Florence 4209).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]. As in Sophilos' 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.Gantz, pp. 28, 229–230; 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 [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg016.perseus-eng1:1366-1392 1375–1379], which calls Oceanus "bull-headed" (ταυρόκρανος ). 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.Gantz, pp. 229–230; 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)].

Oceanus is depicted (labeled) as one of the gods fighting the Giants in the Gigantomachy frieze of the second century BC Pergamon Altar.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]. 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 below Oceanus' left arm and a hand clutching a large tree branch visible behind Oceanus' 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 (cfr. Typhon).{{citation needed|date=March 2020}} In Roman mosaics, such as that from Bardo, he might carry a steering-oar and cradle a ship.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

File:Head of Oceanus, found at Hadrian's Villa, Vatican Museums (12014574136).jpg'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' shield.{{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)

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:

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.Histories II, 21 ff.

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 – as it appears – Odysseus' travel to the Cimmerians whose fatherland, lying beyond the Oceanus, is described as a country divested from sunlight.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]. 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,Herodotus, Histories [https://topostext.org/work/22 4.85]. labelled the "immense sea" by Pomponius MelaDe situ orbis I, 19. and by Dionysius Periegetes,Orbis Descriptio V, 165. 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").Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica [https://topostext.org/work/126#4.261 4.282].

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 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 erroneously connected to the modern town of Kiliya, at the Danube delta). Accion ("ocean"), in the fourth century AD Gaulish Latin of Avienius' Ora maritima, was applied to great lakes.Mullerus in Cl. Ptolemaei Geographia, ed. Didot, p. 235.

{{Portal|Ancient Greece|Myths|}}

• NOAAS Okeanos Explorer (R 337)
• Ogyges
• Rasā

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Aeschylus, Persians. Seven against Thebes. Suppliants. Prometheus Bound. Edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Loeb Classical Library No. 145. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2009. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99627-4}}. [http://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL145/2009/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press].
• Aeschylus (?), Prometheus Bound in Aeschylus, with an English translation by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph. D. in two volumes. Vol 2. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press. 1926. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=4995E0C297BD54D0B2C116B6EB6720BF?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0010%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Anonymous, The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Homeric Hymns. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0138%3Ahymn%3D2 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. [https://topostext.org/work/126 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
• Apollonius of Rhodes, Apollonius Rhodius: the Argonautica, translated by Robert Cooper Seaton, W. Heinemann, 1912. [http://www.archive.org/stream/argonautica00apoluoft#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].
• Beazley, John Davidson, The Development of Attic Black-figure, Volume 24, University of California Press, 1951. {{ISBN|9780520055933}}.
• Beekes, Robert S. P., Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009.
• Burkert, Walter The Orientalizing Revolution: Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early archaic Age, Harvard University Press, 1992, pp. 91–93.
• Caldwell, Richard, Hesiod's Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Pullins Company (June 1, 1987). {{ISBN|978-0-941051-00-2}}.
• Callimachus, Callimachus and Lycophron with an English translation by A. W. Mair; Aratus, with an English translation by G. R. Mair, London: W. Heinemann, New York: G. P. Putnam 1921. [https://archive.org/stream/callimachuslycop00calluoft#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive].
• Diodorus Siculus, Diodorus Siculus: The Library of History. Translated by C. H. Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version by Bill Thayer]
• Euripides, Orestes, translated by E. P. Coleridge in The Complete Greek Drama, edited by Whitney J. Oates and Eugene O'Neill Jr. Volume 1. New York. Random House. 1938. [http://data.perseus.org/texts/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0006.tlg016.perseus-eng1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Fowler, R. L. (2000), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2000. {{ISBN|978-0198147404}}.
• Fowler, R. L. (2013), Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2013. {{ISBN|978-0198147411}}.
• Freeman, Kathleen, Ancilla to Pre-Socratic Philosophers: A Complete Translation of the Fragments in Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker (1948), July 13, 2012 2012, Kindle Edition.
• Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
• Hanfmann, George M. A., s.v. Oceanus, in The Oxford Classical Dictionary, Hammond, N.G.L. and Howard Hayes Scullard (editors), second edition, Oxford University Press, 1992. {{ISBN|0-19-869117-3}}.
• Hard, Robin, The Routledge Handbook of Greek Mythology: Based on H.J. Rose's "Handbook of Greek Mythology", Psychology Press, 2004, {{ISBN|9780415186360}}. [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC Google Books].
• Herodotus, The Histories with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. [https://topostext.org/work/22 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0125 Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library].
• Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1914. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, Ph.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.1-1.32 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Homer, The Odyssey with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Hyginus, Gaius Julius, Fabulae in Apollodorus' Library and Hyginus' Fabulae: Two Handbooks of Greek Mythology, Translated, with Introductions by R. Scott Smith and Stephen M. Trzaskoma, Hackett Publishing Company, 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-87220-821-6}}.
• Janda, Michael, Die Musik nach dem Chaos. Der Schöpfungsmythos der europäischen Vorzeit. Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck, Innsbruck 2010.
• Jentel, Marie-Odile, "Tethys I", in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC) VIII.1 Artemis Verlag, Zürich and Munich, 1997. {{ISBN|3-7608-8758-9}}.
• Karl Kerenyi. The Gods of the Greeks. Thames and Hudson, 1951.
• Kern, Otto. Orphicorum Fragmenta, Berlin, 1922. [https://archive.org/stream/orphicorumfragme00orphuoft#page/n5/mode/2up Internet Archive]
• Macrobius, Saturnalia, Volume II: Books 3-5, edited and translated by Robert A. Kaster, Loeb Classical Library No. 511, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 2011. [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/LCL510/2011/volume.xml Online version at Harvard University Press]. {{ISBN|978-0-674-99649-6}}.
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca; translated by Rouse, W H D, I Books I–XV. Loeb Classical Library No. 344, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1940. [https://archive.org/stream/dionysiaca01nonnuoft#page/n7/mode/2up Internet Archive]
• Pausanias, Pausanias Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+1.1.1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Plato, Cratylus in Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 12 translated by Harold N. Fowler, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925. [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0059.tlg005.perseus-eng1:383a Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Plato, Timaeus in Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 9 translated by W.R.M. Lamb, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1925. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text;jsessionid=4DAC0911EDDE8F410A4FED46380ED2C0?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0180%3Atext%3DTim.%3Asection%3D17a Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Pollitt, Jerome Jordan, Art in the Hellenistic Age, Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|9780521276726}}.
• Queyrel, François, L'Autel de Pergame: Images et pouvoir en Grèce d'Asie, Paris: Éditions A. et J. Picard, 2005. {{ISBN|2-7084-0734-1}}.
• West, M. L. (1966), Hesiod: Theogony, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-814169-6}}.
• West, M. L. (1983), The Orphic Poems, Clarendon Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-814854-8}}.
• West, M. L. (1997), The East Face of Helicon: West Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth, Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0-19-815042-3}}.
• Scholia to Lycophron's Alexandra, marginal notes by Isaak and Ioannis Tzetzes and others from the Greek edition of Eduard Scheer (Weidmann 1881). [https://topostext.org/work/860 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]. Greek text available on Archive.org
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0104 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
• Williams, Dyfri, "Sophilos in the British Museum" in [http://d2aohiyo3d3idm.cloudfront.net/publications/virtuallibrary/0892360585.pdf Greek Vases In The J. Paul Getty Museum], Getty Publications, 1983, pp. 9–34. {{ISBN|0-89236-058-5}}.

• [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}}

{{Greek religion}}

{{Greek mythology (deities)}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Characters in Greek mythology

Category:Characters in the Odyssey

Category:Children of Gaia

Category:Consorts of Gaia

Category:Deities in the Iliad

Category:Greek sea gods

Category:Horned gods

Category:Metamorphoses characters

Category:Personifications in Greek mythology

Category:Sea and river gods

Category:Titans (mythology)