Pontus (mythology)

The Fortune and Pontos in Tomis (today Constance).

In Greek mythology, Ponto (in ancient Greek Πόντος Póntos, 'sea'; in Latin Pontus) was an ancient god of the pre-Olympic sea and one of the primordial gods. Hesiod recounts that the Earth, Gaia, generated Pontus by itself, "without mediating pleasant trade", and that his brothers, conceived in the same way, were Uranus and the Montes. For this author, Pontus seems to be little more than a personification of the sea, the "barren sea of agitated waves"; understood as the raging sea, and in this facet some authors translate it as the "Swell". Higino affirmed, on the other hand, that Pontus was born from the union of the Earth with the Ether, the luminous Sky, along with other primordial such as Tartarus, Oceanus, and Themis. He also differentiates Ponto del Mar. In the Homeric texts, his female counterpart, Thalassa, appears; the personification of the Mediterranean Sea (whose name simply means 'sea', but from a pre-Greek root). With Thalassa Pontus he fathered at least the multitude of fish that swim over salty waters.

In the Theogony he was the father, with Gaea, of the offspring of the Pontids or children of the sea. Thus Gaea gave birth to "the infallible and benevolent Nereus, the enormous Thaumante, the arrogant Phorcis, Ceto with fair cheeks and Eurybia, who harbors a heart of steel in her chest." Among his offspring both Nereus and Thaumante were known as "elders of the sea", while Phorcys and Ceto are the progenitors of sea monsters. In the Titanomachy we are told that Aegeon, a hundred-handed sailor, was the son of Pontus and Gaia and helped the Titans during the Titanomachy. Bacchylides also believes that the same parents fathered the famous four telquines, called Acteo, Megalesio, Ormeno and Lyco. It is said that Orpheus apostrophized that at the beginning of creation the three principles, Gaia, Urano and Ponto, formed a single confused mass. In the Orphic theogonies Ponto is linked with Hydros, the primordial Waters.

Compare Pontus with another pre-Olympic sea god, Oceanus, whose presence was most vivid among the Hellenes.

Consorts and offspring

• With Gea
  • Nereo
  • Taumante
  • Forcis
  • Ceto
  • Euribia
  • Ageon
  • The telquins
• With Talasa
  • tribes of fish

Fonts

• Mythological Library i.2.
• HESIDEO: Theogony v.107, 131, 233.