Toosa
In Greek mythology, Toosa (in ancient Greek Θόωσα Thoōsa; "swift"), a purely Homeric character, was a sea nymph daughter of Phorcys but is not indicated who was his mother. It is barely known about her that she was one of Poseidon's lovers, with whom he fathered the cyclops Polyphemus, but it is not known if she was also the mother of the other cannibal cyclops that appear in the Odyssey. In The Hesiodic texts refer to the Grayas and the Gorgons as Phorcydes. Theocritus says that Thoosa's companion was the Nereid Galatea, with whom Polyphemus fell in love.
Posidon, a blender of the earth, is the one who continues to be found by the cyclop, the great Polifemo, whom Odysseus ceded to be the greatest by his strength among those giants: the ninpha Toosa, born of Forcis, minister of the unhappiest sea.Homer: Odyssey I vv. 70-73.
Based on her etymology she is identified as a goddess of dangerous sea currents (like the pontid Euribia). Likewise, like her sisters Phorcydes, she would have serpentine features; For this reason she is naturally associated with the monstrous siren Scylla and the serpentine nymph Echidna.
Surprisingly, Toosa is also imagined, in a single source, as consort of Apollo and mother of the famous aedo Lino.
Sources
- ↑ Homer: Odyssey I 70-73.
- ↑ Pseudo-Apolodoro: Mythological Library, Epitome vii.4.
- ↑ Hesiod: Theogony 270-276
- ↑ Theocrite: Idilios XI vv 25 and 62
- ↑ Certamen Hesiodo and Homer 46-47. In fact, Toosa refers to these verses as "Toosa, the Poseidon one", without specifying more information about it.