Proteus
Proteus, a sea-god of changeable form
Frieze-Dennison Vergil
- a sea-god who often changed his form; he was in the service of Neptune, and kept his sea-calves, Ov. M. 8, 731; 2, 9; id. A. A. 1, 761; Hor. C. 1, 2, 7; Verg. G. 4, 388; Ov. F. 1, 367: Protei columnae, i.e. the boundary of Egypt, Verg. A. 11, 262.— Transf., of a fickle person: Protea tenere, Hor. Ep. 1, 1, 90; of a cunning person, id. S. 2, 3, 71; cf. Amm.29, 1, 39.
Protheus ‥ caeruleo corpore ‥ curru per aequora nudus vehi ‥ et super omne piscium genus principatum habuisse, et in omnium rerum formas se vertere potuisse describitur
assidet ille ducis pedibus, vultus alienos / sumit, nec proprios, Protheus alter, habet
quod indesinenter oportebat eum pugnare ad bestias curie, et velut cum Protheo, ut dici solet, negotium gerere
nescio cujus monstruosi ~ei poetice commentatam effigiem
mortis rex ‥ / ‥ incerto Protei vultu proteatur
ita in uno eodemque homine modo virtutibus se vitia palliabant, modo virtutes vitiis succedebant, ut ambigeres quo teneres nodo mutantem Prothea vultus[cf. ]Hor. Epist. I 1. 90
qui versibilitate ‥ videbatur ipsum Prothea superare
si accedis, ‥ latebras querunt, variant faciem ‥; lubricum et volubilem Prothea miraberis rediisse
~eus est Mercurius, qui se in omnes formas vertit, et denuo propriam recuperat
~ea, i. nimphea
in muliere fides est Protea, transit ut umbra, / debilior tela quam facit aranea
- 1. zeegod, die de kunst v.h. voorspellen machtig was, kon zich in veel gedaanten veranderen, verbleef meestal op het Egyptische eiland Pharos; ➤ Protei columnae (Verg.) de grenzen v. Egypte;
- 2. (Hor.) (metaf.) (a) slimmerik; ➤ effugiet vincula ~; (b) veranderlijk mens.
(Πρωτεύς), the prophetic old man of the sea (ἅλιος γέρων), occurs in the earliest legends as a subject of Poseidon, and is described as seeing through the whole depth of the sea, and tending the flocks (the seals) of Poseidon (Hom. Od. 4.365, 385, 400; Verg. G. 4.392 ; Theocr. 2.58; Hor. Carm. 1.2.7; Philostr. Icon. 2.17). He resided in the island of Pharos, at the distance of one day's journey from the river Aegyptus (Nile), whence he is also called the Egyptian (Hom. Od. 4.355, 385). Virgil, however, instead of Pharos, mentions the island of Carpathos, between Crete and Rhodes (Georg. 4.387; comp. Hom. Il. 2.676), whereas, according to the same poet, Proteus was born in Thessaly (Georg. 4.390, comp. Ace. 11.262). His life is described as follows. At midday he rises from the flood, and sleeps in the shadow of the rocks of the coast, and around him lie the monsters of the deep (Hom. Od. 4.400; Verg. G. 4.395). Any one wishing to compel him to foretell the future, was obliged to catch hold of him at that time; he, indeed, had the power of assuming every possible shape, in order to escape the necessity of prophesying, but whenever he saw that his eudeavours were of no avail, he resumed his usual appearance, and told the truth (Hom. Od. 4.410, &100.455, &c.; Ov. Art. Am. i. 761, Fast. 1.369; Philostr. Vit. Apoll. 1.4). When he had finished his prophecy he returned into the sea (Hom. Od. 4.570). Homer (Hom. Od. 4.365) ascribes to him one daughter, Eidothea, but Strabo (x. p.472) mentions Cabeiro as a second, aud Zenodotus (apud Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1500) mentions Eurynome instead of Eidothea. He is sometimes represented as riding through the sea, in a chariot drawn by Hippocampae. (Virg. Georg. 4.389.)
Another set of traditions describes Proteus as a son of Poseidon, and as a king of Egypt, who had two sons, Telegonus and Polygonus or Tmolus. (Apollod. 2.5.9; Tzetz. ad Lyc. 124.) Diodorus however observes (1.62), that only the Greeks called him Proteus, and that the Egyptians called him Cetes. His wife is called Psamathe (Eur. Hel. 7) or Torone (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 115), and, besides the above mentioned sons, Theoclymenus and Theonoe are likewise called his children. (Eur. Hel. 9, 13.) He is said to have hospitably received Dionysus during his wanderings (Apollod. 3.5.1), and Hermes brought to him Helena after her abduction ( Eur. Hel. 46), or, according to others, Proteus himself took her from Paris, gave to the lover a phantom, and restored the true Helen to Menelaus after his return from Troy. (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 112, 820; Hdt. 2.112, 118.) The story further relates that Proteus was originally an Egyptian, but that he went to Thrace and there married Torone. But as his sons by her used great violence towards strangers, he prayed to his father Poseidon to carry him back to Egypt. Poseidon accordingly opened a chasm in the earth in Pallene, and through a passage passing through the earth under the sea he led him back into Egypt. (Tzetz. ad Lyc. 124; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 686.) A second personage of the name of Proteus is mentioned by Apollodorus (2.1.5) among the sons of Aegyptus. [L.S]
- , Πρωτεύς, a sea-god of changeable form, V., H., O.: Protei columnae, i. e. the boundary of Egypt, V.: Quo teneam voltūs mutantem Protea modo?i. e. How bind one so fickle! H.: Effugiet haec vincula Proteus, i. e. the cunning rogue, H.
(Πρωτεύς). The prophetic old man of the sea, described in the earliest legends as a subject of Poseidon, whose flocks (the seals) he tended. According to Homer, he resided in the island of Pharos at a distance of one day's sail from the river Aegyptus (i. e. the Nile); whereas Vergil places his residence in the island of Carpathos between Crete and Rhodes. At mid-day Proteus rose from the sea, and slept in the shadow of the rocks of the coast, with the sea-monsters lying around him. Any one wishing to learn from him the future was obliged to catch hold of him at that time; as soon as he was seized he assumed every possible shape in order to escape the necessity of prophesying; but whenever he saw that his endeavours were of no avail he resumed his usual form, and told the truth. After finishing his prophecy he returned into the sea (Odyss. iv. 351). Homer ascribes to him a daughter Idothea. Another set of traditions describes Proteus as a son of Poseidon and as a king of Egypt, who had two sons—Telegonus and Polygonus or Tmolus. His Egyptian name is said to have been Cetes, for which the Greeks substituted that of Proteus. His wife is called Psamathé or Toroné, and, besides the above-mentioned sons, Theoclymenus and Theonoë are likewise called his children. He is said to have hospitably received Dionysus during his wanderings. Hermes brought to him Helen after her abduction; or, according to others, Proteus himself took her from Paris, gave to the lover a phantom, and restored the true Helen to Menelaüs after his return from Troy (Herod.ii. 112, 118; Diod.i. 62).
- king of Egypt, receives Dionysus: Apollod. 3.5.1
- receives Helen from Hermes to guard: Apollod. E.3.3
- Menelaus discovers her at the court of: Apollod. 2.8.1
- his speech to Menelaus in Homer: Paus. 8.53.5
- king of Egypt: Hdt. 2.112
- his reception of Paris and Helen: Hdt. 2.115
- represented on throne of Apollo at Amyclae: Paus. 3.18.16
- husband of Gorgophone: Apollod. 2.1.4
- father of Polygonus and Telegonus: Apollod. 2.5.9