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Phorcys

Greek sea god

EntityGreek water deities chthonic deitiesQ200382

Also known as Phorcus

Instance of: Greek water deities
, chthonic deities

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

In Greek mythology, Phorcys or Phorcus is a primordial sea god, generally cited as the son of Pontus and Gaia (Earth). Classical scholar Karl Kerenyi conflated Phorcys with the similar sea gods Nereus and Proteus. His wife was Ceto, and he is most notable in myth for fathering by Ceto a host of monstrous children. In extant Hellenistic-Roman mosaics, Phorcys was depicted as a fish-tailed merman with crab-claw legs and red, spiky skin.

Overview

All data

35 statements · 6% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Sex or gender: male
Father: Pontus
Mother: Gaia
Spouse: Ceto
Child: Phorcydes
Hesperides
Medusa
Graeae
Ladon
Euryale
Thoosa
Stheno
Show 5 moreShow less
Deino
Enyo
Pemphredo
Echidna
Polemos
Worshipped by: Ancient Greek religion
Name in native language: Φόρκυς

On other databases

14 identifiers linking Phorcys across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

externally sourced

Source last edited September 8, 2026. AIDb refreshes this page daily.

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AIDb. (2026). Phorcys (Q200382). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/phorcys-Q200382