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These divinities were children of Nereus and Dorus. As the Dryads and
Hamadryads presided over forests--as the Naiads watched over fountains and
the sources of rivers--as the Oreads were the peculiar guardians of the
hills, so the Nereids guided and commanded the waves of the ocean, and were
implored as its deities. They had altars chiefly on the coast of the sea,
where the piety of mankind made offerings of milk, oil, and honey, and
often of the flesh of goats. When they were on the sea shore, they
generally resided in grottos and caves, adorned with shells.
[Illustration]
There were fifty of them, all children of Nereus, who is represented as an
old man with a long flowing beard, and hair of an azure colour. The chief
place of his residence was in the Egean Sea, where he was attended by his
daughters, who often danced in chorus round him. He had the gift of
prophecy, and informed those who consulted him, of the fate which awaited
them, though such was the god's aversion to his task, that he often evaded
the importunities of the inquirers, by assuming different shapes, and
totally escaping from their grasp.
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