Thetis became mother of several children by Peleus, but all these she
destroyed by fire in attempting to see whether they were immortal. Achilles
would have shared the same fate, if Peleus had not snatched him from her
hand, as she was going to repeat the cruel operation. She afterwards
rendered his body invulnerable by plunging him in the waters of the Styx,
excepting that part of the heel by which she held him. As Thetis well knew
the future fate of her son, she attempted to remove him from the Trojan
war, by concealing him in the court of Lycomedes. This, however, was
useless, as he went with the rest of the Greeks. The mother, still anxious
for his preservation, prevailed upon Vulcan to make him a suit of armour;
but after it was done, she refused to fulfil the promise she had made to
the god. When Achilles was killed by Paris, Thetis issued out of the sea
with the Nereids to mourn his death, and after she had collected his ashes
in a golden urn, raised a monument to his memory, and instituted festivals
in his honour.
* * * * *
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TRITON, PROTEUS, PORTUMNUS, GLAUCUS, AEOLUS, THE SYRENS, CHARYBDIS AND
SCYLLA, CIRCE AND THE HARPIES.
Triton was the son of Neptune and Amphitrite, and was reckoned of much
importance among the sea deities, being able to raise or to calm storms at
his pleasure. He is generally represented with a shell in his hand.
"Old Triton blowing his sea horn."