His body above the waist, is that of a man, but below, a dolphin's, while
by some he is shown with the fore feet of a horse. He usually precedes the
chariot of the god of the sea, sounding his shell, and is resembled, in
this, by his sons the Tritons.
[Illustration]
Proteus, son of Oceanus and Thetis, was guardian of the subjects of
Neptune, and had the power of looking into the future, from that God,
because he had tended for him the monsters of the sea.
"The shepherd of the seas, a prophet, and a god,
High o'er the main, in watery pomp he rides,
His azure car and finny coursers guides.
With sure foresight, and with unerring doom
He sees what is, and was, and is to come."