Pontus (mythology)

Pontus
Member of of the Primordial Gods and Sea Gods
Pontus in an ancient Roman mosaic, Tunisia
Abode	Sea
Consort	Gaia, Thalassa
Parents	Gaia
Siblings	Uranus
Offspring	Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, Eurybia

Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys,

In Greek mythology, Pontus (/ˈpɒntəs/; Greek: Πόντος Pontos, "Sea") was an ancient, pre-Olympian sea-god, one of the Greek primordial deities. Pontus was Gaia's son and has no father; according to the Greek poet Hesiod, he was born without coupling, though according to Hyginus, Pontus is son of Aether and Gaia.

For Hesiod, Pontus seems little more than a personification of the sea, ho pontos, "the Road", by which Hellenes signified the Mediterranean Sea. With Gaia, he fathered Nereus (the Old Man of the Sea), Thaumas (the awe-striking "wonder" of the Sea, embodiment of the sea's dangerous aspects), Phorcys and his sister-consort Ceto, and the "Strong Goddess" Eurybia. With the sea goddess Thalassa (whose own name simply means "sea" but is derived from a Pre-Greek root), he fathered the Telchines and all sea life.

In a Roman sculpture of the 2nd century AD, Pontus, rising from seaweed, grasps a rudder with his right hand and leans on the prow of a ship. He wears a mural crown, and accompanies Fortuna, whose draperies appear at the left, as twin patron deities of the Black Sea port of Tomis in Moesia.