Triton
Triton was the merman son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, who calmed or stirred the waves with his conch-shell trumpet.
The Myth of Triton
Triton was the merman son of Poseidon and Amphitrite, dwelling in a golden palace on the floor of the sea near Libya. His most famous act came during the great flood of Deucalion: when Zeus decided to end the deluge, Triton blew his mighty conch shell and the waters receded across the earth. He later guided Jason and the Argonauts when they became stranded in the shallows of Lake Tritonis in Libya, carrying the Argo back to the open sea. In art, Triton appeared with a human torso and a powerful fish tail, often attending Poseidon's chariot alongside dolphins and Nereids. His image multiplied in later tradition into a race of Tritons who served as trumpeters of the deep.
Parents
Poseidon and Amphitrite
Children
Pallas (in some traditions)
Symbols
Fun Fact
Neptune's largest moon is named Triton — and Triton conch shells are real sea snails named after this god.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Tritons
🐉 creaturesea, marine
Fish-tailed sea spirits who attended Poseidon and blew conch shells to calm or stir the waves, led by the original Triton, son of Poseidon.
Euphemus
🗡 herosea
Argonaut and son of Poseidon who could walk on water and was prophesied to be the ancestor of Cyrene's founders.
Amphitrite
⚡ godGoddess-queen of the seas
Amphitrite co-ruled the oceans with Poseidon.
Poseidon
⚡ godGod of the sea, earthquakes, and horses
Poseidon was the god of the sea and earthquakes whose moods determined whether sailors lived or died — and whose grudge against Odysseus drove the Odyssey.
Poseidon
⚡ godGod of the sea, earthquakes, horses
Lord of the seas and brother of Zeus. Poseidon's moods shaped the oceans — calm seas for those who pleased him, devastating storms for those who did not.
Nereus
⚡ godThe Old Man of the Sea
Nereus was the ancient, benevolent sea god known as the Old Man of the Sea — truthful, wise, gentle, and father of the fifty Nereids.
Glaucus the Sea God
⚡ godsea
Mortal fisherman who ate a magical herb, became immortal, and transformed into a blue-green sea deity.
Glaucus
⚡ godsea, prophecy
A mortal fisherman who became an immortal sea god after eating a magical herb.
Palaemon
⚡ godharbours, sailors
God of harbours and patron of the Isthmian Games, originally the mortal child Melicertes.
Proteus
⚡ godShape-shifting seer of the sea
Proteus knew all things but only spoke if held through shape-shifts.
Arion
🗡 heroPoet saved by dolphins
Arion was a legendary poet and musician whose life was saved by a dolphin when pirates forced him to jump overboard.
Melicertes
⚡ godsea
Son of Ino who was transformed into the marine god Palaemon after his mother leaped with him into the sea.