In this version of the story, Amphitrite was convinced and returned willingly to become Poseidon’s bride.Īs the queen of her realm, Amphitrite was revered as a mother goddess. In others, he asked the dolphin god to convince her to return to his seas.ĭelphin told Amphitrite the many ways that the marriage would benefit her and of Poseidon’s honorable intentions. In some stories, Poseidon seized her and married her by force. When she reached the primordial river Oceanus, she hid in a bed of seaweed where she hoped he could not find her.ĭelphin, the god of dolphins, found her hiding place and told Poseidon where she was. She fled from Poseidon’s advances, swimming as far away as the water would allow. While he knew he wanted to make her his wife, Amphitrite had no desire to marry him. The sea god saw Amphitrite dancing on a beach with her sisters and instantly fell in love. A nymph, however, would be much easier to marry. Poseidon had tried to arrange a marriage with more powerful Olympian goddesses, including his sisters Demeter and Hestia, in the past but had been unsuccessful.
She married Poseidon, greatly increasing her own prominence and power.Īlthough the marriage improved her standing, Amphitrite was reluctant to marry the god of the sea. Among the nymphs, the Nereids were regarded by some writers as being both the most lovely and the most virtuous.Īmphitrite is not remembered as a nymph, however, but as the Queen of the Mediterranean. She was the eldest of the sisters and, according to legend, the most beautiful. Amphitrite the Sea QueenĪmphitrite was one of the fifty Nereids, sea nymphs whose father was Nereus, The Old Man of the Sea, who ruled over the Aegean. Evidence from a handful of texts suggests that Amphitrite was an ancient mother goddess who was diminished over time, but whose importance was never fully erased. Poseidon’s nearly anonymous wife may have once held a higher position in the pantheon, however. Both of his brothers married within their family and had wives who were powerful in their own positions and had their own myths. It seems incongruous for a god as powerful as Poseidon to choose a wife with such little prominence. She was a nymph, one of fifty daughters of a largely obscure god, with little role outside of her marriage.
Amphitrite was married to the sea god Poseidon, making her his queen and, presumably, an important member of the pantheon.ĭespite her position, however, Amphitrite was a relatively minor goddess.
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