Doris (Oceanid)

Doris (/ˈdrɪs/; Ancient Greek: Δωρίς/Δωρίδος means 'bounty'[1]), in Greek mythology, was a sea goddess. She was one of the 3,000 Oceanids, daughters of the Titans Oceanus[2] and Tethys.[3]

Doris riding a hippocampus and carrying two torches to light the wedding cortege of Poseidon and Amphitrite, base of a sculpted group, end 2nd century BC, Munich Glyptothek museum (Inv. 239).
Detail of Floor Mosaic from a Roman Villa named the House of Aion, ca. mid 4th Century CE at Paphos Archaeological Park, Paphos, Cyprus, depicting Doris, Thetis, and Galatea

Etymology

The name Doris is derived from the noun for a gift, δῶρον, from proto-Indo-European *déh₃rom of the same meaning.

Function

When not associated with a god, Doris represented the fertility of the ocean, goddess of the rich fishing-grounds found at the mouths of rivers where fresh water mingled with the brine.

Family

Being an Oceanid meant she was a sister of the river gods. By her husband Nereus, Doris was the mother of Nerites[2] and mother to the fifty Nereids,[4] including Thetis, Amphitrite and Galatea.[5]

Namesake

Doris Cove in Antarctica is named after the goddess.[6]

See also

Notes

  1. Kerényi, Carl (1951). The Gods of the Greeks. London: Thames and Hudson. p. 41.
  2. Aelian, De Natura Animalium 14.28
  3. Hesiod, Theogony 350; Apollodorus, 1.8
  4. Hesiod, Theogony 240; Apollodorus, 1.2.7; Hyginus, Fabulae Preface
  5. Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.742 ff.
  6. Doris Cove. SCAR Composite Gazetteer of Antarctica

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.