In
Greek mythology,
Phorcys (
Greek: ,
Phorkus) is a god of the hidden dangers of the deep. He is a primordial
sea god, generally cited (first in
Hesiod) as the son of
Pontus and
Gaia. According to the
Orphic hymns, Phorcys,
Cronus and
Rhea were the eldest offspring of
Oceanus and
Tethys. Classical scholar
Karl Kerenyi conflated Phorcys with the similar sea gods
Nereus and
Proteus. His wife was
Ceto, and he is most notable in myth for fathering by Ceto a host of monstrous children. In extant Hellenistic-Roman mosaics, Phorcys was depicted as a fish-tailed merman with crab-claw fore-legs and red-spiked skin.