Editing Triton (mythology) (section)

== Sea god ==
Triton was the son of [[Poseidon]] and [[Amphitrite]] according to [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Theogony]]''.<ref name="theogony-tr-most" /><ref name="handbook" /> He was the ruler (possessor) of the depths of the sea,<ref name="theogony-tr-most" /> who is either "dreadful"<!--horrible--> or "mighty" ({{lang|grc|δεινός}}) according to the epithet given him by Hesiod.<ref name="theogony-tr-most" />{{sfnp|Mommsen|2014|pp=53, 55}}

Triton dwelt with his parents in underwater golden palaces.<ref name="theogony-tr-most" /> Poseidon's golden palace was located at [[Aegae (Euboea)|Aegae]] on [[Euboea]] in one passage of Homer's ''Iliad'' 12.21.<ref>{{Cite Iliad|13.21}} ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.+13.21&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134 text]@Perseus Project)</ref><ref name="theogony-ed-west" /><ref name="dgrg" />{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|Homer ''Iliad'' {{URL|1=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Il.++8.203&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134|2=8.203}} also mentions "Aegaea" but this refers to [[Aegae (Achaea)]].<ref name="dgrg" />}}<!--[[Aegae (Euboea)]] (q.v.) is also mentioned in Odyssey, Book 5. -->

Unlike his father Poseidon who is always fully [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] in ancient art (this has only changed in modern popular culture), Triton's lower half is that of a fish, while the top half is presented in a human figure.

[[File:Salzburg - Wasserspiele Hellbrunn 01 - 2018-08-21.jpg|thumb|Triton blowing a conch. Statue at Wasserspiele Hellbrunn, [[Hellbrunn Palace]], Salzburg, Austria]]
Triton in later times became associated with  possessing a [[conch]] shell,<ref name="oxford-classical-dict" /> which he blew like a trumpet to calm or raise the waves.{{Refn|Ovid, ''Metamorphoses'' 1.333 ''apud'' [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology|DGRBM]]<ref name="dgrbm-triton1" />}} He was "trumpeter and bugler" to [[Oceanus]] and [[Poseidon]].<ref name="natale-conti" /> Its sound was so cacophonous that when loudly blown, it put the giants to flight, who imagined it to be the roar of a dark wild beast.{{Refn|[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Pseudo-Hyginus]], ''[[Poeticon Astronomicon|Poetical astronomy]]'' ii. 23 ''apud'' [[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology|DGRBM]]<ref name="dgrbm-triton1" />}}

<!--Like his father, Poseidon, he carried a trident.-->The original Greek Triton only sometimes bore a trident.<ref name="ashton" /> In literature, Triton carries a trident in [[Lucius Accius|Accius]]'s ''Medea'' fragment.<ref name="fitch" /><ref name="slaney" />{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|A triton (see [[#Tritons|§Tritons]] below) and [[merman]] are synonymous in heraldry,<ref name="moule" /> and the figure may often carry a trident.<ref name="eve" />}}

Triton is "sea-hued" according to [[Ovid]] and "his shoulders barnacled with sea-shells".<ref name="ovid-met-deucalion-tr-melville" /> Ovid actually here calls Triton "[[cerulean]]" in color, to choose a [[cognate]] rendering to the original language ({{langx|la|caeruleus}});<ref name="ovid-met-deucalion-tr-lombardo" /><ref>Ovid, {{URL|http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi006.perseus-lat1:1.253-1.347|''Metamorphoses'' 1.332}}</ref> Ovid also includes Triton among other deities ([[Proteus]], [[Aegaeon (mythology)|Aegaeon]], [[Doris (Greek myth)|Doris]]) of being this blue color, with green (''{{linktext|viridis}}'') hair,<ref>Ovid, {{URL|http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0959.phi006.perseus-lat1:2.1-2.102|''Metamorphoses'' 2.8}}</ref><ref name="ovid-met-phaeton-tr-martin" /> as well describing the steed Triton rides as cerulean.{{Refn|Ovid, ''Heroides'' 7.49–50: "caeruleis Triton per mare curret equis".<ref name="natale-conti" /><ref name="kleywegt" />}}