Editing Nereids (section)

==Mythology==
[[File:French Empire mantel clock.jpg|thumb|right|150px|[[French Empire mantel clock]] (1822) depicting the nereid Galatea ''[[velificatio|velificans]]'']]
The Nereids symbolized everything that is beautiful and kind about the sea. Their melodious voices sang as they danced around their father. They are represented as beautiful women, crowned with branches of red coral and dressed in white silk robes trimmed with gold.

These nymphs are particularly associated with the [[Aegean Sea]], where they dwelt with their father Nereus in the depths within a golden palace.<ref name="Theoi Project2">{{cite web|last1=Atsma|first1=Aaron J.|title=Nereides|url=http://www.theoi.com/Pontios/Nereides.html|access-date=7 March 2016|website=Theoi Project Greek Mythology}}</ref> The most notable of them are [[Thetis]], wife of [[Peleus]] and mother of [[Achilles]]; [[Amphitrite]], wife of Poseidon and mother of [[Triton (mythology)|Triton]]; [[Acis and Galatea|Galatea]], the vain love interest of the [[Cyclopes|Cyclops]] [[Polyphemus]], and lastly, [[Psamathe (Nereid)|Psamathe]] who became the mother of [[Phocus of Aegina|Phocus]] by King [[Aeacus]] of [[Aegina]], and [[Theoclymenus (mythology)|Theoclymenus]] and [[Theonoe of Egypt|Theonoe]] by [[Proteus]], a sea-god or king of [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]].

In Homer's ''Iliad'' XVIII, when Thetis cries out in sympathy for the grief of [[Achilles]] for the slain [[Patroclus]], her sisters appear.<ref name="Hom2">Homer, ''Iliad'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D18%3Acard%3D22 18.39–18.51]</ref> Four of her siblings, [[Cymodoce (mythology)|Cymodoce]], [[Thalia (Nereid)|Thalia]], [[Nesaea]] and [[Spio]] were also among the nymphs in the train of [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]].<ref>[[Virgil]], ''[[Georgics]]'' 4.338</ref> Later on, these four together with their other sisters Thetis, [[Melite (mythology)|Melite]] and [[Panopea]], were able to help the hero [[Aeneas]] and his crew during a storm.<ref>Virgil, ''[[Aeneid]]'' 5.825–5.826</ref>

In one account, [[Cassiopeia (mother of Andromeda)|Cassiopeia]] boasted that her daughter [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]] was more beautiful than the Nereides, who were enraged by the claim. Poseidon, in sympathy for them, sent a flood and a sea monster to the land of the [[Aethiopia]]ns, demanding as well the sacrifice of the princess.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 2.4.3; [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''[[Fabulae]]'' 64, [[De Astronomica|''De'' ''Astronomica'']] 2.10 with [[Euripides L. Evriviades|Euripides]] and [[Sophocles]] as the authority; [[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 5.16 ff.</ref> These sea goddesses also were said to reveal to men the mysteries of [[Dionysus]] and [[Persephone]].<ref>''[[Orphic Hymns]]'' 24.10</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=[[Kerényi]]|first=Carl|title=The Gods of the Greeks|publisher=[[Thames and Hudson]]|year=1951|location=London|pages=66}}</ref>