Editing Proteus (section)

==Mythology==
=== Proteus, prophetic sea-god ===
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According to [[Homer]] (''[[Odyssey]]'' iv: 365), the sandy island of [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|Pharos]] situated off the coast of the [[Nile Delta]] was the home of Proteus, the oracular Old Man of the Sea and herdsman of the sea-beasts. In the ''Odyssey'', [[Menelaus]] relates to [[Telemachus]] that he had been becalmed here on his journey home from the [[Trojan War]]. He learned from Proteus's daughter Eidothea ("the very image of the Goddess"), that if he could capture her father, he could force him to reveal which of the gods he had offended and how he could propitiate them and return home. Proteus emerged from the sea to sleep among his colony of [[Mediterranean monk seal|seals]], but Menelaus was successful in holding him, though Proteus took the forms of a [[lion]], a [[Serpent (symbolism)|serpent]], a [[leopard]], a pig, even of [[water]] or a [[tree]]. Proteus then answered truthfully, further informing Menelaus that his brother [[Agamemnon]] had been murdered on his return home, that [[Ajax the Lesser]] had been shipwrecked and killed, and that [[Odysseus]] was stranded on [[Calypso (mythology)|Calypso]]'s Isle [[Ogygia]].

According to [[Virgil]] in the fourth [[Georgics|Georgic]], at one time the bees of [[Aristaeus]], son of [[Apollo]], all died of a disease. Aristaeus went to his mother, [[Cyrene (mythology)|Cyrene]], for help; she told him that Proteus could tell him how to prevent another such disaster, but would do so only if compelled. Aristaeus had to seize Proteus and hold him, no matter what he would change into. Aristaeus did so, and Proteus eventually gave up and told him that the bees' death was a punishment for causing the death of [[Eurydice]]. To make amends, Aristaeus needed to sacrifice 12 animals to the gods, leave the carcasses in the place of sacrifice, and return three days later. He followed these instructions, and upon returning, he found in one of the carcasses a swarm of bees which he took to his [[apiary]]. The bees were never again troubled by disease.

There are also legends concerning [[Apollonius of Tyana]] that say Proteus incarnated himself as the 1st-century philosopher. These legends are mentioned in the 3rd-century biographical work ''[[Life of Apollonius of Tyana]]''.

===Proteus, king of Egypt===
{{main|Proteus of Egypt}}
In the ''[[Odyssey]]'' (iv.430ff)  Menelaus wrestles with "Proteus of Egypt, the immortal old man of the sea who never lies, who sounds the deep in all its depths, Poseidon's servant" ([[Robert Fagles]]'s translation). Proteus of Egypt is mentioned in an alternative version of the story of [[Helen of Troy]] in the tragedy ''Helen'' of [[Euripides]] (produced in 412 BC). The often unconventional playwright introduces a "real" Helen and a "phantom" Helen (who caused the [[Trojan War]]), and gives a backstory that makes the father of his character [[Theoclymenus]], Proteus, a king in Egypt who had been wed to a [[Nereid]] Psamathe. In keeping with one of his themes in ''Helen'', Euripides mentions in passing ''Eido'' ("image"), a daughter of the king and therefore sister of Theoclymenus who underwent a name-change after her adolescence and became ''Theonoë'', "god-minded", since she was as it turned out capable of foreseeing the future—as such, she is a prophet who appears as a crucial character in the play. The play's king Proteus is already dead at the start of the action, and his tomb is present onstage. It appears that he is only marginally related to the "Old Man of the Sea"<ref name="Nottingham">Euripides. [http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/classics/staff/LSF/Euripides/helen.html "Helen"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050301083542/http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/classics/staff/LSF/Euripides/helen.html |date=2005-03-01 }}. Nottingham University.</ref> and should not be confused with the sea god Proteus, although it is tempting to see Euripides as playing a complex literary game with the sea god's history—both Proteuses, for example, are protectors of the house of Menelaus, both are connected with the sea, both dwell in Egypt, and both are "grandfatherly" or "ancient" figures.

At [[Lighthouse of Alexandria|Pharos]] a king of Egypt named Proteus welcomed the young god [[Dionysus]] in his wanderings.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Greek Myths|last=Graves|first=Robert|publisher=Penguin|year=2012|location=New York|via=Google Books}}</ref> In Hellenistic times, Pharos was the site of the [[Lighthouse of Alexandria]], one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece|last=Wilson|first=Nigel|publisher=Routledge|year=2006|location=New York|page=36|via=Google Books}}</ref>