Talk:Oceanus

Father of the Gods

It seems that Oceanus was considered to be the original source of all the gods by many.

My evidence for this is Homer himself:

"I [Hera] am going to the ends of the generous earth, on a visit to Okeanos, whence the gods have come, and Tethys our mother, who brought me up kindly in their own house, and cared for me. I shall go to visit these, and resolve their division of discord, since now for a long time they have stayed apart from each other and from the bed of love, since rancour has entered their feelings." - Homer, Iliad 14.300

Any other one of the gods, whose race is immortal, I [Hypnos] would lightly put to sleep, even the stream of that River Okeanos, whence is risen the seed of all the immortals." - Homer, Iliad 14.244

"Okeanos I call, whose nature ever flows, from whom at first both Gods and men arose." - Orphic Hymn 83 to Oceanus

Also there is evidence outside Homer:

"Okeanos I call, whose nature ever flows, from whom at first both Gods and men arose." - Orphic Hymn 83 to Oceanus

It is clear that many veiwed Oceanus as the source of the gods. I think that this is an importan aspect of the character of Oceanus. Just because this myth was ognored by Hesiod does not mean that we should ignore it. I think that this is important enough and relevant enough to be included in the article.

The Prime Source 21:03, 29 April 2007 (UTC)Dale

"Okeanos Potamos": what a muddle

Removed the following here:

• "Okeanos Potamos as the lower Danube from ancient literary perspectives:

Part of the Danubius or Istros river was also known as (together with the Black Sea) the Okeanos in ancient times, the lower Danube being called the Okeanos Potamos (Okeanos River)." No, the "Ocean Stream" encircles the world.

• "Okeanos was not originally a Greek word (Thalassa being Greek for sea), Okeanos being a Pelasgian word which was similar to eye (ochio) and water (aqua) with the Pelasgian ending an-os, which could have meant large still water (not a sea). The lower Danube has a slow deep wide course, so it can be seen why it was considered as part of the Okeanos." 'No, 'thalassa is the word with the non-Greek etymology and -os is a Greek suffix. The remainder is also incorrect or a personal essay.
• "Strabo mentions that Okeanos was once an immense lake (Geogr. I. 3. 4)" No, read Strabo, 1.3.4: there is no mention of Oceanus in the interesting discuission of seas gone dry etc.
• "...and that the Argonauts sailed to the land rich in gold (Colchis, on the Black Sea) that was considered as another Okeanos (Geogr. I. 2. 10)." No, Strabo mentions the site of Colchis as "out by Oceanus", that is at the edge of the world. The Black Sea (Pontos, not Okeanos) is not intended here.
• "Both Homer (Odyssey, XII. 1) and Hesiod (Theogonia, v.242. 959) in their theogonic legends exclusively refer to the lower Danube as the Okeanos Potamos, possibly due to it being remembered as the remnant of when the Pannonian and lower Danubian basins were under water. This may well reconcile why the dwellings of the Hyperboreans were near the Okeanos according to Hecateus of Abdera, while according to Pindar they were near the Istros or lower Danube (Olymp. III. 17)." No, Okeanos Potamos is the "Ocean Stream" that girdles the world. A naive reading of the geographical fudging of Apollonius of Rhodes may be the source of these confusions, which we mayn't pass on to the wikipedia reader.--Wetman (talk) 20:27, 9 January 2009 (UTC)

New section and Trevi Fountain

I took some text out of the introduction and made a section called "Excerpts from Hesiod and Homer".

The text says "In most variations of the war between the Titans and the Olympians, or Titanomachy, Oceanus, along with Prometheus and Themis, did not take the side of his fellow Titans against the Olympians, but instead withdrew from the conflict. In most variations of this myth, Oceanus also refused to side with Cronus in the latter's revolt against their father, Uranus." Which variations? Sources are needed here.

I know it's clear but I think it would be worth adding some information on art, particularly on Oceanus being the main character in the Trevi Fountain.

ICE77 (talk) 04:27, 15 April 2011 (UTC)

Oceanus and Heracles

The text says "When Oceanus tossed the bowl about, Heracles threatened him and stilled his waves."

Why did Heracles throw the bowl? Would threatening Oceanus be considered hubris?

ICE77 (talk) 07:41, 21 January 2018 (UTC)

Genealogy section

Oceanus was originally stated and worshiped by many as a Protogenoi god and the son of Chaos and Gaia 82.17.221.173 (talk) 17:44, 13 May 2020 (UTC) 82.17.221.173 (talk) 19:39, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

References

I know of no ancient source which has Chaos and Gaia as the parents of Oceanus. Paul August ☎ 20:07, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

References

greekmythology.com, just check it 82.17.221.173 (talk) 19:39, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

The website greekmythology.com is not an acceptable source for Wikipedia. (For what constitutes an acceptable source please see Wikipedia:Reliable sources). Nor does that website cite any acceptable sources, in fact it cites no sources at all. Ultimately any source for this would have to be based on some ancient source, and as I said, I know of no ancient source which says this. Paul August ☎ 20:02, 18 May 2020 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: HUM 202 - Introduction to Mythology

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 14 August 2023 and 8 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Thoughtsofamermaid (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Venusweet (talk) 12:32, 26 November 2023 (UTC)

Hydros

I've been learning about the god Oceanus, but recently I've also learned of an entity called Hydros (which does not have a page on this site). Supposedly, this is the name of the primordial god/incarnation of water (not to be confused with Seas, Rivers, Oceans, etc.) This information apparently stems from the Orphic tradition, and I'm currently wondering if this is a unique entity, or a different name of Oceanus. I ask this because apparently, Hydros (Water) and his goddess-wife Thesis (Matter / Creation) might be the names attributed to Oceanus and Tethys when they were described as Primordial deities.

I'm finding what I need in these documents:

• Orphica, Theogonies Fragment 54 (from Damascius) (trans. West) (Greek hymns C3rd A.D. - C2nd B.C.)
• Orphica, Theogonies Fragment 57 (from Athenogoras)
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1. 503 ff (trans. Rieu) (Greek epic C3rd B.C.)
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca 23. 280 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.)
• Nonnus, Dionysiaca 41. 155 ff

ThunderBrine (talk; contributions; watchlist; sandbox) 03:40, 16 July 2026 (UTC)

@ThunderBrine: "Hydros" is a deity that has been invented by Theoi.com. This figure shouldn't have an article on Wikipedia. Rather, Damascius and Athenagoras, our two main sources for a lost Orphic theogony scholars call the "Hieronyman Theogony", refer to "water" (ὕδωρ in Ancient Greek) as one of the first principles in this theogony. Whoever wrote Theoi.com's page on Hydros misunderstood the passage.

As to your question about whether this "water" is the same as Oceanus: Athenagoras identifies the water with Ocean, whereas Damascius doesn't. Whether the water would have been Oceanus in the Hieronyman Theogony is a more complex question, on which scholarly opinions vary. If you're interested in that question, I recommend reading Dwayne Meisner's Orphic Tradition and the Birth of the Gods, pp. 140–141, and Alberto Bernabé's commentary to fr. 75 I on p. 84 of Poetae Epici Graeci, Volume II, Fascicle 1. Also, I suggest avoiding Theoi.com, as it contains a fair few problems like this. I'd be happy to point you to other sources about Greek mythological figures that are more reliable. – Michael Aurel (talk) 09:39, 23 July 2026 (UTC)

! Paul August ☎ 13:24, 24 July 2026 (UTC)