Nereus, << NIHR oos >>, was a kindly old sea god in Greek mythology. The poets Homer and Hesiod called him the Old Man of the Sea. Like other sea deities, Nereus had the gift of prophecy and the ability to change shapes. He foretold the fall of Troy in the Trojan War. The Greek hero Heracles (Hercules in Latin) captured him while he slept and held him fast as he rapidly changed forms. After Nereus finally resumed his original shape, he told Heracles where to find the garden of the Hesperides. The hero then let him go. With the sea goddess Doris, Nereus fathered 50 lovely sea nymphs called the Nereids.
See also Arethusa; Galatea; Hesperides; Nereids.
