A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

Smith, William

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890

or PHORCYN (Φόρκος, Φόρκυς, Φόρκυν. [*](* The forn Φόρκος occurs chiefly in poetry ; Φόρκυς is the common name, and φόρκυν, υνος, is fond only in late writers. (Eustath, ad Hom, pp. 364, 1108.)).

1. According to the Homeric poems, an old man ruling over the sea, or "the old man of the sea," to whom a harbour in Ithaca was dedicated. He is described as the father of the nymph Thoosa (Od. 1.71, 13.96, 345). Later writers call him a son of Pontus and Ge, and a brother of Thaumas, Nereus, Eurybia, and Ceto (Hes. Th. 237; Apollod. 1.2.6). By his sister Ceto he became the father of the Graeae and Gorgones (Hes. Th. 270, &c.), the Hesperian dragon (ibid. 333, &c.), and the Hesperides (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 4.1399); and by Hecate or Cratais, he was the father of Scylla. (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. 4.828; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1714; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 45.) Servius (Serv. ad Aen. 5.824) calls him a son of Neptune and Thoosa. (Comp. Muncker, ad Hygin. Fab. praef. p. 4.)