Public Domain Super Heroes
Triton

Real Name

Triton

First Appearance

Greek Myth

Created by

Greek Myth

Origin[]

Triton is a Greek god of the sea, the son of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Triton lived with his parents in a golden palace on the bottom of the sea. Later he is often depicted as having a conch shell he would blow like a trumpet. He was the ruler (possessor) of the depths of the sea, who is either "dreadful" or "mighty" according to the epithet given him by Hesiod in the Theogony.

Triton is usually represented as a merman, with the upper body of a human and the tailed lower body of a fish. At some time during the Greek and Roman era, Triton(s) became a generic term for a merman (mermen) in art and literature. In English literature, Triton is portrayed as the messenger or herald for the god Poseidon.

The original Greek Triton only sometimes bore a trident. In literature, Triton carries a trident in Accius's Medea fragment.

Triton is "sea-hued" according to Ovid and "his shoulders barnacled with sea-shells". Ovid actually here calls Triton "cerulean" in color. Ovid also includes Triton among other deities (Proteus, Aegaeon, Doris) of being this blue color, with green (viridis) hair, as well describing the steed Triton rides as cerulean.

In Virgil's Aeneid, book 6, it is told that Triton killed Misenus, son of Aeolus, by drowning him after he challenged the gods to play as well as he did.

There is also Triton, the god of Lake Tritonis of Ancient Libya encountered by the Argonauts. This Triton is treated as a separate deity in some references. He had a different parentage, as his father was Poseidon but his mother Europa according to the Greek writers of this episode.

This Triton first appeared in the guise of Eurypylus before eventually revealing his divine nature. This local deity has thus been euhemeristically rationalized as "then ruler over Libya" by Diodorus Siculus.

Triton-Eurypylus welcomed the Argonauts with a guest-gift of a clod of earth which was a pledge that the Greeks would be granted the land of Cyrene, Libya in the future. The Argo had been driven ashore in the Syrtes (Gulf of Syrtes Minor according to some), and Triton guided them through the lake's marshy outlet back to the Mediterranean.

Herakles wrestling Triton is a common theme in Classical Greek art particularly black-figure pottery, but no literature survives that tells the story. In fewer examples, the Greek pottery depicting apparently the same motif are labeled "Nereus" or "Old Man of the Sea" instead, and among these, Nereus' struggle with Herakles is attested in literature (Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca). "Old Man of the Sea" is a generic term applicable to Nereus, who was also frequently depicted as half-fishlike. One explanation is that some vase painters developed the convention of depicting Nereus as a fully human form, so that Triton had to be substituted in the depiction of the sea-monster wrestling Herakles. And Nereus appears as a spectator in some examples of this motif.

Public Domain Appearances[]

All published appearances of Triton from before January 1, 1930 are public domain.

Some notable appearances are listed below:

  • Theogony
  • Argonautica
  • Aeneid

Public Domain Comic Appearances[]

  • Captain Marvel Adventures #12: Captain Marvel was cursed by a Triton after the mob tricks the sea creature. After learning of the curse from Steamboat, Captain Marvel confronts the mobster and has them force the Triton cure him. After removing the curse, The Triton's magic was taken after his trident was broken.

Public Domain Comic Appearances Inspired by Triton[]

  • Planet Comics #47: On the lost planet of Kalendos, Star Pirate saves a young woman named Lily from aliens called Mound Tritons.
  • Captain Aero Comics v1 #7: Cap Stone was an adventurer who accidentally became a member of a vast undersea kingdom known as the city of Aquari. He battled the villainous Triton. Stone believed his nemesis had perished after his aero-car hurtled off a cliff, but Triton crawled from the wreckage alive. Triton then sought new allies to conquer Aquari which he found in the banished King Zero of Aquari and his Coral Men. The villains kidnapped Stone’s girlfriend Dohra, but Stone freed her and then captured both Zero and Triton.

Notes[]

  • Triton of Marvel's Inhumans is named after the mythological Triton.
  • Triton is the name given to the Sea King in Disney's Little Mermaid.

See Also[]