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PROTEUS, in Greek mythology, a prophetic old man of
the sea. According to Homer, his resting-place was the island of Pharos,
near the mouth of the Nile. He knew all things past, present and future,
but was hesitant to tell what he knew. Those who would consult him had
first to surprise and bind him during his noonday slumber in a cave
by the sea, where he was wont to pass the heat of the day surrounded
by his seals. Even when caught he would try to escape by assuming all
sorts of shapes: now he was a lion, now a serpent, a leopard, a boar,
a tree, fire, water. But if his captor held him fast the god at last
returned to his proper shape, gave the wished-for answer, and then plunged
into the sea. From his power of assuming whatever shape he pleased Proteus
came to be regarded, especially by the Orphic mystics, as a symbol of
the original matter from which the world was created. Rather he is typical
of the ever-changing aspect of the sea (Adapted from the Encyclopedia
Britannica, 1911.) |
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