In Greek mythology, Doris is a sea goddess and one of the three thousand Oceanid daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. She married Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, and by him became mother of the Nereids — conventionally fifty sea-nymphs, including Thetis, Amphitrite, and Galatea — and of a son, Nerites. She is distinct from other figures who share the name Doris.
Adapted from Wikipedia, "Doris (Oceanid)" · CC BY-SA 4.0
I.Family
Doris is one of the Oceanid daughters of Oceanus and Tethys and thus a sister of the river gods. Hesiod names her in the Oceanid catalogue (Theogony 350) and makes her, by Nereus, mother of the Nereids (Theogony 240–264). Apollodorus likewise lists her among the chief Oceanids and then as mother of the Nereids by Nereus; Hyginus and Ovid preserve the same marriage.
By Nereus she bore Nerites and the company of Nereids. The number and names of those daughters vary between Hesiod, Homer, Apollodorus, and Hyginus; Thetis, Amphitrite, and Galatea are among the best-attested.
II.Function
When not defined solely through her husband, Doris personifies the fertility of the ocean — especially the rich fishing-grounds at river mouths where fresh water mingles with the brine. Her marriage to Nereus joins the fresh-water Oceanid line to the salt-sea personified as the Old Man of the Sea.
In Homeric epic she appears among the Nereids who gather around Thetis when Achilles grieves for Patroclus (Iliad 18), a scene that places Doris both as Oceanid mother and as one of the sea-sisters in the mourning throng.
III.Later reception
Doris appears in Roman-era art accompanying marine processions — for example lighting the wedding cortege of Poseidon and Amphitrite — and in floor mosaics with Thetis and Galatea. Doris Cove in Antarctica is named after the goddess.