Galaxy/The codex of Pherusa

Pherusa or Pherousa (Ancient Greek: Φέρουσα, "the bringer" or "she who carries") is one of the fifty Nereids, marine-nymph daughters of Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. Hesiod and Homer name her among the sea-sisters; with Dynamene she is sometimes linked to the power of great ocean swells. She appears with the mourning Nereids when Thetis grieves for Achilles' sorrow over Patroclus.

Adapted from Wikipedia, "Pherusa" · CC BY-SA 4.0

I.Among the Nereids

Hesiod's Theogony lists Pherusa among the daughters of Nereus and Doris — after Doto and Proto, beside Dynamene, Nisaea, and Actaea. Apollodorus and Hyginus preserve her in the same fifty-sister tradition.

Modern mythographers sometimes pair her with Dynamene as Nereids of the carrying swell. Beyond the catalogue and the Iliad mourning scene she has no independent romance or cult tale in the principal sources.

II.In the Iliad

Homer spells the name Pherousa when Thetis' sisters gather in the bright cave after Patroclus falls. Doto, Proto, Pherousa, and Dynamene beat their breasts together in the throng that answers the silver-footed goddess.

III.Homonyms

This atlas entry (pherusa) is the Nereid. Hyginus also names a Pherusa among the Horae — a distinct seasonal figure, not the daughter of Nereus.

AT A GLANCE

Greek namePherousa (Φέρουσα)
Roman namePherusa
Typenymph
DomainsNereid of the carrying wave · daughter of Nereus · Thetis' mourning sisters
ParentageNereus · Doris
EtymologyPherusa / Pherousa (Φέρουσα) is a participle meaning "she who carries" or "the bringer," fitting a wave-nymph who bears the sea's motion.
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