Triton’s Family Tree

About Triton →

Family

• Amphitrite(parent),Poseidon(parent),Rhode(sibling)— Marriage

  Amphitrite, a Nereid, fled Poseidon's courtship until a dolphin persuaded her to accept. As queen of the sea, she bore him Triton, Rhode, and other children.

• Neptune(parent, Roman),Salacia(parent, Roman)— Marriage

  Neptune married Salacia, goddess of salt water, after persistently courting the sea nymph. Together they parented Triton, the merman herald of the sea.

Slew

• Misenus(Roman)

  Triton drowned the Trojan trumpeter Misenus in Aeneid Book 6 after Misenus rashly challenged the sea god to a trumpet contest. Cape Misenum was named for his burial site.

Serves

• Poseidon

  Triton serves as herald of his father Poseidon, blowing his conch shell to calm or raise the seas.

Associated with

• Athena

  In Libyan tradition preserved by Apollodorus, Athena was raised beside Lake Tritonis by the god Triton, whose daughter Pallas became her childhood companion. When Athena accidentally killed Pallas during a sparring match, she took the name Pallas Athena in her memory.

• Deucalion

  After Zeus sent the great flood, Poseidon commanded Triton to blow his conch shell. At the sound, the seas and rivers retreated to their bounds, ending the deluge that had nearly destroyed humanity and allowing Deucalion and Pyrrha to begin repopulating the earth.