Nymphs: Nereids and Oceanids. According to Hesiod, the Titan deities Oceanus and Tethys produced three thousand sons, who were river-gods, and an equal number of daughters, the Oceanids. Usually described as sea nymphs, the Oceanids were occasionally credited with being spirits of all water sources, including rivers, lakes, and springs.
     Another group of sea nymphs were the Nereids, the fifty daughters of the sea-god Nereus and the Oceanid Doris. Three Nereids —— Thetis, Galatea, and Amphitrite —— are associated with more complex myths. In general, however, Oceanids and Nereids did not hold a significant place in the Classical tradition, and in many stories the differences between them were vague. In some tales, and in many postclassical depictions, the fresh-water nymphs called Naiads are found in scenes related to the sea. Nereids are frequently depicted in the retinue of Poseidon (Neptune) and in sea-triumphs associated with the birth of Aphrodite (Venus), and as companions of Tritons and sea-centaurs.

See also Aeneas, in Latium; Amphitrite; Aphrodite, Birth; Galatea; Hero and Leander; Oceanus; Poseidon; Prometheus, Bound; Thetis; Triton.