1040NOTTriton_astronomy

Apollodorus Libr. 1.1.4-6

Triton, moon of Neptune, discovered in 1846 (days after the discovery of its planet Neptune).

The remarkable photograph at right is from NASA. Click the link to learn more about the photograph itself and also about the moon.

A detailed, false-color image of Triton, Neptune's largest moon, showing its diverse and icy surface

Wikipedia reports the moon was not named until decades after its discovery. Credit for the name is given to Camille Flammarion, Astronomie Populaire (1880): "Cet astre n'a pas encore reçu de nom: cependant, ce dieu ne manquait pas de fils: le nom de Triton, l'un des compagnons les plus assidus de son père sur l'Océan, ne lui coviendrait-il pas?"

Mythologically, Hesiod's awareness of Triton is interesting for its early prominence. (Theog. 930 - 33) Later mythology minimizes Triton's importance. See, though, Pindar Pyth. 4.19ff, Herodot. 4.179 and 188, Lucian Dialogues of the Sea Gods "Triton and Poseidon" and "Triton and Nereids".

OGCMA slides are designed by Roger T. Macfarlane for use in Classical Civilization 241 courses at Brigham Young University.
The present resource contains information assembled for The Oxford Guide to Classical Mythology in the Arts, 1300 - 1990's, edited by J. Davidson Reid (Oxford 1994), and it is used with express permission from Oxford University press.
Address concerns or inquiries to macfarlane@byu.edu.