Νηρεύς (Nereus)
(‘Nereus’)

145

Discussion Meineke 18391.372; 1840 III. 174; 1847. 580; Bothe 1855. 423; Kock
1884 11.145; Breitenbach 1908. 40-41; Edmonds 1959 11.56—7; Webster 1970. 6,
66; Kassel-Austin 1991 11.252; Sanchis Llopis et al. 2007. 252 (cf. 150 n. 175);
Bowie 2010. 156
Title The title appears elsewhere only in the play by Anaxilas, the sole frag-
ment of which Meineke (1839 1.372) considered assigning to Anaxandrides;
Meineke equally unconvincingly pondered emending the title of Anaxandrides’
Nereides to Nereus. For names of mythological characters used as titles, see on
Anchises·, Introduction.
The sea-god Nereus, son of Pontos and father of the Nereids (including
Thetis), is referred to in Homer only obliquely as the Old Man of the Sea (H.
II. 1.358, 556); his name is given first at Hes. Th. 233 (cf. West 1966 ad loci). He
is known mainly for his encounter with Heracles, when the latter was seeking
the Garden of the Hesperides. In one version (Pherecyd. FGrHist 3 F 16a; cf.
Jacoby 1923 ad loci), Heracles attempted to elicit directions to the Garden from
Nereus by force; the latter resisted by changing into fire and water (cf. Stesich.
fr. 16a Davies). In another version (Panyas. fr. 9 Bernabe), Heracles received
the bowl of Helios from Nereus. In general, see Pipili in LIMC VI. 1.824-37;
Bloch in Roscher 1884-1937 III.240—50.
Discussion of the title and thus the content of the play has been unneces-
sarily confused by the existence of a cook, Nereus of Chios. Bowie 2010.156 is
the latest in a long line of scholars (including K-A on Euphro fr. 1.6) to suggest
that the play involved a conflation of the sea-god and the cook, even though
Breitenbach 1908. 40 pointed out a century ago that the chronology does
not work (cf. Euphro fr. 1.12 for an explicit statement concerning the cook’s
date).51 Little is known about the cook Nereus save that Euphro includes him
in a catalogue of cooks cast as the Seven Wise Men (fr. 1.6 Νηρεύς 6’ ό Χίος
γόγγρον ήψε τοϊς θεοϊς); other possible references to him are illusory. Euphan.
fr. 1.2 λοπάδα Νηρείων τέκνων (Arnott 1996 on Alex. fr. 115.1 aptly compares
Plaut. Pseud. 834 Neptuni pecudes), adesp. com. fr. 1146.37 Νηρέως τε χύμα
πηγόν (cf. Willis 1991. 350), and Matro fr. 1.33 (SH 534) all refer to the sea-god;

51 It is unlikely that Euphro is implying a generic post-classical date for Nereus and
the other cooks in his catalogue rather than specifically placing him in his own
day, since all other references to these men also belong to the third century.