The daughters of Nereus, the ancient sea god, the Nereides---or Dorides, as they were also called---numbered, according to one account, fifty;to another, a hundred. They dwelt in a splendid cave at the bottom of the sea, and rode on dolphins or other creatures of the deep. Like all nymphs, the Nereides were playful, given to splashing about in the water, swimming, or sitting on rocks at the sea's edge, drying their wonderful tresses. It may be from them that the legend of mermaids sprung.
The most famous of the Nereides were Amphitrite, Thetis, Panope and Galates. Amphitrite married Poseidon, while Zeus was strongly attracted to Thetis, but on learning that the marriage would bring forth a son who would surpass his father in might, Zeus relinquished his wish, and gave Thetis in marriage to Peleus, to whom she bore Achilles, and thereafter returned to her sisters of the sea.
