| “ | Excuse me, my lord. I am needed in the battle. | ” |
–Amphitrite to Poseidon, in The Last Olympian | ||
Amphitrite is the Queen of the Sea through her marriage with Poseidon, one of the fifty Nereids (daughters of Nereus), and the mother of Triton. Her Roman counterpart is Salacia.
Percy Jackson's Greek Gods
Amphitrite was one of the numerous daughters born from the sea gods Nereus and Doris, directly related with the the former Ruler of the Sea, the eldest Titan Oceanus. Along with her sisters, they came to the aid of men in distress such as perilous storms and had the sea's rich bounty in their care. After Poseidon replaced Oceanus's position, he continued to allow the Nereids' duties, often accompanied them at his court, and upheld their honour when they
were insulted.
Though they were all grateful to him and most of her sisters would have been pleased to become his wife, Amphitrite avoided the Olympian God due to her shyness and unwillingness to be caught. However, she turned out to be the one who particularly captured Poseidon's eye, so he tried everything to win her heart despite she refused all his advences out of fear instead of being receptive to them. Ultimately, Amphitrite fled for good when her suitor proved to be extremely persistent, which caused Poseidon to sink into a deep depression that disrupted the sea creatures, who sent the God of Dolphins, Delphin, to help him by retrieving her. At his persuasive presentation of all the benefits and advantages she could enjoy if she consented to marrying Poseidon, Amphitrite finally agreed.
The marriage of Poseidon and Amphitrite was said to be the grandest celebration ever held under the ocean, attended by gods, sea monsters, and all forty-nine of her sisters.
The couple came to have children, including Triton (who became his father's heir and herald, responsible for clearing the way when he was on the move), Rhode (a minor goddess who became the patron deity of an island that was named after her and married to Helios, the Titan of the Sun), and Kymopoleia (the goddess of violent sea storms who later married the Hekatonkheire Briares). Though Amphitrite loved her children dearly, neither her or Poseidon apprecited Kymopoleia as much as the rest of their children due to her chaotic power.
Amphitrite enjoyed a compatibly happy marriage with Poseidon despite his infidelities, for she wasn't of a jealous and was content as long as her husband didn't try to turn her into his puppet and treated her children well. Unlike other goddesses, Amphitrite is actually nice to Poseidon's demigod children, treating Theseus like an honored guest when he came to visit and even gave him a purple cloak (a symbol of kingship) to wear.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The Last Olympian
Amphitrite is seen talking strategy with her husband Poseidon in the throne room of their ocean-floor palace, along with their son Triton. Her stepson Percy Jackson joins them, but she treats him coldly and swimmed away when Poseidon tried to present her to his son. Percy expects nothing else, thinking she sees him as the proof of her husband's unfaithfulness and feels sorry for her as she doesn't have a faithful husband. Actually, Amphitrite was very worried about Oceanus attacking and commented how Poseidon was losing power to the former ruler of the Sea since their previous fights. She was shown as a warrior, as she left the meeting to return to the battle along with other gods. Poseidon then apologized for her behavior to Percy.
Percy Jackson's Greek Gods
It can be deduced that either Amphitrite's initial cold attitude towards Percy was due to the tumultuous circumstances under which they had first met, or that she warmed to him considerably after the first series' end. She has been decent and kind to her stepson, not minding when he leaves dirty laundry in the guest room and even bakes cookies for him, - "and as far as he knew, she had never once tried to kill him." Hence, Percy views her as all that one could ask of an immortal stepmother.
Personality
In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Amphitrite prefers to live a quiet life at the bottom of the sea and complete her duties without extra affairs, valuing her personal independence dearly. She was shown to be very shy and unwilling to be caught, wanting to free from the courtships of other gods because of the intense fear she had conceived from hearing stories of how the other gods treat their wifes, believing that being married would rob her of her freedom.
Poseidon, her husband
Through her heart-to-heart conversation with Delphin, one could also see that Amphitrite was an insightful goddess who could be perfectly content with her lot so long as it was reasonable. She already knew Poseidon wouldn't be a faithful husband, but wouldn't care about that due to not being prone to jealousy and was content to marry him as long as he treated well and let her preserve her independence. This side of of her was seeing again in The Last 'Olympian, knowing how Oceanus was affecting to her husband's power and subjects after they met him in previous battles.
In particular, Delphin noted that it was easy to see why Poseidon preferred Amphitrite to all her sisters, for she radiated a gentle kindness that was rare among goddesses. Unlike other goddesses, she was actually on good terms with her husband's demigod children, to the extent where Percy described her as being all one could ask of an immortal stepmother. In The Last Olympian though, Amphitrite was shown to treat Percy indifferently, giving him a cold stare stare while Poseidon was introducing her to him, though this happened under dire moments.
Appearance
| “ | To his right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange little horns like crab claws. | ” |
–Percy Jackson, describing Amphitrite's appearance in The Last Olympian | ||
In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Amphitrite is described to be gorgeously beautiful, always described to be the fairest of her sisters. She has dark mocha-like eyes, black hair pinned back in a net of pearls and silk, a kind smile, and a beautiful laugh. In The Last Olympian, Amphitrite was described to be a beautiful woman, who has flowing black hair and little horns (that resemble crab claws),
In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Amphitrite usually dressed in a simple white gown. Her only piece of jewelry was a circlet of polished red crab claws across her brow. In Last Olympian, Amphitrite dressed in green battle armor to help her husband battle Oceanus' forces.
Salacia
Salacia is Amphitrite's Roman counterpart. As Salacia, she becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. In ancient Roman mythology, Salacia was the female divinity of the sea, worshiped as the goddess of salt water who presided over the depths of the ocean. She was the personification of the calm and sunlit aspect of the sea.
Salacia is represented as a beautiful nymph, crowned with seaweed, dressed in queenly robes and has nets in her hair. She is either enthroned beside her husband, the God of the Sea Neptune, or driving with him in a pearl shell chariot drawn by dolphins, hippocampi or other fabulous creatures of the deep, attended by Tritons and Nereids.
Neptune wanted to marry Salacia, but she was in great awe of her distinguished suitor and managed to glide out of his sight with celerity, in order to preserve her virginity. She hid from him in the Atlantic Ocean, so the grieving Neptune sent a dolphin to look for her and persuade the fair nymph to come back and share his throne. Salacia agreed to marry Neptune, becoming his wife and queen. She later bore him three children. Overjoyed at these good tidings, the dolphin was awarded a place in the heavens, where he now forms a well known constellation Delphinus.
Abilities
As the Queen of the Sea and wife of Poseidon, Amphitrite is extremely powerful, more so than a demigod, though less so compared to an Olympian. She is considered a minor goddess.
- Hydrokinesis: As a Nereid and the Queen of the Sea, Amphitrite has absolute control and divine authority over water and the sea. Her hydrokinetic powers are the same as Percy's, though to a far greater and more advanced level. She is described to be able of "calming the sea".
- Aerokinesis (possibly): Amphitrite is said to have the power to "still the winds", which implies that she possessed a degree of control over the element of air.
- Aquatic Authority: As the wife of Poseidon, Amphitrite has divine authority over aquatic creatures such as fish, dolphins, seals and sea monsters.
- Battle Prowess: The fact Amphitrite was fighting actively in the war proves that she is a formidable opponent and capable combatant.
- Culinary Arts: In Percy Jackson's Greek Gods, Percy said that Amphitrite baked cookies for him, which shows that she is a good cook like the three eldest goddesses.
Trivia
- Being Nereus' daughter and Oceanus' granddaughter, she was directly related with the most important sea deities before Poseidon became king.
- Amphitrite is mostly known as the female personification of the sea.
- Together with her sisters Kymatolege and Kymodoke, she possesses the power to still the winds and calm the sea.
- Amphitrite has a lot in common with Britomartis, a goddess of fishing who doesn't want to marry.
- Derived from Latin, "sal" meaning "salt", the name "Salacia" denotes the wide open sea, and is sometimes literally translated to "mean sensational".
- As Salacia, she is sometimes also known as the Goddess of the Springs, ruling over the springs of highly mineralized waters.
- The goddess Sulis, an aspect of Salacia (Roman counterpart of Amphitrite) is worshiped at the sacred hot springs at Bath.
- In northern Europe, the Norse goddes, Rán, is equivalent to Salacia (Roman counterpart of Amphitrite).
- In myths, Amphitrite fled away from Poseidon's wooing, hiding herself near Atlas in the ocean stream at the far ends of the world. It was Delphin who convinced her to return and wed the King of the Seas, although in most stories she returned to and married Poseidon against her will.
- In northern Europe, the Norse god, Aegir, and his consort, Rán, are equivalent to Neptune and Salacia (Roman counterparts of Poseidon and Amphitrite respectively).