This week, our story for the raku pottery vase ‘Father of the Sea‘, tells the tale of a Titan who can breathe in water, the Cassanova of the sea, and the only Titan to escape hell. It even shows us how to stay neutral in a family conflict – which can also be its own special kind of hell. So move over Posedion, because before you there was Oceanus!
It’s not an easy childhood, when all the tongues in the known universe are wagging about who your father is. Fortunately for Oceanus, there were only a few beings at that time and some of them didn’t even have tongues.
Just imagine Chaos with a tongue!
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However when your mother Gaia is making as many babies as possible, and your ‘father’ is an over worked single dad, something is likely to fall through the cracks.
And it may be you; and that crack may form a mighty river.
If all that was not confusing enough, there where whispers among Oceanus’ parents, that maybe – in one of her more ‘fertile’ moods – his mother Gaia visited her omnigender parent Chaos.
In spite of all this, Oceanus knew enough to keep these whisperings hush hush. He did not want to rock the boat. There was already enough actual Chaos in the family.
15 Æons later . . .
Oceanus often questioned his brother Cronus’ growing power. Rather than fight him, Cronus gave him dominion of the river at the end of the world.
Little did Cronus know that this would be the river from which all water would come. A fact which came in pretty handy when your name has Ocean right in it. He is not Riverus after all…
As you may remember from a previous story, Cronus would eventually depose his father Uranus, and take his throne. This would be short lived, for Uranus’ son would do the same. Then Cronus and his Titan siblings asked Uranus to participate in quashing the rebellion of young upstart Zeus.
Phew!
Fortunately, Oceanus and his wife Tethys were busy making babies too – in total about 3,000! Unlike his official father, Oceanus was a good dad. In the end this would save him! For all of his others siblings would lose the war against the new gods of Olympus and rather than fighting, Oceanus spent his time quietly making more babies, new rivers and their river gods, and of course the nymphs.
In the end it was the original river that Oceanus was cast down to that would act as a buffer against Tarturus (hell) where all of his Titan rebel siblings would be imprisoned.
Oceanus and Tethys were just glad they heeded the advice of legendary 1990’s Soothsayers TBoz, Left Eye anD chilli.
If you enjoyed this story/vase, you can check out more of them here. All of our vases are for sale. You may also be interested in checking out our home page, which includes many other items for sale that can make great Christmas gifts, for someone you love, or for yourself.
