Statue from the Nereid Monument
Lykian, about 390-380 BC
From Xanthos, (modern Günük, south-western Turkey)
One of the daughters of the sea-god Nereus
The daughters of the sea-deities Nereus and Doris are known as
Nereids. Numbering between 50 and 100, they were popular figures in
Greek literature. They were believed to be personifications of the
waves of the ocean, and benign toward humanity. The best known of
the Nereids were Amphitrite, consort of Poseidon (a sea and
earthquake god); Thetis, wife of Peleus, king of the Myrmidons, and
mother of the hero Achilles; and Galatea.
This figure is draped in a fine chiton (tunic), its
folds enlivened by the rush of the sea breeze against her. A mantle
falls over her left shoulder. She was carried along by a sea bird
visible below the hem of her skirt. Her portrayal here is perhaps
meant to suggest the means by which the soul of the deceased was
transported to the afterlife.
L. Burn, The British Museum book of Gre (London, The British Museum Press, 1991)