Nereids in the Ancient Greco-Roman Imagination and an Anomalous Legend

Nereids were the most pervasive sea goddesses in ancient Greco-Roman mythology. They often appeared with positive qualities, such as exceptional beauty, and at times performed a salvific role for ancient mariners. Yet in one ancient legend, originally recorded by Nearchus in the fourth century BCE, we see a Nereid acting as a trickster-like figure. This article serves two purposes: to set forth the predominant characteristics of the Greco-Roman Nereids; and to explain the variation in behaviour of Nearchus’s anomalous Nereid. We can understand that aberrant Nereid as being derived from a likely non-Greek legend centred around a subtype of the Mistress of Animals. This figure, although anomalous regarding ancient Nereids, can be demonstrated to foreshadow medieval Nereid folklore. Nearchus himself can, moreover, be said to have engaged in an instance of legend tripping to discredit this local legend.