When Poseidon\nbecame the god of the sea, he let Oceanus, one of the old sea-gods, and all his\nmany children have part under him in ruling the great ocean and the other\nwaters of the earth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most\ninteresting of all the children of Oceanus was his son Proteus, whose duty it\nwas to care for Poseidon\u2019s sea-calves, as the Greeks called the seals. Every\nday he led them up on the land, where they lay and slept on the rocks and the\nwarm sea-sands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Greeks never\nthought of Proteus as being young and beautiful like the gods of Mount Olympus;\ninstead of that, they represented him in their pictures and in their stories as\nan old, old man, covered with the foam of the ocean, and with sea-weed and sea-shells\nclinging to his beard and his long gray hair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the\nwonderful things that Proteus could do was to change into the shape of anything\nhe wished. Once the ships of a famous Greek king, while they were sailing back\nfrom a great war, were blown about for a long while, so that he could not reach\nhome. The king was told that some god was angry with him, and that the only way\nto reach home would be to seize the god Proteus, and force him to tell him what\nto do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So at daybreak one\nmorning, the king and three of the bravest and strongest of his men set out for\na cave by the shore, where Proteus came every day; there, they made hollows in\nthe sand, and lay down in them, and covered themselves with the skins of some\nsea-calves that they had brought with them. In a little while, great numbers of\nsea-calves came out of the water, and lay down beside them in the cave, and\nwent to sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
At noon, Proteus\nhimself came and counted his flock, and then he, too, lay down to sleep in\ntheir midst. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then the king and\nhis men sprang up, and seized the old sea-god. To escape from them, Proteus\ntried all his changes. First, he became a great lion with a shaggy mane. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then, he became a\npanther. Then, he changed to a snake, and twisted and turned in their hands. Then,\nhe became a tree, covered with rustling leaves. Then, he changed into flaming\nfire. And last of all, he turned into flowing water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But in spite of all\nthese wonderful changes, the king and his three brave men held fast to the god,\nand Proteus saw that he was beaten. So he changed back to his own form, and\ntold the king all that he wished to know; after this, the king got safely home\nat last.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Source: Harding, C.\nH. Greek Gods, Heroes, and Men (Kindle Locations 627-648). A. J. Cornell\nPublications. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n