Meanings
- Greekhuman sciencesA primordial sea god, son of Pontus and Gaia, who by Ceto fathered numerous monsters including Echidna and the gorgons.
Sophocles calls them^([the sirens]) the daughters of Phorcys.
1836, Leigh Hunt, The Sirens and Mermaids of the Poets: The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, Part 2, page 2732 more examples
But what of Phorcys as father of Persephone? Phorcys too has a role in Orphic genealogy, already known to Plato: he belongs to the Titan generation, together with Kronos and Rhea (Tim. 40e = Orph. fr. 24 Bernabé / 16 Kern).
2010, Noel Robertson, Religion and Reconciliation in Greek Cities: The Sacred Laws of Selinus and Cyrene, Oxford University Press, page 126Now, Phorcys, it is known, was a variation of Orcus, the equivalent of Hades in the Uranid pantheon. Phorcys belonged to the Atlantean group of deities or monsters, who was reputed to carry off men to the Inner world and keep them imprisoned there, which was possibly a folklore memory of subterranean temples for magic rites.
2016, Comyns Beaumont, Britain: The Key to World History, Resonance BookWorks, page 287 - Greekhuman sciencesPhorcys of Phrygia, a Phrygian ally of the King Priam of Troy during the Trojan War.
But the Phrygians are ſometimes mentioned as ſeparate from the Trojans: in the catalogue of the Trojan allies they are led from the distant Aſcania by Phorcys and Aſcanius, whose names are not derived from Greek, and we learn that ſome of the Phrygians spoke a different language.
1798, John Bacon Sawrey Morritt, A Vindication of Homer and of the Ancient Poets and Historians Who Have Recorded the Ancient Siege of Troy, page 52
Origin
- Ancient GreekΦόρκυς
- EnglishPhorcys
From Ancient Greek Φόρκυς (Phórkus).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Italian Forco, Forci
- ForcoGreek mythological sea god
- ForciGreek mythological sea god
- ForcideGreek mythological sea god
- ForciPhrygian ally of Priam in the Trojan War
- ForcinePhrygian ally of Priam in the Trojan War
Cite this entry
Phorcys. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phorcys
“Phorcys.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phorcys. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Phorcys,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phorcys.
Source: Phorcys on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.