Greek sea gods conform to a single type: that of Homer's "halios geron" or Old Man of the Sea: Nereus, Proteus, Glaucus and Phorkys. These sea gods are not as powerful as Poseidon, the main god of the oceans and seas. Each one is a shape-shifter, a prophet, and the father of either radiantly beautiful nymphs or hideous monsters (or both, in the case of Phorkys). Nymphs and monsters blur, for Hesiod relates that Phorcys was wed to the "beautiful-cheeked" Ceto, whose name is merely the feminine of the monstrous Cetus, to whom Andromeda was due to be sacrificed. Each appearance in myth
The God Beneath the Sea his fantasy literature. A 2001 article in "The Guardian" named "The God Beneath the Sea" the ninth best children's book of all time, calling it "[v]isceral, overpowering, defiantly undomesticated" and "the best ever rendering of the Greek myths in modern English." In contrast to the writing's mixed reception, critics were unanimous in acknowledging the power of Charles Keeping's illustrations. In an otherwise scathing review, Garner called them "a singular vision of what Classical myth must have been. Two drawings especially – Cronos and Prometheus – are more terrible and beautiful than Goya." Manning stated that Keeping's "contributions are magnificent... From