Page "Proteus" Paragraph 7

In the Odyssey ( iv. 430ff ) Menelaus wrestles with " Proteus of Egypt, the immortal old man of the sea who never lies, who sounds the deep in all its depths, Poseidon's servant " ( Robert Fagles's translation ).

Proteus of Egypt is mentioned in an alternate version of the story of Helen of Troy in the tragedy Helen of Euripides ( produced in 412 BC ).

The often unconventional playwright introduces a " real " Helen and a " phantom " Helen ( who caused the Trojan War ), and gives a backstory that makes the father of his character Theoclymenus, Proteus, a king in Egypt who had been wed to a Nereid Psamathe.

In keeping with one of his themes in Helen, Euripides mentions in passing Eido (" image "), another unseen daughter of the king.

The play's king ( never seen ) is only marginally related to the " Old Man of the Sea " and should not be confused with the sea god Proteus.