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Triton is a Greek God , the messenger of the deep. He is the son of Poseidon , god of the sea, and Amphitrite . He is usually represented as a Merman , having the upper body of a human and the tail of a fish. , at Rome ]] Like his father, he carried a Trident . However, Triton's special attribute was a twisted Conch shell, on which he blew like a trumpet to calm or raise the waves. Its sound was so terrible, that when loudly blown, it put the giants to flight, who imagined it to be the roar of a mighty wild beast ( Hyginus , ''Poet. astronom.'' ii. 23). According to Hesiod 's '' Theogony '', Triton dwelt with his parents in a golden Palace in the depths of the sea. The story of the Argonauts places his home on the coast of Libya . When the Argo was driven ashore on the Lesser Syrtes , the crew carried the vessel to Lake Tritonis , whence Triton, the local deity, guided them across to the Mediterranean ( Apollonius Rhodius iv. 1552). Triton also appeared in Roman myths and Epics . In the Aeneid , Misenus , the trumpeter of Aeneas , challenged Triton to a contest of trumpeting. The god flung him into the sea for his arrogance. Over time, Triton's name and image came to be associated with a class of merman-like creatures, the Tritons , which could be male or female, and usually formed the escort of marine divinities. Ordinary Tritons were described in detail by the Geographer Pausanias (ix. 21). A variety of Triton, the Centaur o-Triton or ''Ichthyocentaur'' ("Fish-centaur"), was described as having the forefeet of a Horse in addition to the human body and the fish tail. It is probable that the idea of Triton owes its origin to the Phoenicia n fish-deities. Among the things named after Triton include Triton , the largest moon of the planet Neptune . This name is symbolic, as Neptune is the Roman name for Triton's father. EXTERNAL LINKS
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