Pontus

Pontus was an ancient sea god and one of the Greek primordial deities. Pontus was Gaia's son and, according to Hesiod, he was born without coupling. For Hesiod, Pontus seems a little more than a personification of the sea.

With Gaia, he fathered Nereus, Thaumas, Phorcys, Ceto, and Eurybia. With the sea goddess Thalassa, he fathered the Telchines and all sea life.

In a Roman sculpture of the 2nd century AD, Pontus, rising from seaweed, grasps a rudder with his right hand and leans on the plow of a ship. He wears a mural crown and accompanies Fortuna, whose draperies appear at the left, as twin patron deities of the Black Sea port of Tomis is Moesia.