How is Pallas related to the sea god Nereus?

Through his mother. Eurybia, Pallas's mother, is a daughter of Pontus and Gaia, making her a full sibling of Nereus. That makes Nereus Pallas's uncle by blood, even though one is filed among the Titans and the other among the primordial sea gods.

Pallas

Pallas is a son of the Titan Crius and Eurybia, herself a daughter of the primordial sea god Pontus, which makes him a grandson of the sea on his mother's side even though he is filed among the Titan generation on his father's. Hesiod's Theogony gives him almost no independent action, but a consequential marriage: Styx, eldest of Oceanus and Tethys's children, bears him Zelus (Emulation), Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force), four personified powers Hesiod says "have no house apart from Zeus," dwelling permanently at his side. Pallas himself never appears as a character in any surviving myth beyond this one genealogical role.

By Mythographia Editorial Team Reviewed by Mythographia Editorial Team Updated 2026-09-09

Core Myth

Hesiod's Theogony introduces Pallas as one of three sons born to the Titan Crius and Eurybia, "bright goddess" and daughter of the primordial sea god Pontus: Astraeus, Pallas, and Perses, "who also was eminent among all men in wisdom." Pallas himself receives no independent action in the poem, only a marriage: Styx, the eldest daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, is "joined to Pallas" and bears him four children. Two of them, Zelus (Emulation) and Nike (Victory), Hesiod names first; then Kratos (Strength) and Bia (Force), whom he calls "wonderful children" with a fixed, permanent role: "these have no house apart from Zeus, nor any dwelling nor path except that wherein god leads them, but they dwell always with Zeus the loud-thunderer." Through his mother Eurybia, Pallas is also, by blood, both a grandson of Pontus and a nephew of Nereus, tying the Titan generation directly into the sea's oldest lineage.

Who are Pallas's parents?

The Titan Crius and Eurybia, a daughter of the primordial sea god Pontus. Hesiod's Theogony names Pallas alongside his brothers Astraeus and Perses as the three sons born to that marriage.

Hesiod, Theogony 375-377

Who is Pallas married to, and who are his children?

Styx, the eldest daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Together they have four children: Zelus (Emulation), Nike (Victory), Kratos (Strength), and Bia (Force), the last two of whom Hesiod says never leave Zeus's side, dwelling permanently wherever he goes.

Hesiod, Theogony 383-388

Is Pallas one of the twelve original Titans?

No. The twelve Titans are the children Ouranos and Gaia have directly, including Crius. Pallas is Crius's son, one generation later, which places him among the wider Titan-descended family rather than the original twelve.

Hesiod, Theogony 375-377

Is this Pallas the same figure whose name Athena carries as "Pallas Athena"?

No. Apollodorus describes a giant named Pallas whom Athena flays in the war with the giants, using his skin to shield her own body, and separately, a winged daughter of the sea god Triton whom Athena kills by accident in a training match. Neither being has any genealogical connection to this Titan; the shared name is coincidence, not kinship.

Apollodorus, Library 1.6.2

Does Pallas appear as a character in any myth of his own?

No. Every surviving mention of Pallas is genealogical, naming him as Crius and Eurybia's son or as Styx's husband and the father of Zelus, Nike, Kratos, and Bia. No ancient source stages him acting or speaking.

Hesiod, Theogony 383-388

Later Traditions

No surviving ancient source gives Pallas a myth of his own beyond this genealogical role; unlike his brother Perses, whose daughter Hecate receives nearly forty lines of Hesiod's attention, Pallas exists in the tradition almost entirely as the name attached to Nike, Kratos, and Bia's parentage. His name is shared, coincidentally, by at least two other, unrelated figures in Greek myth, a giant slain by Athena and a winged daughter of the sea god Triton killed by Athena in a training accident, neither of whom has any genealogical connection to this Titan.

Lineage

See the full family tree

1 recorded relation, each with the ancient line behind it.

Children

Nike Hesiod, Theogony 383-385
Hesiod's Theogony names Nike as one of four children the Titan Pallas fathers on Styx, alongside Zelus, Kratos, and Bia.

Also Connected

3 recorded connections, each with the ancient line behind it.

Connected

Hecate Hesiod, Theogony 375-377; Hesiod, Theogony 409-411
Hecate's father Perses is Pallas's brother, both sons of Crius and Eurybia, making Pallas her uncle by blood.
Nereus Hesiod, Theogony 233-239; Hesiod, Theogony 375-377
Pallas's own line runs back to Eurybia, a sister to Nereus on the sea's oldest side, which makes Nereus his uncle even though one is filed among the sea gods and the other among the Titans.
Pontus Hesiod, Theogony 233-239; Hesiod, Theogony 375-377
Pallas's mother Eurybia is Pontus and Gaia's daughter, making Pontus his grandfather even though Pallas is filed among the Titan generation and Pontus among the sea's oldest, pre-Titan family.