Poseidon is the god of the sea, son of Cronus and Rhea. Nerites is a minor sea deity, son of Nereus and Doris, and brother to the fifty Nereids. Nerites was a lover and charioteer of Poseidon, and from their love sprung Anteros, god of requited love. Nerites challenged Helios to a chariot race, lost, and was punished by being turned into a shellfish. One of his sisters found him and begged Poseidon to turn him back, which he did.