Three female figures are Nereids and three male figures are Tritons. The Nereids were sea nymphs in Greek mythology, fifty in total, daughters of Nereus and Doris. Their name simply means, Children of Nereu. They helped sailors on their voyages when they faced fierce storms. The oldest mention of the Nereids comes from Plato, a philosopher in Classical Greece and the founder of the Academy in Athens. When Plato was describing the Temple of Poseidon on the central island of Atlantis, he said that there was a golden statue of Poseidon with one hundred sculptured Nereids riding dolphins around the base of the statue.