According to Greek mythology, Proteus knew everything about the past, present, and future but guarded this knowledge fiercely. The only way to get him to divulge what he knew was to sneak up on him while he was sleeping and hold onto him tightly while he tried to shape-shift and escape. Because of his shape-shifting abilities, he’s essentially a symbol of the matter or substance that all things are made of—that is, the “Unity of Nature.” Nature, like a circle and like the shape-shifting Proteus, has “innumerable sides” but is all part of the same overarching whole.