Sentence:  Now, <WSD>Phorcys</WSD>, it is known, was a variation of Orcus, the equivalent of Hades in the Uranid pantheon. <WSD>Phorcys</WSD> belonged to the Atlantean group of deities or monsters, who was reputed to carry off men to the Inner world and keep them imprisoned there, which was possibly a folklore memory of subterranean temples for magic rites. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A primordial sea god, son of Pontus and Gaia, who by Ceto fathered numerous monsters including Echidna and the gorgons.