Poseidon

Poseidon:

god of the sea, rivers, flood and drought, earthquakes, and horses.

He was depicted as a mature man of sturdy build with a dark beard, and holding a trident.

Also known as...

• Transliteration: Poseidôn
• Latin spelling: Poseidon
• Roman name: Neptunus, Neptune

His duty

• gather clouds and call forth storms
• grant successful voyages
• save those who are in danger
• marine divinities are subject to him
• holds and shakes the earth

Accomplishments

• fought beside Zeus and Hades in the The War of the Titanes to imprison the old gods of Tartaros
• received the authority over the sea in the division of the cosmos amongst the sons of Cronos
• buried Polybotes beneath the island of Kos in the giant war
• sent a sea-monster to punish the Trojans for refusing to pay him for the construction of their walls
• seduced women such as Tyro, Amymone, Aithra, and the Gorgon Medousa
• produced the first horse in the contest with Athena for the rule of Athens
• persecuted Odysseus for blinding his son, the Kyklops Polyphemos
• transformed himself into a horse to fool Demeter

The acropolis at Attica

Poseidon was known for arguing over countries with other gods. For one example, for him to become the power-holder of Attica, he strongly jabbed his trident into the ground on the acropolis, a well of sea-water was then called-forth; but Athena created the olive tree, and the two powerhouses fought, until the gods assigned Attica to Athena. Poseidon, furious over his loss, caused the country to be flooded.

His family

• son of Cronos and Rhea
• brother of Zeus, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter
• After his birth, he and his siblings were swallowed by his father and regurgitated back up.
• Myths say that Rhea hid Poseidon after his birth in a flock of lambs, and she pretended to have given birth to a young horse, which she gave to Cronos to maul.
• married to Amphitrite, and had three kids with her, Triton, Rhode, and Benthesicyme
• had a large number of children by other divine and mortal women

Representation

• horse, in which he created, and was believed to have taught men how to handle horses and protect races
• trident, or a spear with three points, with which he used to shatter rocks, to call forth or calm storms, and to shake the earth
• dolphins, to represent the sea

Appreciation

• worshiped over all Greece, southern Italy, Peloponnesus, and the Ionic coast towns
• black and white bulls, wild boars, and rams were sacrificed to him
• In Argolis bridled horses were thrown into the well Deine as a sacrifice to him.
• Horse and chariot races were held in his honor on the Corinthian isthmus.
• The Panionia, or the festival of all the Ionians near Mycale, was celebrated in honor of Poseidon.