| “ | I have the sea in my veins. I understand the language of the waves. The forces of nature are mine to command. The most fearsome of aquatic beasts? Mine. A raging tempest? Mine again. A tsunami intending to completely eradicate an island? Yes, mine. And all guided by my trident. | „ |
| ~ Poseidon |
Poseidon is one of the twelve Olympian deities of the pantheon in Greek mythology and the god of the seas.
Description[]
His main domain is the ocean, and he is called the "God of the Sea". Additionally, he is referred to as "Earth-Shaker" and "Storm-Bringer" due to his role in causing earthquakes and storms, and is called the "Father of horses" as he created them from sea foam. He is usually depicted as an older male with curly hair and beard.
Poseidon resented Zeus's claim to the heavens and as the oldest brother wanted his father's former domain for himself and resented the hand-out even more, various myths and poems recount Poseidon’s feuds with Zeus and clashes for power, and because of this he was considered by Greeks to have a difficult quarrelsome personality. Combined with his greed, he had a series of disputes with other gods during his various attempts to take over the cities they were patrons of.
History[]
Titanomachy[]
Poseidon is the second son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. In most accounts he is swallowed by Cronus at birth and is later saved, along with his other siblings, by Zeus. He, alongside Zeus and Hades, were on the front lines of the yearly long war with the Titans. Poseidon used his latent power over the seas to dominate some of the Titans and created chasms within the Earth to swallow their forces.
After the Titanomachy, the three deities worked in reshaping the world. First Zeus set out to divvy up the world between his brothers, Earth was set to be neutral ground and Zeus choose the heavens as his realm so he gave the remaining Oceans to Poseidon and Underworld to Hades. His weapon was a trident, with which he could make the earth shake, causing earthquakes, and shatter any object.
Poseidon married the sea goddess Amphitrite and together they had a son named Triton. But, like Zeus, Poseidon has had numerous affairs and thus many children but unlike his brother's vengeful wife Hera, his own wife did not press the matter. At one point he desired Demeter. To deter him, Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. So, in an effort to impress her, Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts, his first attempts were unsuccessful and created a variety of other animals in his quest; thus, by the time the horse was created, his passion for Demeter had diminished. He also had a child with Aphrodite, a daughter named Rhodos. Other notable children of him were the hero Theseus, the hunter Orion and the cyclop Polyphemus.
Foundation of Athens[]
Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens after a competition with Poseidon. Yet Poseidon remained a numinous presence on the Acropolis in the form of his surrogate, Erechtheus. At the dissolution festival at the end of the year in the Athenian calendar, the Skira, the priests of Athena and the priest of Poseidon would process under canopies to Eleusis. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and the Athenians would choose whichever gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up; the water was salty and not very useful, whereas Athena offered them an olive tree.
The Athenians or their king, Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and along with it Athena as their patron, for the olive tree brought wood, oil and food. After the fight, infuriated at his loss, Poseidon sent a monstrous flood to the Attic Plain, to punish the Athenians for not choosing him. The depression made by Poseidon's trident and filled with salt water was surrounded by the northern hall of the Erechtheum, remaining open to the air.
Poseidon's rivalry with Athena endured for many years, to where he went so far as to desecrate one of her temples. One such infamous act involved the gorgon Medusa, who was originally a priestess of Athena that swore a life of celibacy. Poseidon was so enamored with Medusa's beauty he tried to seduce her, but when she rejected his advances, he forces himself upon her on the cold floor of Athena's temple to Athena. Medusa was then changed into a monster by Athena. When she was later beheaded by the hero Perseus, Chrysaor and Pegasus emerged from her neck, who were also believed to be the children of Poseidon and Medusa.
Odyssey[]
Poseidon and Apollo, having offended Zeus by their rebellion in Hera's scheme, were temporarily stripped of their divine authority and sent to serve King Laomedon of Troy. He had them build huge walls around the city and promised to reward them with his immortal horses, a promise he then refused to fulfill. In vengeance, before the Trojan War, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy only for the monster to later be killed by Heracles.
He was also a great antagonist to the legendary Greek hero Odysseus. By the end of the Trojan War, Poseidon prevented Odysseus from returning him due to the latter angering the sea god. Odysseus's protectress Athena asks Zeus to finally allow Odysseus to return home when Poseidon is absent from Mount Olympus. Disguised as a chieftain named Mentes, Athena visits Telemachus to urge him to search for news of his father and to stay out for a year if he hears that he is alive.
Odysseus spends seven years as a captive of Calypso on the island Ogygia. She has fallen deeply in love with him, but he spurns her offers of immortality as her husband. She is ordered to release him by the messenger god Hermes, sent by Zeus in response to Athena's plea. Odysseus builds a raft and is given clothing, food, and drink by Calypso. When Poseidon learns that Odysseus has escaped, he wrecks the raft. Helped by a veil provided by the sea nymph Ino, Odysseus swims ashore on Scherie, the island of the Phaeacians. Naked and exhausted, he hides in a pile of leaves and falls asleep.
When Odysseus and his crew escaped the cave of Polyphemus, Odysseus taunts Polyphemus and revealed himself. The Cyclops prayed to his father Poseidon, asking him to curse Odysseus to wander for ten years. After the escape, Aeolus gave Odysseus a leather bag containing all the winds except the west wind, a gift that should have ensured a safe return home.
Personality[]
While Poseidon can be counted as a benevolent god, he shares many characteristics with his younger brother Zeus including pride, stubbornness, and a fearsome temper which is said to be unpredictable as the sea itself. Poseidon is more known for his libido acts, engaging in sexual encounters with many mortal women, female divinities or creatures. Poseidon can also be be extremely dramatic, much like Zeus. When he was unable to woo Amphitrite, Poseidon becomes extremely depressed, and pointlessly wandered about his palace, bellowing "louder than a humpback whale", giving many whales and giant squids terrible migraines.
Poseidon is known to have many quarrels and arguments with his brother Zeus. While he accepted a position as one of the Twelve Olympians thereby gaining worship on Earth, there is a dichotomy to Poseidon, as he wishes to rule with complete authority but is subject to his youngest brother's whims. Poseidon would often test the limits of his service to Zeus by claiming he was not acting as one of the Twelve Olympians but in his private position as Lord of the Oceans when doing things like conjuring hurricanes or sinking Zeus's temples and followers. As a result of Poseidon's rivalry with Zeus many people died over minor family spats. Unlike Zeus and Hera, Poseidon and Amphitrite had an open marriage, affairs were common and did not need to be done in secret.
Even though Poseidon can at times be regarded as cruel, he does care for and love his children deeply. He also expresses affection towards his family. This was shown that despite their occasional quarrels, Poseidon, unlike most other Olympians, was usually on good terms with Ares, and was the one to speak up for the war god when the latter was imprisoned and humiliated by Hephaestus, knowing that nobody else would. Poseidon was also benevolent towards his followers as he would often grant safe passage to many sailors and was protective of his own domain. He also took pity on the Hyperborean people and helped them prosper and grow within the kingdom of Atlantis. He even forgave them when they became Merfolk after their island kingdom sunk to the ocean.