Poseidon is the Olympian God of the Seas and ruler of the Oceans, worshipped by the Ancient Greeks and Atlanteans. The brother of Zeus and Hades, Poseidon is also the God of earthquakes, storms, and horses, though his most notable role is the protector of all waters.
Over the centuries, he has had a strong influence in the mortal world, as sailors relied upon him for safe passage. Considered the most ill-tempered of the Gods, Poseidon is known to be vengeful when insulted. He is also a hot-blooded deity, and has had many disputes with both gods and men, most famously with Athena and Odysseus.
Background[]
Poseidon was 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 brothers and sisters, by Zeus.
After the gods defeated the Titans, the world was divided into three and Zeus, Hades and Poseidon drew straws to decide which they would rule. Zeus drew the skies, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the seas.
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. "In cult, Poseidon was identified with Erechtheus," Walter Burkert noted; "the myth turns this into a temporal-causal sequence: in his anger at losing, Poseidon led his son Eumolpus against Athens and killed Erectheus."
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 well, a promise he then refused to fulfill. In vengeance, before the Trojan War, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. The monster was later killed by Heracles.
Even so, the narcissist that he was, Poseidon destroyed the fortifications built by the Greeks, firmly believing that his walls are the only buildings of the type worthy to remain. And, mad at him for blinding his son Polyphemus, he had a decade-long feud with one of the greatest Greek heroes, Odysseus.
The god of the sea was also greedy – especially when it came to earthly kingdoms. Once, he even wanted to obtain Athens from Athena, claiming that the city would have much more benefit from him than her. To prove this, he struck his trident into a rock, creating a seawater stream which welled up in the Temple of Erechtheion on the north side of the Acropolis. Athena, in turn, planted an olive tree. Cecrops, the first king of Athens, decided that Athena’s gift was more useful since it gave fruit, wood, and oil. Athena kept Athens, and ever since then, the olive branch is a universal symbol of peace.
Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance, while in Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god of the polis.
In his benign aspect, Poseidon was seen as creating new islands and offering calm seas. When offended or ignored, he supposedly struck the ground with his trident and caused chaotic springs, earthquakes, drownings and shipwrecks. Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice; in this way, according to a fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climactic battle of Issus, and resorted to prayers, "invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into the waves."
Poseidon was said to have had many lovers of both sexes. His consort was Amphitrite, a nymph and ancient sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus and Doris. Together they had a son named Triton, a merman.
A mortal woman named Tyro was married to Cretheus (with whom she had one son, Aeson), but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus, and from their union were born the heroes Pelias and Neleus, twin boys. Poseidon also had an affair with Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, his son and King of Eleusis, begetting the Attic hero Hippothoon. Cercyon had his daughter buried alive but Poseidon turned her into the spring, Alope, near Eleusis.
A mortal woman named Cleito once lived on an isolated island; Poseidon fell in love with the human mortal and created a dwelling sanctuary at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her. She gave birth to five sets of twin boys; the firstborn, Atlas, became the first ruler of Atlantis.
Not all of Poseidon's children were human. In an archaic myth, Poseidon once pursued Demeter. She spurned his advances, turning herself into a mare so that she could hide in a herd of horses; he saw through the deception and became a stallion and captured her. Their child was a horse, Arion, which was capable of human speech. Poseidon also raped Medusa on the floor of a 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.
His other children with other women include Polyphemus (the Cyclops) and, finally, Alebion and Bergion and Otos and Ephialtae (the giants).
Amphitrite, a Nereid, was Poseidon’s faithful wife throughout. She didn’t want it at the beginning, though. In fact, she fled to the Atlas Mountains to escape the god of the sea. However, Poseidon sent Delphinus to win her. Honey-tongued Delphinus did the job in flying colors. As a favor, Poseidon set his image among the star: the constellation Dolphin.
Involvement[]
- Poseidon is the last boss in the Wonderverse: Crypt of Penthesilea 4 player operation.
Associated Equipment[]
Trivia[]
- Poseidon first appeared in Flash Comics #9 (September 1940)
- Due to his status as Greek god of the sea, the character has figured primarily in stories relating to two of DC Comics' main superhero properties: Wonder Woman (an Amazon warrior with various connections to the Greek pantheon) and Aquaman (the king of the underwater city of Atlantis who possesses his trident).
- He is similar to Zeus in that he liked to exert power over women and flaunt his rugged masculinity. At times, however, his efforts were appreciated. Poseidon saved Amymone from a satyr.
- Poseidon possessed a palace, made of gems and coral, located on the ocean floor. He was at Mount Olympus more often than his palace.
- Just like Zeus, Poseidon had a weak spot for women. And, much like him, he was not exactly loved back by them. However, what he couldn’t acquire with romance and gentleness, he did with violence and craftiness.
- Like the other Olympian Gods, Poseidon possesses super-strength, super-speed, shapeshifting, immortality, and invulnerability.
- He and Athena competed for possession of the city of Athens. To sway the people in his favor, Poseidon made it spring at the Acropolis. Athena, on the other hand, gave them the olive tree. With it, she won the contest.
- To trick Demeter who turned into a mare to reject his advances, the god transformed himself into a stallion. Afterward, Demeter gave birth to the nymph Despoena and the talking horse Arion. With Amymone, Poseidon fathered Nauplius; with Aethra – the divine hero Theseus. The list goes on and includes hundreds of consorts and at least as many children.
- Posiedon has sometimes been the ruler of Ancient Atlantis in the comics.
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