Poseidon

Poseidon is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology. He rules over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses. He protected sailors and watched over many Greek cities and colonies. This article is about the Greek god. For other uses, see Poseidon (disambiguation).

Long before the classical age, in the Bronze Age of Greece, Poseidon was honoured as a main god in the cities of Pylos and Thebes. He was known by the title "earth shaker." Poseidon was also linked to horses and to water. Many Greeks believed he tamed horses or was their father. They also believed he could make springs appear by striking the ground with his trident. His Roman equivalent is Neptune.

According to Homer, Poseidon became lord of the sea when the world was shared among the three sons of Cronus. The sons chose their shares by lot. Zeus received the sky, Hades received the underworld, and Poseidon received the sea. All three shared the Earth and Mount Olympus. In the writings of Plato, the legendary island of Atlantis was Poseidon's home.

In Homer's Iliad, Poseidon helps the Greeks in the Trojan War. In the Odyssey, the hero Odysseus makes Poseidon angry by blinding the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was Poseidon's son. Poseidon sends storms that wreck Odysseus's ship and drown many of his companions. These storms also delay his return home to Ithaca by ten years.

According to legend, Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens after a contest with Poseidon. Poseidon stayed on the Acropolis in the form of his stand-in, Erechtheus. After the contest, Poseidon sent a huge flood to the Attic plain to punish the Athenians for not choosing him.

Etymology

The oldest known spelling of the god's name is in Linear B, an early writing system. It appears as Ποσειδάων in Mycenean Greek, Ποσιδάων in Homeric Greek, Ποτε(ι)δάων in Aeolic, Ποτειδάν in Doric, and Ποσoιδᾱν in Arcadic. In Laconic writing from Tainaron, Helos and Thuria, the name is written Ποὁιδάν. This suggests that the Dorians took the name from the people who lived there before them. Scholars do not agree on what the name means. One idea links its first part to a word from PIE meaning "husband" or "lord." It links the second part to "earth," which would connect him to the "Earth-mother." Burkert calls the second part "hopelessly ambiguous," and Beekes says there is no sign that it means "earth." Another idea links the name to words for "water" and to river names such as the Danube.

Poseidon was the chief god at Pylos and Thebes in the Mycenean period. He was linked with the title wanax, which meant king and protector. He was called "Earth-shaker" at Knossos and Pylos. He was closely connected with Potnia, a goddess of nature. Offerings were made to him in the cave of Eileithyia at Amnisos on Crete. In Arcadian myths, he is related to Demeter and Despoina, and he is worshipped as a horse. Near Thelpusa, the river Ladon flowed to a shrine of Erinys. There, Poseidon appeared as a stallion, and the horse Arion was born. At Phigalia, Demeter was worshipped as Melaina, and her story is also connected to Poseidon.

Origins

Long ago, during the Mycenean period, Poseidon was worshipped in several parts of Greece. At Pylos he was a god of the underworld, and people prayed to him to protect the palace. He was given the title anax, which meant king or protector. His partner, potnia (lady or mistress), was a goddess of nature who was linked with birth and plants. Poseidon was also called "Enesidaon," which means earth-shaker. On Crete he was connected with the childbirth goddess Eleithyia. Homer used these old titles in classical Greece too, and the nature goddess lived on in the Eleusinian cult. It is not clear whether Poseidon was connected with the sea at this early time.

In the old Boeotian and Arcadian myths, Poseidon appears as a horse who joins with the earth goddess, who is called Erinys or Demeter. She gives birth to the horse Arion and to a daughter, Despoina. The horse is linked with a divine spirit (numen), with water, and with the underworld. The river god Acheloos is shown as a bull or a man with the head of a bull. Burkert suggests that the Hellenic cult of Poseidon as a horse god may be connected to the arrival of horses and war-chariots in Greece around 1600 BC. In Boeotia, the goddess Dike (Justice) had a role similar to Erinys, who gave birth to Arion at the spring "Tilpousa." At Thelpousa, Demeter-Erinys gave birth to Arion and to a daughter who had the shape of a mare. The idea of gods taking animal form seems to belong only to Arcadia, in an old religion linked with xoana.

Some ideas say Poseidon was a Pelasgian god, or a god of the Minyans, who lived in Thessaly and Boeotia. In Thessaly (Pelasgiotis), horses were important. People said Poseidon made the first horse, Skyphios, by striking a rock with his trident. In Boeotia, Poseidon was worshipped as a horse, and the winged horse Pegasus was also linked to him. At Onchestos he had an old festival with horse racing. Poseidon may have been a god shared by all Greeks from the beginning, like Zeus. The Greeks may have brought only Zeus, Eos, and the Dioskouroi with them. The Pelasgian god probably stood for the power of water to make things grow, and later he became the god of the sea. Because the sea surrounds and holds the earth, Poseidon was seen as the god who could shake it. Oceanus, the water that circled the earth, was the source of all rivers and springs, and his children were born with his wife Tethys.

Farnell suggested that Poseidon was first the god of the Minyans, who lived in Thessaly and Boeotia. The Boeotian and Arcadian myths are alike, especially in showing the water god as a horse. The winged horse Pegasus created springs near Helikon and at Troizen. Some of Poseidon's springs have similar names in Boeotia and Peloponnese. Poseidon Helikonios, honored in Boeotia with horse racing, may take his name from the mountain Helikon. The Minyans traded with Mycenean Pylos, and the Achaeans adopted the cult of Poseidon Helikonios. The cult spread through Peloponnese and then to Ionia when the Achaeans moved to Asia Minor. Nilsson suggested that Poseidon was probably a god common to all Greeks from the beginning. In Thessaly, Boeotia, and Peloponnese, he was the god of horses. His cult began in Peloponnese, where he was the inland god of the Achaeans, linked with horses and earthquakes. When the Achaeans moved to Ionia, Poseidon became more linked with the sea, because the Ionians depended on the sea. At first, he was the god of waters. The Greeks believed earthquakes were caused by water wearing away rocks, since rivers in Peloponnese seemed to vanish into the earth and then burst out again. This led to the water god becoming the "earth-shaker." The natural philosophers Thales, Anaximenes, and Aristotle held the same view. In Greek legends, Arethusa and the river Alpheus traveled underground beneath the sea and came up again at Ortygia. Poseidon's early importance can still be seen in Homer's Odyssey, where he, rather than Zeus, drives most of the events. He is described as a powerful, fearsome ruler of the sea who punishes those who wrong him.

Cult

Many people across Greece and southern Italy worshipped Poseidon. He was especially honoured in the Peloponnese and in the Ionic cities. Place names such as Poteidaia in the Chalkidiki peninsula and Poseidonia (Paestum) show how important he was. Settlers who moved to Ionia from Pylos, where Poseidon was the main god, brought his worship with them. He had a famous temple near Mycale. The month Poseidaon was the month of winter storms. On Lesbos and at Epidauros, it was called Poseidios. In Athens, he was second only to Athena. In Corinth and many cities of Ionia and Magna Graecia, he was the chief god. Many of his festivals included sports and horseracing, such as the Isthmian games at Corinth.

Poseidon was seen as a master of the sea. He could make storms, but he also protected sailors and fishermen. He was called the "earthshaker" and was believed to protect people from earthquakes. People thought he had created the first horse, and he was often shown riding horses or driving a chariot. As a god of waters, he was linked with springs. He was also honoured as a god of fishing and plant life. Poseidon was once thought to have been one of the caretakers of the oracle at Delphi, before Apollo took it over. People also blamed him for certain types of epilepsy. Poseidon is still worshipped today in modern Hellenic religion. The Greek government has recognized the worship of Greek gods since 2017.

Temples of Poseidon

The Corinthians are thought to have invented the Doric order, a style of building. Corinth was destroyed and rebuilt many times, so little is left of its earliest Doric temples. A building at Isthmia, near Corinth, was later dedicated to Poseidon. It is seen as an early example of Doric architecture. The first temple with clear Doric features was built with help from Corinthians at Thermon in Aetolia. It was dedicated to Apollo.

Temples to Poseidon were built in many other places. At Paestum, near Naples in Italy, a large temple is traditionally named after Poseidon. Newer digs suggest it was dedicated to Hera instead. At Taranto, a city in Magna Graecia, a temple of Poseidon was probably built in the 6th century BC. In Attica, work began on the temple at Sounion in 490 BC, but it was damaged by the Persians before it was finished. A second temple was built there in 425 BC. It probably held a large bronze statue of Poseidon. A temple of Poseidon was also built on Kalaureia, an island near Troezen in the Peloponnese.

Mythology

In the best-known story, Poseidon was born to the Titans Cronus and Rhea. He was the fifth of six children. His father swallowed each baby, but Rhea saved the youngest, Zeus, by tricking Cronus. When Zeus grew up, he made his father give back the children he had swallowed. Poseidon and his brothers and sisters, using a trident made for him by the Cyclopes, defeated the Titans. According to Homer, Zeus, Poseidon and Hades then shared the world. Zeus took the sky, Poseidon the sea, and Hades the Underworld. Other stories tell of Poseidon's many children, his wife Amphitrite, and how he helped found cities such as Athens. In one tale, Athena won Athens by offering an olive tree. Poseidon offered a spring of salt water. The Athenians chose the olive tree.

Poseidon was also said to be the father of many heroes, including Theseus. In some myths, he helped or punished the people of Crete, Troy and other places. He is also linked to the lost island of Atlantis, where his son Atlas was said to be the first ruler.

Genealogy

In literature and art

In Greek art, Poseidon lives in a palace on the ocean floor, made of coral and gems. He rides a chariot pulled by a hippocampus or by horses that can run on the sea. He is linked with dolphins and his three-pronged spears, called tridents. A hymn to Poseidon in the Homeric Hymns calls him "mover of the earth and barren sea" and "god of the deep." It says he is also lord of Mount Helicon and wide Aegae. It describes him as "a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships." In the Iliad, Poseidon supports the Greeks and often joins the battle against the Trojans. In Book XX, however, he saves Aeneas after the Trojan prince is knocked down by Achilles.

In the Odyssey, Poseidon is angry at Odysseus, who had harmed the sea-god's son, the Cyclops Polyphemus. Poseidon sends storms that wreck Odysseus's ship and take many of his companions. His anger keeps Odysseus from returning home to Ithaca for ten years. Even after Odysseus finally gets back safely, he is told he must make one more journey to calm Poseidon. After Odysseus leaves the island of Calypso, Poseidon calls up all four of the Anemoi to make a storm and great waves against him. In the Aeneid, Neptune still holds a grudge against the wandering Trojans, but he is not as vengeful as Juno. In Book I, he protects the Trojan fleet from the goddess's attempts to wreck it, mainly because he is annoyed that Juno has entered his domain.

In modern culture

Because he is a Greek god, Poseidon has appeared in many modern and popular stories. He appeared in the 1963 film Jason and the Argonauts. He is also the father of the main character, Percy Jackson, in the Percy Jackson & the Olympians book series. In the first movie based on the books, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, released in 2010, he is played by Kevin McKidd.

Poseidon has also appeared in video games. In God of War 3, made by Sony, he is a boss that the player must defeat. In the video game Hades, he is a character who gives players "boons," which are helpful gifts.

Narrations

Many pre-modern writers told and retold stories about Poseidon. Some of the earliest are Homer, whose Odyssey was written in the 7th century BC, and Pindar, whose Olympian Odes dates from 476 BC. Other writers include Sophocles, Euripides, Diodorus Siculus, and Ovid. Later works include the Bibliotheca Epitome, the writings of Hyginus, Pausanias, Philostratus the Elder, and Philostratus the Younger, and the First Vatican Mythographer and Second Vatican Mythographer.