Poseidon

Poseidon (Greek: Ποσειδῶν) was the god of the sea, and, as "Earth-Shaker,"[1] of the earthquakes in Greek mythology.[2] The name of the sea-god Nethuns in Etruscan was adopted in Latin for Neptune in Roman mythology: both were sea gods analogous to Poseidon. Linear B tablets show that Poseidon was venerated at Pylos and Thebes in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, but he was integrated into the Olympian gods as the brother of Zeus and Hades.[2] Poseidon has many children. There is a Homeric hymn to Poseidon, who was the protector of many Hellenic cities, although he lost the
==Etymology==
The earliest attested occurrence of the name, written in Linear B, is Po-se-da-o or Po-se-da-wo-ne, which correspond to Poseidaōn and Poseidawonos in Mycenean Greek; in Homeric Greek it appears as Ποσειδάων (Poseidaōn); in Aeolic as Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn); and in Doric as Ποτειδάν (Poteidan), Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn), and Ποτειδᾶς (Poteidas).[3] A common epithet of Poseidon is Γαιήοχος Gaiēochos, "Earth-shaker," an epithet which is also identified in Linear B tablets.[4]
The origins of the name "Poseidon" are unclear. One theory breaks it down into an element meaning "husband" or "lord" (Greek πόσις (posis), from PIE *pótis) and another element meaning "earth" (δᾶ (da), Doric for γῆ (gē)), producing something like lord or spouse of Da, i.e. of the earth; this would link him with Demeter, "Earth-mother."[5] Walter Burkert finds that "the second element da- remains hopelessly ambiguous" and finds a "husband of Earth" reading "quite impossible to prove."[2] Another theory interprets the second element as related to the word *δᾶϜον dawon, "water"; this would make *Posei-dawōn into the master of waters.[6] There is also the possibility that the word has Pre-Greek origin.[7] Plato in his dialogue Cratylus gives two alternative etymologies: either the sea restrained Poseidon when walking as a foot-bond (ποσί-δεσμον), or he knew many things (πολλά εἰδότος or πολλά εἰδῶν).[contest for Athens to Athena
==Worship of Poseidon==
Poseidon holding a trident. Corinthian plaque, 550-525 BC. From Penteskouphia. From Penteskouphia.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.[2]
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."[9]
According to Pausanias, Poseidon was one of the caretakers of the oracle at Delphi before Olympian Apollo took it over. Apollo and Poseidon worked closely in many realms: in colonization, for example, Delphic Apollo provided the authorization to go out and settle, while Poseidon watched over the colonists on their way, and provided the lustral water for the foundation-sacrifice. Xenophon's Anabasis describes a group of Spartan soldiers in 400–399 BCE singing to Poseidon a paean—a kind of hymn normally sung for Apollo.
Like Dionysus, who inflamed the maenads, Poseidon also caused certain forms of mental disturbance. A Hippocratic text of ca 400 BCE, On the Sacred Disease[10] says that he was blamed for certain types of epilepsy.
==Bronze Age Greece==
Poseidon, Paella MuseumIf surviving Linear B clay tablets can be trusted, the name po-se-da-wo-ne ("Poseidon") occurs with greater frequency than does di-u-ja ("Zeus"). A feminine variant, po-se-de-ia, is also found, indicating a lost consort goddess, in effect a precursor of Amphitrite. Tablets from Pylos record sacrificial goods destined for "the Two Queens and Poseidon" and to "the Two Queens and the King". The most obvious identification for the "Two Queens" is with Demeter and Persephone, or their precursors, goddesses who were not associated with Poseidon in later periods. The illuminating exception is the archaic and localised myth of the stallion Poseidon and mare Demeter at Phigalia in isolated and conservative Arcadia, noted by Pausanias (2nd century CE) as having fallen into desuetude; the violated Demeter was Demeter Erinys.[11][citation needed] In Mycenaean Knossos, Poseidon is already identified as "Earth-Shaker" (e-ne-si-da-o-ne),[12] a powerful attribute (earthquakes had accompanied the collapse of the Minoan palace-culture). In the heavily sea-dependent Mycenaean culture, no connection between Poseidon and the sea has yet surfaced.[citation needed] Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea following the defeat of his father Kronos, when the world was divided by lot among his three sons; Zeus was given the sky, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the sea, with the Earth and Mount Olympus belonging to all three.[2][13]
Demeter and Poseidon's names are linked in one Pylos tablet, where they appear as po-se-da-wo-ne and da-ma-te, in the context of sacralized lot-casting.[citation needed]
Given Poseidon's connection with horses as well as the sea, and the landlocked situation of the likely Indo-European homeland, Nobuo Komita has proposed that Poseidon was originally an aristocratic Indo-European horse-god who was then assimilated to Near Eastern aquatic deities when the basis of the Greek livelihood shifted from the land to the sea, or a god of fresh waters who was assigned a secondary role as god of the sea, where he overwhelmed the original Aegean sea deities such as Proteus and Nereus.[14] Conversely, Walter Burkert suggests that the Hellene cult worship of Poseidon as a horse god may be connected to the introduction of the horse and war-chariot from Anatolia to Greece around 1600 BCE.[2]
In any case, the early importance of Poseidon can still be glimpsed in Homer's Odyssey, where Poseidon rather than Zeus is the major mover of events.
===Consorts and children===
Poseidon on an Attic kalyx krater (detail), first half of the 5th century BCEHis consort was Amphitrite, a nymph and ancient sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus and Doris.
Poseidon was the father of many heroes. He is thought to have fathered the famed Theseus.
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.
Poseidon rescued Amymone from a lecherous satyr and then fathered a child, Nauplius, by her.
After having raped Caeneus, Poseidon fulfilled her request and changed her into a male warrior.
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 had sexual intercourse with 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. There is also Triton (the merman), Polyphemus (the cyclops) and, finally, Alebion and Bergion and Otos and Ephialtae (the giants).[21]
===List of Poseidon's consorts and children===
 [show]#Amphitrite
##Triton
##Benthesikyme
##Rhode (possibly)
#Aphrodite
##Rhode (possibly)
##Herophile the Sibyl (possibly)
#Demeter
##Despoina
##Areion, the talking horse
#Gaea
##Antaeus
##Charybdis
#Hestia (wooed her unsuccessfully)
#Aba, nymph
##Ergiscus[22]
#Agamede
##Dictys
#Aethra
##Theseus
#Alistra[23]
##Ogygus
#Alcyone
##Aethusa
##Hyrieus
##Hyperenor / Hyperes
##Anthas
#Alope
##Hippothoon
#Amphimedusa, Danaid
##Erythras
#Amymone
##Nauplius
#Arene
##Idas (possibly)
#Arne / Melanippe
##Aeolus
##Boeotus
#Arethusa
##Abas
#Ascre
##Oeoclus[24]
#Astydameia, daughter of Phorbas
##Caucon
#Astypalaea
##Ancaeus
##Eurypylus of Kos
#Beroe (daughter of Aphrodite)
#Boudeia / Bouzyge
##Erginus
#Caenis
#Calchinia
##Peratus
#Canace
##Hopleus
##Nireus
##Aloeus
##Epopeus
##Triopas
#Celaeno (Pleiad or daughter of Ergeus)
##Lycus
##Nycteus
##Eurypylus (Eurytus) of Cyrene
##Lycaon
#Celaeno, Danaid
##Celaenus
#Cerebia[25]
##Dictys
##Polydectes
#Ceroessa
##Byzas
#Cleodora
##Parnassus
#Chione
##Eumolpus
#Chrysogeneia
##Chryses, father of Minyas
#Corcyra, nymph
##Phaeax
#Coronis
#Diopatra, nymph of Mount Othrys
#Euryale, daughter of Minos
##Orion (possibly)
#Eurycyda
##Eleius
#Eurynome (Eurymede), daughter of Nisos
##Bellerophon
#Euryte / Bathycleia
##Halirrhothius
#Halia
##Rhode (possibly)
##six sons
#Harpale / Scamandrodice / Calyce
##Cycnus
#Helle
##Almops
##Edonus
##Paion
#Hermippe
##Minyas (possibly)
#Hippothoe
##Taphius
#Iphimedeia
##The Aloadae
#Laodice[26]
#Larissa
##Achaeus
##Pelasgus
##Pythius
#Leis, daughter of Orus
##Altephus[27]
#Libya
##Agenor
##Belus
##Lelex
#Lysianassa / Anippe
##Busiris
#Mecionice / Europa, daughter of Tityos
##Euphemus, Argonaut
#Medusa
##Pegasus
##Chrysaor
#Melantheia, daughter of Alpheus
##Eirene
#Melantho (daughter of Deucalion)
##Delphus
#Melia
##Amycus
##Mygdon
#Melissa, daughter of Epidamnus
##Dyrrhachius[28]
#Mestra
#Mideia
##Aspledon
#Molione
##The Molionidae
#Mytilene
##Myton[29]
#Oenope
##Megareus of Onchestus (possibly)
#Olbia, nymph
##Astacus[30]
#Ossa
##Sithon (possibly)
#Peirene
##Cenchrias
##Leches
#Periboea
##Nausithous
#Pero, nymph / Kelousa, nymph
##Asopus (possibly)
#Pitane, nymph / Lena
##Euadne
#Phoenice
##Torone[31]
#Pronoe, daughter of Asopus
##Phocus
#Rhode[32]
##Ialysus
##Cameirus
##Lindus
#Rhodope, daughter of Strymon
##Athos[33]
#Salamis, daughter of Asopus
##Cychreus
#Satyria, nymph of Taras
##Taras (eponym of the location)[34]
#Syme
##Chthonius
#Themisto
##Leucon (possibly)
#Theophane
##The Ram of the Golden Fleece
#Tyro
##Pelias
##Neleus
#Thoosa
##Polyphemus
#Daughter of Amphictyon, unnamed
##Cercyon
#Nymph of Chios, unnamed
##Chios
#Nymph of Chios, unnamed (another one)
##Melas
##Agelus
#unknown consorts
##Amphimarus[35]
##Amyrus, eponym of a river in Thessaly[36]
##Astraeus and Alcippe of Mysia[37]
##Calaurus[38]
##Corynetes (possibly)
##Cymopoleia
##Cromus (eponym of Crommyon)[39]
##Dicaeus, eponym of Dicaea, a city in Thrace[40]
##Eusirus (father of Cerambus)
##Ialebion and Dercynus of Liguria[41]
##Laestrygon, eponym of the Laestrygonians
##Lamus, king of the Laestrygonians
##Messapus
##Onchestus[42]
##Ourea[43]
##Palaestinus[44]
##Phorbas of Acarnania
##Poltys
##Procrustes
##Proteus
##Sarpedon of Ainos
##Sciron
##Taenarus (possibly)
In Plato's myth of Atlantis, Poseidon consorted with Cleito, daughter of the autochthons Evenor and Leucippe, and had by her ten sons: Ampheres, Atlas, Autochthon, Azaes, Diaprepes, Elasippus, Euaemon, Eumelus (Gadeirus), Mestor, Mneseus.[45]
====Male lovers of Poseidon====
*Nerites
*Pelops
*Patroclus[46]
===Epithets===
Poseidon was known in various guises, denoted by epithets. In the town of Aegae[disambiguation needed ] in Euboea, he was known as Poseidon Aegaeus and had a magnificent temple upon a hill.[47][48][49] Poseidon also had a close association with horses, known under the epithet Poseidon Hippios. He is more often regarded as the tamer of horses, but in some myths he is their father, either by spilling his seed upon a rock or by mating with a creature who then gave birth to the first horse.[2]
In the historical period, Poseidon was often referred to by the epithets Enosichthon, Seischthon and Ennosigaios, all meaning "earth-shaker" and referring to his role in causing earthquakes.
==Poseidon in literature and art==
Jacob de Gheyn II: Poseidon
and Amphitrite
In Greek art, Poseidon rides a chariot that was pulled by a hippocampus or by horses that could ride on the sea. He was associated with dolphins and three-pronged fish spears (tridents). He lived in a palace on the ocean floor, made of coral and gems.
In the Iliad Poseidon favors the Greeks, and on several occasion takes an active part in the battle against the Trojan forces. However, in Book XX he rescues Aeneas after the Trojan prince is laid low by Achilles.
In the Odyssey, Poseidon is notable for his hatred of Odysseus who blinded the god's son, the cyclops Polyphemus. The enmity of Poseidon prevents Odysseus's return home to Ithaca for many years. Odysseus is even told, notwithstanding his ultimate safe return, that to placate the wrath of Poseidon will require one more voyage on his part.
In the Aeneid, Neptune is still resentful of the wandering Trojans, but is not as vindictive as Juno, and in Book I he rescues the Trojan fleet from the goddess's attempts to wreck it, although his primary motivation for doing this is his annoyance at Juno's having intruded into his domain.
A hymn to Poseidon included among the Homeric Hymns is a brief invocation, a seven-line introduction that addresses the god as both "mover of the earth and barren sea, god of the deep who is also lord of Helicon and wide Aegae[disambiguation needed ],[50] and specificies his twofold nature as an Olympian: "a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships."