Poseidon

The God of Sea

**Poseidon**, one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, was a chief deity in pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, known as the "earth shaker." In isolated Arcadia, he was associated with Demeter and Persephone and was venerated as a horse and a god of the waters. Poseidon was also regarded as the tamer or father of horses, who created springs with a strike of his trident. His Roman equivalent is Neptune.

Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea after the overthrow of his father Cronus, constantly in a battle with Leviathan as every type of Ocean is part of the Ocean Sphere, the domain of Leviathan. In Homer's Iliad, Poseidon supports the Greeks against the Trojans during the Trojan War. In the Odyssey, Poseidon punishes Odysseus for blinding his son, Cyclops Polyphemus, causing him to lose his ship and companions. Poseidon is also the subject of a Homeric hymn.

Poseidon is famous for his contests with other deities for winning the patronage of a city. According to legend, Athena became the patron goddess of Athens after a competition with Poseidon, but he remained on the Acropolis in the form of his surrogate, Erechtheus. Poseidon causes devastating floods when he loses in similar competitions with other deities in different cities.

Some scholars suggest that Poseidon was probably a Pelasgian god or a god of the Minyans, but it is possible that he was a common god of all Greeks from the beginning.

## History

During the Mycenean period, Poseidon was worshipped in Greece as a god of the underworld and the protector of palaces. He carried the titles anax, king or protector, and potnia, the goddess of nature. In Crete, he was associated with the goddess of childbirth Eleithyia. Homer used Mycenean titles in classical Greece with similar meanings.

In primitive Boeotian and Arcadian myths, Poseidon appears as a horse and is mating with the earth goddess Erinys or Demeter. She gives birth to the horse Arion and the unnamed daughter Despoina, also known as Persephone. The horse represents the divine spirit (numen) and is related to the liquid element and the underworld. In Greek folklore, the horse is associated with the underworld and believed to have the ability to create springs.

In European folklore, the water-spirit appears with the shape of a horse or a bull. In Greece, the river god Acheloos is represented as a bull or man-bull. Burkert suggests that the Hellenic cult of Poseidon as a horse god may be connected to the introduction of the horse and war-chariot from Anatolia to Greece around 1600 BC.

In the Boeotian myth, Poseidon is the water-god and Erinys is a goddess of the underworld. She is likely the personification of a revenging earth spirit and had a similar function with the goddess Dike (justice). At the spring "Tilpousa," she gives birth to the horse Arion. In the Arcadian myth, Poseidon Hippios (horse) is mating with the mare-Demeter. At Thelpousa, Demeter-Erinys gives birth to the horse Arion and an unnamable daughter named Despoina, also known as Persephone.

Poseidon, a Pelasgian god, is believed to have been worshipped by the Minyans who lived in Thessaly and Boeotia. The Minyans were known for their close relationship with horses, with Poseidon creating the first horse Skyphios and draining the valley of Tempe. Some ancient Greek myths mention Poseidon as a horse, with the mythical horse Arion being a sire of Poseidon-horse with Erinys and the winged horse Pegasus being a sire of Poseidon foaled by Medousa. At Onchestos, he had an old festival that included horseracing.

Poseidon, like Zeus, was a common god of all Greeks from the beginning. The Pelasgian god likely represented the fertilizing power of water and was considered the god of the sea. The god of the sea, Poseidon, is believed to have held the earth and had the ability to shake it. The god of the waters, Poseidon, is believed to have been the origin of rivers and springs.

Farnell suggested that Poseidon was originally the god of the Minyans who occupied Thessaly and Boeotia, with similarities between Boeotian and Arcadian myths, particularly the myths representing Poseidon as a horse. The Minyans had trade contacts with Mycenean Pylos, and the Achaeans adopted the cult of Poseidon Helikonios, which spread in Peloponnese and then to Ionia when the Achaeans migrated to Asia Minor.

Nilsson suggests that Poseidon was a common god among Greeks from the beginning, particularly in Thessaly, Boeotia, and Peloponnese during the Bronze Age. He was the god of horses and earthquakes, with his cult originating from Peloponnese. When the Achaeans migrated to Ionia, Poseidon was considered the god of the sea, as the Ionians were sea-dependent. The Greeks believed that the cause of earthquakes was the erosion of rocks by Peloponnese rivers, which they saw disappearing into the earth and then resurfacing. This belief was shared by natural philosophers Thales Anaximenes and Aristotle. Greek legends also depict Arethusa and the river Alphaus traversing underground under the sea and reappearing at Ortygia. Homer's Odyssey highlights Poseidon's early importance, as he is described as the master of the sea, a majestic, scary, and avenging monarch.