POSEIDON
POSEIDON (puh-SYE-dun or
poh-SYE-dun; Roman name Neptune) was the god of the sea, earthquakes and
horses. Although he was officially one of the supreme gods of Mount
Olympus, he spent most of his time in his watery domain. Poseidon was
brother to Zeus and Hades. These three gods divided up creation. Zeus
was ruler of the sky, Hades had dominion of the Underworld and Poseidon
was given all water, both fresh and salt. Although there were various
rivers personified as gods, these would have been technically under
Poseidon's sway. Similarly, Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea, wasn't
really considered on a par with Poseidon, who was known to drive his
chariot through the waves in unquestioned dominance. Poseidon had
married Nereus's daughter, the sea-nymph Amphitrite. In dividing heaven,
the watery realm and the subterranean land of the dead, the Olympians
agreed that the earth itself would be ruled jointly, with Zeus as king.
This led to a number of territorial disputes among the gods. Poseidon
vied with Athena to be patron deity of Athens. The god demonstrated his
power and benevolence by striking the Acropolis with his three-pronged
spear, which caused a spring of salt water to emerge. Athena, however,
planted an olive tree, which was seen as a more useful favor. Her
paramount importance to the Athenians is seen in her magnificent temple,
the Parthenon, which still crowns the Acropolis. The people of Athens
were careful, all the same, to honor Poseidon as well (as soon as his
anger calmed down and he withdrew the flood of seawater with which he
ravaged the land after his loss in the contest with Athena). Poseidon
was father of the hero Theseus, although the mortal Aegeus also claimed
this distinction. Theseus was happy to have two fathers, enjoying the
lineage of each when it suited him. Thus he became king of Athens by
virtue of being Aegeus's son, but availed himself of Poseidon's
parentage in facing a challenge handed him by King Minos of Crete. This
monarch threw his signet ring into the depths of the sea and dared
Theseus to retrieve it. The hero dove beneath the waves and not only
found the ring but was given a crown by Poseidon's wife, Amphitrite.
Poseidon was not so well-disposed toward another famous hero. Because
Odysseus blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was Poseidon's son, the god
not only delayed the hero's homeward return from the Trojan War but
caused him to face enormous perils. At one point he whipped up the sea
with his trident and caused a storm so severe that Odysseus was
shipwrecked. Poseidon similarly cursed the wife of King Minos. Minos had
proved his divine right to rule Crete by calling on Poseidon to send a
bull from the sea, which the king promised to sacrifice. Poseidon sent
the bull, but Minos liked it too much to sacrifice it. So Poseidon asked
Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to make Minos's queen, Pasiphae, fall in
love with the bull. The result was the monstrous Minotaur, half-man,
half-bull. As god of horses, Poseidon often adopted the shape of a
steed. It is not certain that he was in this form when he wooed Medusa.
But when Perseus later killed the Gorgon, the winged horse Pegasus
sprang from her severed neck. Poseidon sometimes granted the
shape-shifting power to others. And he ceded to the request of the
maiden Caenis that she be transformed into the invulnerable, male
warrior Caeneus. |