Poseidon-The Greek God Of Seas And Earthquakes

          Poseidon was the great Olympian god of the sea , rivers , flood and droughts , horses and earthquakes.

He was a son of Cronos and Rhea. He was accordingly a brother of Zeus, Hades, Hera, Hestia and Demeter, and it was determined by lot that he should rule over the sea.Like his brothers and sisters, he was, after his birth, swallowed by his father Cronos, but thrown up again.


According to others, he was concealed by Rhea, after his birth, among a flock of lambs, and his mother pretended to have given birth to a young horse, which she gave to Cronos to devour. A well in the neighbourhood of Mantineia, where this is said to have happened, was believed, from this circumstance, to have derived the name of the "Lamb's Well," or Arne.According to Tzetzes he nurse of Poseidon bore the name of Arne; when Cronos searched after his son, Arne is said to have declared that she knew not where he was, and from her the town of Arne was believed to have received its name. According to others, again, he was brought up by the Telchines at the request of Rhea. 


In the earliest poems, Poseidon is described as indeed equal to Zeus in dignity, but weaker . Hence we find him angry when Zeus, by haughty words, attempts to intimidate him; he even threatens his mightier brother, and once he conspired with Hera and Athena to put him into chains but, on the other hand, we also find him yielding and submissive to Zeus.


The palace of Poseidon was in the depth of the sea near Aegae in Euboea, where he kept his horses with brazen hoofs and golden manes. With these horses he rides in a chariot over the waves of the sea, which become smooth as he approaches, and the monsters of the deep recognise him and play around his chariot. But although he generally dwelt in the sea, still he also appears in Olympus in the assembly of the gods.


Being the ruler of the sea (the Mediterranean), he is described as gathering clouds and calling forth storms, but at the same he has it in his power to grant a successful voyage and save those who are in danger, and all other marine divinities are subject to him. As the sea surrounds and holds the earth, he himself is described as the god who holds the earth and who has it in his power to shake the earth. He was further regarded as the creator of the horse.


The symbol of Poseidon's power was the trident, or a spear with three points, with which he used to shatter rocks, to call forth or subdue storms, to shake the earth and the like. 


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.


His wife was Amphitrite, a sea nymph and daughter of Nereus and Doris. Before they were married, when Poseidon was courting Amphitrite, she had heard about his bad reputation and hid in the Atlantic Ocean. According to this myth Poseidon sent numerous sea creatures to find her, but they all came back empty handed. Finally, he sent his dolphin out, who found Amphitrite and talked her into coming back with him. Poseidon, as a reward, turned the dolphin into a constellation. Amphitrite had been a major goddess in her own right. Her name means "the third that surrounds". To the Greeks, the sky and land were the first and second things created, the sea was the third. And the sea naturally surrounds the land.


Amphitrite was jealous of Poseidon's lovers and once turned one of them into a sea monster. She was called Scylla, a beautiful sea nymph. Amphitrite threw magical herbs into her bath and she was transformed into a horrible monster with six mouths and twelve feet. After this, she lived in a cave above a narrow strait, and whenever a ship passed she would use her long necks to take sailors from the deck and eat them. It was in this way that she got six of Odysseus' men when his ship came too near her home.

In one of the other Poseidon myths, he fought battles with his niece Athena in order to gain control of her kingdoms. Athena was the goddess of war and gave him a good fight every time. Zeus and the other gods were often called upon to interfere. Later, Poseidon fought with other gods: Zeus himself, Hera, Dionysus, Helius, etc. Poseidon destroyed buildings, flooded some lands and brought a bad drought to others. 

The Greek God Poseidon was worshiped for many reasons. The sailors used to worship him because if Poseidon will get angry, he will send the huge waves to destroy their ships and take lives of them. In case of droughts also people used to worship Him.

Here is a photo of the Temple of Poseidon.


if you like it then comment