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.
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