Poseidon (Neptune)

The son of Cronus and Rhea, Poseidon (Neptune to the Romans) was one of the Olympians, equal to Zeus in dignity, if not power. When, after the deposition of Cronus, who had swallowed him along with his brother Hades and sisters Hestia, Demeter, and Hera, lots were cast to divide power among the brothers, he received the kingdom of the sea, while Zeus was given the heavens and Hades the underground kingdom of the dead. The earth remained a common domain. Poseidon did not just command the sea, but was able to cause storms and tidal waves and to shake the earth with his trident, a gift of the Cyclopes. His underwater palace stood off Aeges, in Euboea, with its stables housing his horses with bronze hooves and golden manes. When Poseidon appeared on his golden chariot drawn by these horses storms ceased and sea monsters emerged from the waves to act as his escort.

Though a gloomy and quarrelsome figure, Poseidon maintained good relations with his brother Zeus, fighting alongside him against the Titans and in the Gigantomachia. However, on one occasion he attempted to overthrow Zeus with the complicity of Hera and Apollo. Zeus was set free by the intervention of Thetis, who sent Briareus with his one hundred hands to untie the bonds that imprisoned him, and Poseidon was forced to undergo the humiliation of serving King Laomedon, for whom he raised the walls of Troy.

As he needed a wife who would be at ease in the depths of the sea, Poseidon courted the powerful Thetis, but when he learned of an ancient prophecy that a child born to her would depose its father, he renounced the marriage and allowed the goddess to wed the mortal Peleus. He then set his sights on the haughty Amphitrite, whom he eventually succeeded in marrying. But it was a stormy and difficult relationship, since Poseidon continued to run after nymphs, goddesses, and mortal women. He united with Theophane in the form of a ram and possessed his sister Demeter in that of a stallion.

From his many unions, all of them fertile, he had, like Zeus, many children. But while Zeus' sons were generally beneficent heroes, Poseidon's were often rough giants, violent monsters, or treacherous beings. They included the Cyclops Polyphemus, Chrysaor generated from Medusa, Nauplius, and Cercyon, the notorious tyrant of Eleusis who was killed by Theseus. Yet he was very fond of these offspring, as was discovered by Ulysses when he blinded Polyphemus and by Cassiopeia, whose own pride nearly led to the loss of her daughter Andromeda.

When human beings organized themselves into cities and each god, desiring to receive special honors, wished to become a poliadic deity (protector of a polis, or city), Poseidon too entered the contest, though he generally failed. He fought for the city of Argos with Hera, but was unsuccessful. He desired the island of Aegina, but was defeated by Zeus. He tried again with Naxos, but this went to Dionysus. The most famous dispute was with Athena over the possession of Athens and Attica, but Poseidon lost once again. However, no one was able to take away his marvelous island, Atlantis, hidden in the midst of the River Oceanus.

Last Edited On: 08/13/99

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