Poseidon

Roman Name: Neptune

Poseidon was God of the Sea and the Ocean. He was also called sometimes called the Earthshaker because when his trident struck the ground, it would split, and when it struck the sea, waves would grow as high as mountains. He was often moody and violent. But when he was calm, he would calm the sea and raise new lands and islands from the ocean.

Poseidon had blue eyes and blue hair. His queen was Amphitrite. Her father, Nereus, had ruled the sea when Kronos reigned, before Zeus. When Poseidon came along, Nereus gave his daughter to him, and retired to an underwater grotto.

Poseidon and Amphitrite’s palace was at the bottom of the sea, made of pale gold, and surrounded by coral and pearls. Poseidon was almost never home, very often, he was out racing the waves. Poseidon had many wives, but Amphitrite wasn’t jealous like Hera. They had one son, Triton, who had a fishtail instead of legs, and he rode on the back of a sea monster.

One day, when Poseidon was in a very calm mood, he created an island, Delos, but it wasn’t fully created and it still floated. The only living thing on it was a single palm tree.

Delos and Leto

Zeus married a mortal named Leto. Somehow, Hera found out about this, and also that Leto was expecting twins. She made a ruling over all "lands" that they could not give Leto shelter.

Because of this, she wandered for a long while, until she came to Delos. But, because it wasn’t yet fully a "land", she was welcome. There was only one thing stopping her from giving birth: Hera forbade the Goddess of Childbirth, Ilithyia, to go to her.

All the goddesses up on Mt. Olympus felt bad for Leto, and tried to bribe Hera with a necklace. It was 9 yards of gold and amber, and Hera couldn’t resist. She finally let Ilithyia go, and Leto had her twins.

Leto’s children were Apollo(God of Music, Light, and Reason) and Artemis(Goddess of the Hunt). When they were old enough, Zeus gave them both a bow and arrows. Artemis’ arrows were soft and brought painless death, while Apollo’s arrows were hard and piercing.

Zeus blessed their birthplace, Delos, and fastened it to the bottom of the ocean. The little island became the richest of the Greek islands. Travelers ran to it, and built temples in worship to Leto, Apollo, and Artemis.

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