Download 1 Running Head: POSEIDON Poseidon: The Greek Lord of the Sea

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Running Head: POSEIDON
Poseidon: The Greek Lord of the Sea
Author's Name
Lincoln Charter School
November 5, 2012
Mr. Thomas
Honors World History
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The white crests of the ocean waves make a resounding crash on the shoreline of Ancient
Greece. The Greeks believed that a god was responsible for this, and that god was Poseidon.
Poseidon was one of the most influential gods in all of Greek mythology. He is one of the main
twelve gods on Mount Olympus. This Olympian god reigned over the sea, as well as storms,
earthquakes, and horses, and all of these were completely under his control.
There is much dispute as to how Poseidon came about. The popular belief is that his
mother, the Titan Rhea, saved him from death. For example, “he was saved by his mother Rhea,
who concealed him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have given birth to a colt, which
was devoured by Cronus” (“Poseidon”, 2012). He had three sisters and two brothers: Demeter
the goddess of agriculture, Hera the goddess of marriage, Hestia the goddess of the hearth and
the home, Zeus the god of the sky, and Hades the ruler of the Underworld.
One thing that Poseidon was not well known for was the naming of Athens. Athena
became the goddess in this city because she and Poseidon were in a competition, and she won.
The challenge was to give these people a gift, one each, and then they would get to choose which
one they liked better. Poseidon created a spring, but the water was salty, but Athena made the
olive tree, and the Athenians chose her. In anger of his loss, he sent a giant flood to the city in
order to rebuke the Athenians for selecting Athena. But what is interesting is the fact that Athens
was a major sea power during its peak, and this was probably a result of Poseidon and Athena
working together, according to the Greeks.
When Poseidon and Apollo rebelled against Zeus, were briefly mortal and sent to Tory to
build walls. The king of Troy at the time, Laomedon, told them that they would be rewarded.
They never were, so Poseidon, before the Trojan War took place, sent a monster, what we refer
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to now as the Ceto, to attack the Trojans. Hercules ended up defeating this monster during his
Twelve Labors. Eventually, Poseidon and Athena worked out their differences, and both helped
Athens. Poseidon controlled the sea, but Athena built the first ship to sail on it. Poseidon was the
god of horses, but Athena also built the chariot. These two instances are good examples of how
the gods worked together.
Poseidon had many important sons and daughters as well, such as the renowned killer of
the Minotaur, Theseus. He also had nonhuman children. For instance, “One of the most notorious
love affairs of Poseidon involves his sister, Demeter. Poseidon pursued Demeter and to avoid
him she turned herself into a mare. In his lust for her, Poseidon transformed himself into a
stallion and captured her. Their procreation resulted in a horse, Arion” (Sellers, 2003). Arion,
even though he was a horse, was capable of human speech.
The Oracle at Delphi supposedly recites Apollo's visions. Before Apollo took over
control of the Oracle, this power rested with Poseidon. An example of this is Xenophon's
Anabasis. In this book, some Spartans worship Poseidon by a means that was only used to praise
Apollo, which was a type of song called a paean. Poseidon had many other roles before others
took them over.
Amphitrite was the goddess of the sea, and she was also the wife of Poseidon. She was
born as the daughter of Oceanus, and she was a Nereid as well as an Oceanid. She also has an
important legacy on today. There were at least ten ships in various navies, such as the British
Royal Navy, the United States Navy, and the Australian Navy, that were all name after this
goddess. In addition, she appeared when Apollo was born.
Another fascinating aspect of Poseidon was the way that the Ancient Greeks worshiped
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him. There were various festivals that worshiped him, but the most prominent aspect of praising
Poseidon was the many massive temples built in his honor. An example of one of these temples
was the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Sounion. It featured at least eighteen immense columns, and
the ruins show that number still standing. This was a popular way for the Greeks to worship all
of their gods. There are other examples of these immense, columned, marble temples such as the
Parthenon, and the Pantheon that were created to praise other or multiple gods.
The trident has become a symbol of Poseidon over the centuries. In Ancient Greece, the
trident was used for spear fishing and also as a weapon, and it was very powerful. To clarify,
“His weapon is a trident, which can shake the earth, and shatter any object” (“Poseidon”, n.d.).
In their alphabet, the Greeks have a letter called Psi that looks similar to a trident. The trident
was useful on a battlefield as well. It was known for being able to reach a long way, and since
the prongs could catch another fighter's weapon and disarm them. The Romans had a type of
gladiator game that involved catching a prisoner in a net and killing them with a trident.
Poseidon had many uses for his trident. He summoned tidal waves and tsunamis with it, created
the first horse out of sea foam with it, and also struck the ground with it to create a spring in
Athens as stated before.
Poseidon was a very influential god that affected many things in relation to the sea,
horses, and earthquakes. He had many children, such as Theseus and Arion. He had many
temples dedicated to him, and he once cared for the Oracle at Delphi. He worked with Athena to
create many powerful weapons of war, even though he didn't have Athens named after him. He
was once punished by Zeus and built Troy's walls, but he regained his power and resumed the
task of ruling over the sea. Altogether, Poseidon was an influence on anything that was in his
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domain, and he kept power over the Greek waters, protecting them from anything that could do
them harm.
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References
Wikipedia. (2012, October 3). Poseidon. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://en.wikipedia.
org/wiki/Poseidon
GreekMythology.com. Poseidon. Olympians. Retrieved November 1, 2012, from http://www.
greek mythology.com/Olympians/Poseidon/poseidon.html
Sellers, P. (2003, November 25). Poseidon. Encyclopedia Mythica. Retrieved November 1, 2012,
from http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/poseidon.html