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POSEIDON
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POSEIDON , in See also:Greek See also:mythology, See also:god of the See also:sea and of See also:water generally, son of Cronus and See also:Rhea, and See also:brother of See also:Zeus and See also:Pluto. The connexion of his name with arbats, rrbv-See also:roc, 7rorapbs, is generally accepted. When the three See also:brothers deposed their See also:father Cronus the See also:kingdom of the sea See also:fell by See also:lot to Poseidon. His See also:home was in a See also:golden See also:palace in the depths of the sea near Aegae in See also:Achaea. In his See also:hand he See also:bore a See also:trident, wherewith he lashed the sea into fury, split the rocks, and caused horses and fountains to See also:spring from them. But, while he caused storms and shipwrecks, he could also send favouring winds; hence he was known as Soler, " the preserver." Another of his titles was Gaeeochos, " the supporter of See also:earth," the sea being supposed to support the earth and keep it firmly in its See also:place. He was the god of See also:navigation and his temples stood especially on headlands and isthmuses. Every occupation connected with the sea was under his See also:protection, and seafaring See also:people, especially the See also:Ionians, regarded themselves as his descendants. As god of the sea he disputed with other deities for the See also:possession of the See also:land. Earthquakes were thought to be produced by Poseidon shaking the earth—hence his epithet of Enosichthon, " Earth-shaker "—and hence he was worshipped even in inland places which had suffered from earthquakes. The seismic See also:wave was also his See also:work; the destruction of Helice in Achaea by such a wave (373 B.C.) was attributed to his wrath (See also:Strabo viii. 384). The See also:island of See also:Delos was thought to have been raised by him, and about 198, when a new island appeared between See also:Thera and Therasia, the Rhodians founded a See also:temple of Poseidon on it (Strabo i. 57). See also:Thessaly was said to have been a See also:lake until he opened a way for the See also:waters through the Vale of See also:Tempe (See also:Herodotus vii. 129). Poseidon was also the god of springs, which he produced by striking the See also:rock with his trident, as he did on the See also:acropolis of See also:Athens when disputing with See also:Athena for the See also:sovereignty of Athens (Herodotus viii. 55; See also:Apollodorus iii. 14). As such he was called Nymphagetes, the See also:leader of the See also:nymphs of springs and fountains, a god of fresh water, probably his See also:original See also:character, and in this connexion was 4 vrb.X,utos (phytalmius), a god of vegetation, frequently associated with See also:Demeter. In regard to the contest with Athena, it is probable that Poseidon is really See also:Erechtheus, a See also:local deity ousted by Athena and trans-formed into an agricultural See also:hero. Dr Farnell, however, holds that Erechtheus and Poseidon were originally See also:independent figures, and that both Erechtheus and Athena were See also:prior to Poseidon, As he gave, so he could withhold, springs of water; thus the waterless neighbourhood of See also:Argos was supposed to be the result of his anger. See also:Black bulls, symbolical of the stormy sea, were sacrificed to him, and often thrown alive into See also:rivers; in See also:Ionia and Thessaly See also:bull-fights took place in his See also:honour; at a festival of his at See also:Ephesus the cupbearers were called " bulls," and the god himself was surnamed " Bull Poseidon." The See also:horse was especially associated with his See also:worship; he was said to have produced the first horse by striking the ground in Thessaly with his trident (See also:Virgil, Georgics, i. 12). At the See also:fountain of Dine in Argolis horses bitted and bridled were sacrificed to him by being drowned (See also:Pausanias viii. 7, 2), and similarly Sextus Pompeius sought to propitiate him by throwing horses into the sea (Dio See also:Cassius xlviii. 48). He bore the surname of " Horse See also:Neptune " (Hovet/&v limos), and was regarded as the tamer as well as the creator of the steed. In the deme of Colonus he was worshipped with Athena, the reputed inventor of the bridle. Various explanations of the See also:title 'berms have been given: (1) that the horse represented the See also:corn-spirit; (2) the resemblance of the crested waves to horses; (3) the impression of horses' hoofs near the god's sacred springs, and the shaking of the earth by them when galloping (see Farnell, Cults of the Greek States, iv. 20). Poseidon plays a -considerable See also:part in Greek See also:legend. In the Trojan See also:War he takes the See also:side of the Greeks, because he had been cheated of his See also:reward by See also:Laomedon, See also: His See also:chief See also:sanctuary 'was at Mycale, where the Panionia, the national festival of the Ionians, was held. Other seats of his worship were in Thessaly, See also:Boeotia and Peloponnesus. At Taenarum in See also:Laconia he had a famous See also:cave-like temple, with an See also:asylum, and on the island of Tenos he was worshipped as the physician, probably in reference to the See also:health-giving properties of the sea See also:air. By far the most famous of his festivals was that celebrated every alternate See also:year on the See also:isthmus of See also:Corinth, at which the " Isthmian See also:games " were held. Here a See also:colossal statue of him was set up in See also:bronze by the Greeks after their victory over the Persians. The horse, the See also:dolphin (the See also:symbol of the See also:calm sea) and the See also:pine-See also:tree, with wreaths of which the Isthmian victors were crowned, were sacred to him. Horses and black bulls, boars and rams were offered to him, sometimes human beings. His attributes are the trident and the dolphin (sometimes the See also:tunny See also:fish.) As represented in See also:art Poseidon resembles Zeus, but possesses less of his majestic calm, his muscles are more emphasized, and his See also:hair is thicker and somewhat dishevelled. He is generally naked; his right See also:leg rests on a rock or the See also:prow of a See also:ship; he carries a trident in his hand, and is gazing in front of him, apparently out to sea; sometimes he is See also:standing on the water, swinging his trident, or See also:riding in his See also:chariot over the waves, accompanied by his wife See also:Amphitrite, the Nereids and other inhabitants of the sea. It is in keeping with his restless character that he is rarely found sitting. He sometimes wears a See also:long robe, sometimes a See also:light See also:scarf. See also:Scopas, in a famous See also:group, represented him surrounded by the denizens of the sea, escorting See also:Achilles to the islands of the blest. In See also:modern See also:Greece St See also:Nicholas has taken the place of Poseidon as See also:patron of sailors. But the Zacynthians have a See also:special seagod, See also:half See also:man, half fish, who dwells under the sea, rides on dolphins or in a See also:car See also:drawn by dolphins, and wields a trident. By the See also:Romans Poseidon was identified with -Neptune (q.v.). See E. See also:Gerhard, Ober Ursprung, Wesen and Geltung See also:des Poseidon (1851), with references to authorities in conveniently arranged notes; See also:Preller-See also:Robert, Griechische Mythologie (1894); O. Gruppe, Griechische Mythologie (1906), vol. ii.; and especially L. R. Farnell, Cults of the Greek States (1907), vol. iv., where special See also:attention is drawn to the ethnological aspect of the cult of Poseidon. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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