Poseidon, Lord of the Sea : Tales of the Ancient Greeks

The Olympians are a group of twelve gods (Dodekatheon) who ruled after the overthrow of the Titans and all related to each other in some way or other.

They get their name from their dwelling place, Mount Olympus, which, we are told, towers up from the centre of the earth.

It's here that the major gods live and entertain themselves by meddling in the affairs of mortals. And having affaires with each other. The Olympians weren't all-wise and godlike in their behaviour, but very human in their faults. Poseidon is a clear example of this.

Poseidon is at the lower right in this portrait. Can you identify any of the other gods?

The Titans were powerful deities who ruled during the legendary Golden Age until they were overthrown by the Olympians in the Titanomachy, the 'War of the Titans'. These elder gods were then imprisoned in Tartarus, the very deepest part of the underworld.

After the war with the Titans, Zeus divided the world between himself and his brothers Poseidon and Hades. Zeus ruled the Sky, Hades ruled the Underworld, and Poseidon ruled the Seas.

Quarrelsome, surly, petulant and with an unreliable temper, Poseidon could hold a grudge for a long time. Always restless and greedy, he plotted to seize the lands, cities and countries of humans, dried up the lakes and rivers of people he disliked, and sent great tidal waves against those who irritated him.

His numerous dalliances
Like his brother, the philandering Zeus, Poseidon spent a great deal of time hunting down women to dally with. He continued this flagrant behaviour despite being married to Amphitrite, the granddaughter of a Titan.

He fathered numerous children including five pairs of twin boys with Cleito. The first born boy was Atlas, who made quite a name for himself in later life. Poseidon was also father of the heroes Theseus, Orion and Proteus.

His numerous quarrels
Poseidon was absolutely furious with King Laomedon over a payment for building the walls of Troy. Seething with rage, the vengeful god sent a horrible sea-monster to destroy the countryside as punishment.

At one time Poseidon had wanted to be the Protector of Athens and, in a competition with Athena for this honour, he offered a spring to the Athenians. However, when the people drank the water, they had to spit it out since it was salt, Poseidon being a sea-god after all. He lost to Athena who had given Athens a much more useful gift -- the olive tree.

So he quarreled with Athena over this imagined slight, stamped his foot in puerile pique and flooded the whole Attic Plain. The innocent citizens were punished needlessly but the gods of Olympus held humans in little regard, and Poseidon was no exception. (The gods cared little for each other as well).

The Trojan War
However, one sunny afternoon he decided to help the Greeks during the Trojan War.

Help the Greeks he certainly did, but not all of them individually. For Odysseus had blinded the Cyclops, Polyphemus, who was another of Poseidon's sons, so the sea god thwarted the hero's homeward journey after the Sack of Troy.

Poseidon raised the seas into a great storm with his trident and shipwrecked Odysseus and his crew.

Pride is natural to have, especially when you're a hero, although some might say that in Odysseus' case he had too much of it.

They refer, of course, to this incident with the Cyclops when Odysseus bragged a little loudly about his exploits and just missed being flattened by giant boulders hurled by Polyphemus. It was then that Odysseus boastfully (and unwisely) revealed his name to the round-eyed brute and with that, Polyphemus called upon his father, Poseidon, to punish the man who had harmed him.

This regrettable lapse of his usual intelligence hurt Odysseus more than losing a few men, because Poseidon (in one of his nastier moods) made the poor man's journey home so much longer and so much harder.

When in a rare mellow mood, Poseidon rode over the seas in his golden chariot, making the waters calm, still and safe.

He also ruled over earthquakes which he triggered whenever he had a fancy to see the earth shake, but he preferred to stay in his underwater palace and harass the traffic on the sea. No sailor would board a vessel without first making an offering to the God of the Sea.

If you sail across the Aegaen Sea, perhaps you should make an offering to Poseidon as did the ancient mariners. The old god has been ignored for many ages and it never hurts to please any deity, particularly an unpredictable ruffian like Poseidon.

Remember to pour a little oil on the waters before you embark.

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