Poseidon, the earth-shaker, was alotted the
dominion of the sea (just as Zeus got the sky, and Hades the Underworld); and he
received the trident from the CYCLOPES (just as Zeus got the thunderbolt,
and Hades a helmet).
Poseidon was the first to concern himself with
seafaring, and the first to tame horses.
Birth and childhood
The Arcadians say that when Poseidon was born
his mother declared to her husband Cronos, who used to
swallow his offspring at birth, that she had given
birth to a horse, and so she presented him a foal
to swallow instead of the child, just as later she
offered him a wrapped stone in place of Zeus. Rhea 1 committed the child
Poseidon to Caphira (one of the OCEANIDS) and to the TELCHINES (see CORYBANTES), so that they would nurture him, much in the way as she later committed Zeus to the
CURETES for his protection. But others say that
Poseidon was swallowed by his father, as also were
his siblings Hestia, Hera, Hades and Demeter; for they assert
that only Zeus escaped that
fate.
Lord of the sea
When Zeus had grown up, he asked Metis 1 to help him against his father Cronos, who was a stern
tyrant; so she gave Cronos a drug, which
forced him to disgorge first the stone with which Rhea 1 had deluded him,
and then the children whom he had swallowed, among
which Poseidon. And with the aid of his brothers
and sisters Zeus waged war
against Cronos and the TITANS, whom he defeated
and cast into Tartarus, a place as far beneath the
earth as heaven is above earth. Having won victory,
they cast lots for the sovereignty, and to Zeus was allotted the
dominion of the sky, to Poseidon the dominion of
the sea, and to Hades the
dominion of the Underworld. Then
Poseidon constructed the brazen fence that runs
round Tartarus and its gates of bronze, behind
which the TITANS were confined (for Tartarus see also Underworld).
Plots against Zeus
Poseidon took once part in a minor conspiracy in
heaven; for he, along with Hera and Athena, had agreed to put Zeus in bonds. However, he
was saved by Briareus (one of the HECATONCHEIRES),
whom Achilles' mother
Thetis had called to Zeus'
rescue; and by just squatting down close to him and
through the mere display of his force, Briareus
frightened Poseidon and the goddesses away.
Dispute with Helius
According to the Corinthians, this same Briareus
acted as adjudicator arbitrating between Helius and Poseidon, who
had a dispute concerning the lands about Corinth. He then
assigned to Poseidon the Isthmus of Corinth including the
neighbouring lands, and gave to Helius the height above
the city (Acrocorinthus).
Dispute with Hera
A similar dispute, though this time for the
patronage of Argos,
involved Poseidon and Hera.
A tribunal of three RIVER
GODS: Inachus, Cephisus, and Asterion 2, decided on this occasion that Argolis would belong to Hera and
not to Poseidon. Disappointed with this judgement,
the god made their waters disappear, and that is
why they never provide any water except after rain,
their streams being dry during the summer. But
since little and much must compensate each other,
Poseidon inundated many districts in Argolis because of the decisions of the RIVER GODS. Lerna is however, excepted; for it was here that Amymone 1 (one of the DANAIDS) yielded to
Poseidon on condition that she might have water,
and the god, being in love with her, revealed to
her the springs at Lerna.
Dispute with Athena (I)
Yet another disagreement concerning the
patronage of lands and cities arised between
Poseidon and Athena in
relation to Troezen. But Zeus commanded them to hold this city in common, and so they did. This dispute took place during the reign of King Althepus, himself son of Poseidon and Leis, the daughter of Orus 1, predecessor of Althepus.
Dispute with Athena (II)
Poseidon, they say, was the first who came to
Attica; and with a blow of his trident on the
Acropolis, he produced a sea or, as some say, just
a well of sea-water that could be seen in the
Erechtheum on the Acropolis not far from the
outline of the trident on the rock. These were the
evidences in support of Poseidon's claim to the
land. But Athena, coming
after him, planted an olive tree and claimed the
land; and since they fought for the possession of
the country, Zeus parted
them and appointed the OLYMPIANS as arbiters,
who adjudged the city to Athena, because King Cecrops 1 witnessed that she had been the first to plant the olive tree. Athena called the city Athens after herself, but
Poseidon, angry at the verdict flooded Attica.
However, some say that it was Zeus who ajudged Athens to Athena, and that Poseidon
never flooded the country because Hermes forbade him to do
so. In any case, in the shrine of Erechtheus there
remained preserved a long time an olive tree and a
pool of salt water which had been set there by Athena and Poseidon as
tokens when they contended for the city.
Thetis
Zeus and Poseidon were
once rivals for the hand of Thetis, but when Themis, or the MOERAE, or Proteus 2 prophesied
that the son born of Thetis would be mightier than
his father, they withdrew. Zeus then, bade his
grandson Peleus to marry
her, and from their union Achilles was born, who
was mightier than his father.
Marriage
It is said that when Poseidon decided to marry
the Oceanid Amphitrite, she, wishing to remain a
virgin, escaped and fled to Atlas. Poseidon then send
many to look for her, and among them a certain
Delphin, who after long wanderings, found her and
persuaded her to marry Poseidon, organizing himself
the whole wedding. For this reason, they say,
Poseidon put the dolphin among the CONSTELLATIONS.
The walls of Troy
When Laomedon 1 was king of Troy, Apollo and Poseidon decided to put him to the test, and assuming the likeness of mortal men, fortified the city for wages. But when the work was done, King Laomedon 1 would not pay their wages; so Apollo sent a pestilence, and Poseidon sent a sea-monster that snatched away the people of the plain. Since oracles foretold deliverance from these calamities if Laomedon 1 would expose Hesione 2 to be devoured by the sea-monster, he exposed her
by fastening her to the rocks near the sea, but Heracles 1 delivered
her.
More monsters
On another occasion, Poseidon sent another sea-monster against the Teucrians because Hierax 2, otherwise a righteous man, was devoted to Demeter, and would not
honour him.
Poseidon also shared the wrath of the NEREIDS, when Queen Cassiopea 2 boasted of being better than them; and he sent a flood and yet another sea-monster to invade the land. The seer Ammon 3 predicted deliverance from the calamity if the queen's daughter Andromeda were exposed as a prey to the monster. So her father King Cepheus 1 was then compelled by the Ethiopians to do it, and he bound Andromeda to a rock.
But the girl was rescued by Perseus 1, who
slaughtered the beast.
Poseidon heard his son Theseus when he,
believing Phaedra's charges against Hippolytus 4, prayed to the god that Hippolytus 4 might perish. And when this young man was riding in his chariot and driving beside the sea, Poseidon sent up a bull from the waves, and the horses were frightened, the chariot dashed to pieces, and Hippolytus 4, entangled in the reins, was dragged to death.
Atlantis
In the legend of Atlantis, which is not
connected to other myths except for the names of Atlas and Poseidon, the
first ten kings of Atlantis (five pairs of twins) were all sons of Poseidon and Cleito 2. The first born was Atlas, who
was appointed to be king over the rest, and the
island was called after him.
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