Poseidon, son of Cronus and
Rhea, was one of six siblings
(Hestia, Demeter, Hera, hades,
Zeus) and father of seven (Triton,
Theseus, Polyphemus, Agenor,
Belus, Neleus, and Atlas). He was
one of the 12 ruling gods and
goddess in the Greek mythology.
He and his brothers were involved with
the division of the universe, Zeus was
ruler of the sky, Hades’ domain was the
underworld and Poseidon was in
charge of the ocean as well as its
creatures. The symbols that are
associated with Poseidon include:
dolphins, tridents, and three-pronged
fish spears.
As well as being the master of
the ocean he also had control
over earthquakes and horses.
He is a god of many names but
the ones that he is most famous
for are God of the sea, horse
tamer and earth shaker.
Poseidon is mostly depicted as
an older but very physically
powerful and muscular man
with long white curly hair and
beard.
Poseidon was seen as presenting
calm seas, peaceful sights and
creating new islands but when he
had been insulted or disregarded, he
would forcefully strike the ground
with his trident, therefore chaotic
springs, earthquakes, landslides,
many drownings and destruction of
ships and homes would have taken
place.
Sailors who feared for their
lives prayed to Poseidon for
a safe journey, others
believed prayer wasn’t
enough so sometimes they
drowned their horses as a
sacrifice.
There are different versions of this myth,
in one version Poseidon’s father Cronus
swallows him at birth but he survives this
to become god of the sea, according to
another version Poseidon along with his
brother Zeus weren’t swallowed by
Cronus at birth, unlike the rest of their
siblings their mother Rhea hid them both
from their father in Rhodes where they
were raised.
As an immortal he could never
die but as Christianity came
into existence, people started
to take more interest in it
rather than the Greek
mythology which caused
Poseidon and the other gods
and goddess to simply die off
and become a memory.
“The Odyssey "written by
Gareth Hinds, which is about a
man who is trying to make his
way home from the Trojan
war, but has many challenges
to face before he can get
there.
Poseidon’s role in story is certainly
valuable, it is clear that he is malicious and
is constantly producing difficulty towards
Odysseus on his adventure back home. He
is seen as a god of immediate punishment
towards Odysseus, whereas a god such as
Athena works through different methods
to help him.
He was initially introduced in the
‘Odyssey’ when the other gods set
Odysseus free from being
imprisoned on Calypsos’ island
without Poseidon’s approval, this
annoyed him so he then
commanded the sea to enhance in
both size and power.
Suddenly while Odysseus was sailing
back home, large amounts of water
slammed on top of him, forcing him
off his craft and to swim his way back
to shore, which he struggled at as he
soon became exhausted from
swimming and also from the continual
thrashing of the waves.
Odysseus did not believe that he and
Poseidon were enemies, he just figured
that he must have done something that
offended the god and that he may still
be holding a grudge, in that he was
correct. When he stabbed and blinded
Polyphemus, Odysseus was unaware
that the Cyclops was the son of
Poseidon.
Polyphemus prayed to his father to
grant him revenge on Odysseus,
never let him return home or if it is
his destiny to return, let him arrive
late after a long suffering. The god
heard and listened to his sons’
prayer, he was furious; this is how
Odysseus gained the extreme
resentment of Poseidon in the
‘Odyssey’.