Poseidon was the ruler of the sea. He was Zeus's brother and second only to him in eminence. The Greeks on both sides of Aegean were Seamen and Poseidon was of great importance to them. His wife's name was Amphitrite, who was the granddaughter of the Titan, Ocean. He had a beautiful palace beneath the sea, but he was most often to be found in Olympus.
Poseidon was a powerful, decisive, competitive, and dignified god. He was known by many names like Earth Shaker, Rain God, Cloud Gatherer, and Poseidon of the Thunderbolt. He was also known as the Roman God Neptune. It was very important to stay on his good side, for he was also moody and hottempered, quick to take offense, and made a hobby out of taking his revenge out on those who angered him. Punishing Odysseus for blinding his gigantic one eyed son Cyclops. Poseidon spent eight years getting even with him, causing earthquakes, storms at sea, and throwing horrendous sea monsters in his Path.
Although alot of the myths showed him in a negative light, either raping women or exacting retribution from his foes, he was also a deity who made the land fertile by providing its life giving moisture and ensured the safety of the sailors who tilled the seas. His name meant "Husband of The Earth." and as a consort to the Titan Great Goddess Gaia(Mother Earth). Poseidon was originally worshipped as a fertility God.
Like his brothers and sisters, Poseidon was born Full Grown. His father. the Titan God Cronus, fearing a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow him, swallowed each of his children to prevent the fulfillment of the Prophecy. All that is except the sixth born Zeus, who was hidden away by their mother, the Goddess Rhea, and grew up to liberate his siblings by tricking Cronus into drinking an Emetic that made him vomit them out.
After Poseidon and his brothers and sisters defeated the Titans and dethroned their father Cronus, the Greek Gods held a Lottery to determine which of the realms each would rule. Hades drew the Underworld, Poseidon won the oceans, and Zeus got the Heavens, making him supreme ruler, but they all agreed to share the power over the Earth, with the greatest responsibility going to Poseidon. Poseidon didn't like being second fiddle to his brother Zeus, so he recruited the others to overthrow the government. They also managed to capture and immobilize Zeus, but he quickly managed to escape and foil their plot. For punishment, Poseidon was sentenced to a year of manual labor building the great wall around Troy with his his brother Apollo and was also banished from his home.
Poseidon was an honorable God. He always kept his word, He had no time for those whose word could not be relied upon. When the king of Crete requested a gift from Poseidon, a fine bull to sacrifice, Poseidon generously sent him the very finest from his herd, So fine in fact that King Minos decided to keep it himself instead of sacrificing it. Poseidon was angry and caused the king's wife to fall in love with the bull. The Eventual outcome of their love affair was the birth of a child, half bull and half human called the Minotaur.
On the Subject of Poseidon and his relationships with women...One Word, and that is CAD. Okay, so he was a Fertility God and he would be every bit as lusty and sexually insatiable as his brother Zeus. They both had Numerous affairs and a great number of children resulted in those, but there was a difference. When Zeus desired a woman, he usually made an effort to seduce her, either by courting her affection or by trickery, but Poseidon, the Cad that he was, always used outright physical force to get his way. Poseidon was unsuccessful in his attempt to Subjugate the Virgin Goddess Athena, The Greek Goddess of War, who was able to physically repel hi. In his attempt, however he spilt his semen on the ground and a child grew from it. Athena graciously agreed to provide a home for the child.
He did manage to fall in love eventually, as he watched the Sea Goddess Amphitrite dancing, something stirred in him, Oh Yes the usual Sexual tendencies, but also something sensitive and tender, however not knowing how to use his tendencies on a woman properly, he used his normal way and scared her off to the bottom of the sea. He was Devastated. His friend Delphinus(Dolphin) volunteered to find her and plead his case. He finally convinced Amphitrite that Poseidon truly loved her, and she became his wife and queen of the seas. She bore him 2 children. His son Triton rode with Poseidon in his chariot across the seas, trumeting a seashell to announce Poseidon's arrival wherever they went.
Despite all his stories of revenge, Poseidon had a peaceful side as well. He offered protection to sailors, dried up lakes and rivers when needed to reclaim land for the building of cities, and continued to bless the land with fertile soil so that crops could grow. However difficult and Tumultuous Poseidon might have been, he reminds us to stay connected to the deep emotional and instinctual parts of ourselves, however uncomfortable, or even painful it might be.
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