Many deities were the personification of water. One of them was Poseidon - a formidable and powerful god, who, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, was the lord of the seas that washed the earth and fertilized it.

Poseidon belonged to the host of the gods of the third generation. After the victory over the titans, the gods cast lots, and Poseidon got into the possession of an endless and bottomless sea kingdom.

Being one of the three main Olympian gods, along with his younger brother Zeus, who received the power of the sky, and Hades, the ruler of the underworld, Poseidon inspired fear and awe. It was believed that one hit of the trident on the ground was enough for him to start an earthquake. And the ancients, with any fluctuation of the soil, immediately brought a furious and formidable god. The god of the seas, Poseidon, with divine ease, could pacify any storm and storm. And, of course, he was the most revered deity among sailors, merchants and fishermen, who believed that their prayers addressed to the god Poseidon and brought to his glory would grant a successful and happy journey, trade and catch.

Painters Ancient Greece they depicted the god of the seas as a man of regal, majestic appearance, with hair and a thick beard. The god of the seas on frescoes, statues and vase paintings with his right foot stands on a rock or a dolphin. Not infrequently there are images of the earth shaker ruling the chariot. In contrast to the Olympian calmness of Zeus, the cloudmaker, anger and excitement are most often seen on the face of the ruler of the seas. In modern decorative arts the god of the seas decorates fountains with his figure. In Roman mythology, Neptune is identical to Poseidon.

Since the earth was in the common possession of the gods, Poseidon wanted to be worshiped in each of the major cities of ancient Greece. But the other Olympian gods had their own plans. In a competition with Athena for Attica, the earth shaker Poseidon created a water source by hitting his trident on the hill of the Acropolis (or a horse, in another interpretation), but Athena's gift - an olive tree - was recognized as more useful. Poseidon lost and in his rage caused a flood in Attica. In the dispute over Delphi, Apollo wins. Poseidon tries to establish his influence in Argos, but the gods of the three rivers in this area choose Hera. And again, Poseidon's anger found a way out - he dried up these three rivers. Corinth went to Helios, but games are held in it in honor of Poseidon.

Poseidon was attributed the type of restless and violent, like his element, he was depicted with disheveled hair and a fierce and wild look. The symbols of Poseidon and his essential attributes were a trident, a horse, a bull and a dolphin. The horses were stormy and furious waters, the bull that fell into the cult of the shaker of the earth personified the strength and fury of water flows. While the third sacred animal - the dolphin - as opposed to the bull and the horse - became the personification of the calmness of the water surface.

After the separation, Poseidon descended with lightning speed from Olympus and set off on a wonderful chariot with a trio of fabulous horses in a harness to the seabed. There, according to a number of legends, stands the majestic palace of Poseidon. Not far from the city of Egi, the Hellenes built Gelika - the center of the cult of Poseidon.

According to legend, the god of the seas Poseidon rides outside his palace in golden robes and in a chariot driven by golden-maned horses with bronze hooves, accompanied by the inhabitants of the sea depths. Equal in beauty to Zeus himself, Poseidon, the god of the seas, rushes swiftly along the boundless canvas of the ocean, and dolphins are having fun around him, fish swim out of the depths of the sea and crowd around his chariot.

The most famous attribute of Poseidon is the trident. This is a powerful weapon, not just power. With a trident, the god of the seas excites the water surface, shakes the earth, fights with enemies, carves crystal clear springs from the rocks. According to some reports, once the earth shaker wore a simple fishing spear instead of a trident, which replaced his brother Zeus' lightning bolts.

God Poseidon is surrounded by a host of sea deities and creatures. The wisest and most respected of his retinue is the elder Nereus, who knows all the secrets of the future. Poseidon himself is sometimes forced to humble his divine pride, listening to the wise advice of Nereus. Therefore, no matter how terrible and strong the sea storm turns out to be, in the end it also subsides, allowing the sun to peep through heavy clouds.

Elder Nereus had fifty Nereid daughters. Carefree and happy, they played and sang on the seashore. She led round dances with her sisters on the island of Naxos and the beautiful Amphitrite. It was on her that Poseidon turned his gaze. The Nereid captivated his heart, and the shaker of the earth wanted to take her away on his chariot. However, Amphitrite was frightened by the menacing appearance of the groom. In fear, she fled to the ends of the world and took refuge with the titan Atlas, condemned by the Thunderer Zeus to forever hold the vault of heaven on her shoulders.

For a long time the god of the seas could not find the traces of his beloved. Grief gripped Poseidon. But then a cheerful dolphin emerged from the abyss and swam in front of the divine chariot, showing Poseidon the way to the place where the beautiful Amphitrite hid. The god of the seas stole it from the titan. The obstinate Amphitrite could not resist such a hot onslaught and became Poseidon's obedient and faithful wife. He made the daughter of the prophetic Nereus a sea goddess, and the dolphin - in gratitude - the god of the seas Poseidon placed in the sky among the celestial constellations.

The blue-haired Poseidon was equal in beauty to Zeus, his wife Amphitrite was just as beautiful, but their children, sometimes creepy and terrible, were not loved by the gods and people were afraid. Their firstborn was Triton, who settled in the depths of sea waters. The thunderous sounds of its shell-trumpet caused terrible storms-storms, with a force no less than from the wave of the trident of the earth shaker itself.

Among the sea deities is the elder Proteus, who, according to legend, is able to change his appearance, like the sea, to turn at will into various monsters and creatures. He, too, was given the gift of prophecy. A particularly outstanding mortal, if he manages to surprise the slightly absent-minded Proteus, can make him open the veil of the future.

The retinue of Poseidon also includes the god Glaucus, who patronizes sailors and fishermen. Often he rises from the depths to reveal the future and give wise advice to mortals.

All lands and all seas are washed by the gray-haired titan god, the Ocean. He lives somewhere far away on the borders of the world, and earthly affairs do not disturb his heart. Three thousand sons has the Ocean - river gods. And he has three thousand daughters - oceanids, goddesses of streams and sources. The sons and daughters of the god-titan of the Ocean delight the earth and mortals with ever-rolling water, generously sharing it with all living things in this world.

Several giants were born from the union of Poseidon and Amphitrite. Among them was the invincible Antaeus, who drew strength from the earth itself. There is divine blood in both the one-eyed Polyphemus and the Egyptian ruler Busiris, famous for killing all foreigners. One of the sons of the god of the seas was the winged Pegasus...

But Poseidon was not enough power over the fate of mortals at sea. He went in search of a land over which the Olympians would not have power. Only at the very edge of the earth did he find the island of Atlantis. Since then, he and his descendants have reigned there.

unfaithful husband

Poseidon, the god of the seas, took pleasure in causing storms and storms. The strength and his blood demanded an outlet - and now huge waves are rising with crushing force, crashing onto the shore. The trouble is for the ship that will be at sea when Poseidon wants to have fun. The sea lord sees no one and nothing around, admiring the crests of the wave, listening to their rumble. Having played enough, Poseidon calmed down his element with a wave of the trident.

The beautiful daughters of Nereus floated to the surface of the calm sea. They started dances on the shore, and Poseidon happily rose from the depths to watch the dances of the beautiful nereids. They pleased his eyes, and he rejoiced that he had a son, a new ruler of the sea.

However, despite his sincere love for his blue-eyed wife, Poseidon is not a model of fidelity.

Like Zeus, the lord of the seas, Poseidon, had many lovers - maidens of the sea and earth - and is considered the father of a number of heroes, not inferior in the number of adventures to his auspicious brother. And goes, as always, to others. Fascinated by the beauty of the maiden medusa, Poseidon takes the form of a horse, and having caught up with her in the temple of Athena, he casts love spells on the seductress. Subsequently, the angry Athena turns Medusa into a terrible monster - Medusa Gorgon.

Cult of the Lord of the Seas

An interesting feature of the cult of the ancient Greeks and other Indo-European peoples in relation to the ruler of the seas was the appearance of a horse in the symbolism of Poseidon. Once the ancestors of these peoples lived mainly in the steppes, and the sea, quite rightly for those times, was considered a hostile element.

Since those ancient times, the god of the seas, Poseidon, has retained a special closeness to the four-legged friend of the nomad horse. According to some sources, one of the epithets with which the lord of the seas was “awarded” was Hypnius (Equestrian), and, therefore, initially the god of the seas was represented in the form of a horse. The image of Poseidon on the Balkan Peninsula and in Asia Minor was associated with the demon of fertility.

Poseidon, turned into a stallion, pursued Demeter. He is credited with the "fatherhood" of fantastic creatures that had a "horse appearance", from centaurs to the horse Areyon.

In honor of Poseidon on the Isthmian Isthmus and in Nemea, the Greeks staged equestrian competitions. Before they started, the participants prayed to the god Poseidon for success.

Some researchers believed that the connection between the cult of the sea god and horses is due to the fact that he himself is only an archaic totem of a deified horse. However, this opinion is rather controversial, because totemism was not widespread in ancient Greece. Most likely, the “horse” element in the legends about the shaker of the earth is only a tribute to the superhuman, unusual forces that this god commands.

Handyman

The classic blue-haired Poseidon is, after all, the lord of the salty waters of the seas, and he doesn’t care much about the Olympians.

However, early Greek mythology leaves hints of the work of the god Poseidon "in different profiles". It was said that he was associated with the underworld, was a chthonic god. His cult in those days had a dual nature and was closest to the cult of Hades. Traces of Poseidon have also been preserved as the god of Heaven.

Having agreed with the lot on the distribution of power, theoretically the god of the seas Poseidon has no right to challenge the decisions of Zeus the Thunderer. However, this is practically not the case. Poseidon is involved in a rebellion against the lord of Olympus and does not recognize many of his decisions. So, for example, according to one version, as punishment for trying to imprison Zeus, Poseidon, along with Apollo, were forced, like mortals, to participate in the construction of the walls of the legendary Troy.

At the same time, Poseidon, like other gods, is a rather vindictive and vindictive subject. However, his anger is justified when he sends monsters or destroys heroes pleasing to other gods in the depths of his seas.

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God of the seas Poseidon

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In ancient Greek myths, many deities were the personification of water. One of them was Poseidon - a formidable and powerful god, who, according to the ideas of the ancient Greeks, was the lord of the seas that washed the earth and fertilized it. Poseidon belonged to the host of the gods of the third generation. After the victory over the titans, the gods cast lots, and Poseidon got into the possession of an endless and bottomless sea kingdom....

Lord of the seas. Poseidon is one of the three main gods in the mythology of Ancient Greece. His brothers were Zeus, the supreme god of Mount Olympus, where most of the gods lived, the ruler of thunder, lightning and all celestial phenomena, as well as Hades, the ruler of the underworld, where the souls of the dead went forever after death.

But Poseidon, when dividing the world, chose the water element, became the ruler of the seas, oceans, rivers, lakes, in general, all the waters in the world. The ancient Greeks portrayed Poseidon often with a fish tail and a trident in their hands: the ancient Romans would depict their god of the seas Neptune in the same way. It is believed that the ancient Romans simply borrowed the image of Poseidon from the Greeks for their mythology.

The power of the sea god. Poseidon could send storms to ships, he could stop them at will, he sent mermaids to save travelers after a shipwreck, if he liked the travelers in some way. Of course, he commanded all the marine inhabitants, he himself worried the sea and calmed it himself. Clever dolphins have become faithful servants of the sea god.

Poseidon's trident had magical properties: hitting it on the ground, Poseidon created springs and streams. However, the sea god "pierced" by creating a useless source of water in the city of Athens. sea ​​water, because the city was named not in his honor, but in honor of the goddess Athena. Athena's gift to people turned out to be more valuable: with a blow of a spear, she called an olive tree out of the ground.

Poseidon "corrected" by teaching people to build ships and sail the seas. He himself traveled the seas, usually in a chariot drawn by seahorses - tritons, accompanied by water nymphs called nereids. Poseidon also called his son from his legal wife Triton, the guy had a fish tail. But, like the brother of Zeus, the sea ruler, there were a lot of children from different lovers.

The bad temper of Poseidon. The athlete Odysseus, the hero of the poem "Odyssey" by the ancient Greek poet Homer, the traveler, annoyed Poseidon a lot. Odysseus crippled the son of Poseidon from the giantess - Polyphemus, did a lot of other things that Poseidon followed him mercilessly, sank his ships. Poseidon was a furious god: sometimes he became furious and flooded the lands for various misdeeds of people. He was always calmed down by his brother Zeus.

God Poseidon

Poseidon. Roman marble copy of a Greek original, 2nd floor. 4th c. BC. Vatican Museums.

In ancient Greek mythology, the god of the underwater kingdom. Poseidon was considered the ruler of the seas and oceans.

The underwater king was born from the marriage of the goddess of the earth Rhea and the titan Kronos and immediately after birth was swallowed up by his father, who was afraid that they would take away his power over the world. Zeus later freed them all.

Poseidon lived in an underwater palace, among a host of gods obedient to him. Among them was his son Triton, Nereids, Amphitrite's sisters and many others. The god of the seas was equal in beauty to Zeus himself. By sea, he moved in a chariot, which was harnessed to wondrous horses.

With the help of a magic trident, Poseidon controlled the deep sea: if there was a storm on the sea, then as soon as he held out the trident in front of him, the enraged sea calmed down.

The ancient Greeks greatly revered this deity and, in order to achieve his location, brought many sacrifices to the underwater ruler, throwing them into the sea. This was very important for the inhabitants of Greece, since their well-being depended on whether merchant ships would pass through the sea. Therefore, before going to sea, travelers threw a sacrifice to Poseidon into the water.

Poseidon is the power-hungry god of the sea and rivers, the creator of storms, floods and earthquakes.

Poseidon was perhaps one of the most destructive gods among all those who lived on Olympus. Moreover, this property of his extended not only to mortals, but also to the gods themselves.

Poseidon's parents were Kronos and Rhea, brothers - Zeus and Hades. Poseidon was a key figure in the battles for control of the universe between the Titans, Giants and Olympians.

After the victory, the brothers decided who of them would lead this or that region.

Zeus received the sky at his disposal, Hades - the underworld, and Poseidon - the sea element.

Myths say that Poseidon lived in a palace of pure gold at the very bottom of the sea, the walls of his dwelling were decorated with corals and sea flowers of all colors of the rainbow.

It is known that the god of the sea was unhappy with the fact that he got patronage over the sea, and more than once tried to overthrow his brother Zeus and claim his throne.

It is believed that Poseidon also built the walls around Troy.

Poseidon's wife was Nereid. God had a son, Triton, a half-man, half-fish. However, like other gods, Poseidon had many connections with other women - goddesses and mortals.

From them he had several children. The most famous are Polyphemus (), Orion, (winged horse) and Charybdis (sea monster that creates terrible whirlpools).

Many sons of Poseidon became rulers in various parts.

The Minotaur was also in charge of Poseidon.

Myths tell that King Minos could not sacrifice a bull to the sea god, and as punishment, Poseidon punished Minos' wife, Pasipha, and doomed her to passionate love for a monster, half-man, half-bull, living in the labyrinth of Knossos.

It was believed that Poseidon controlled Corinth, as an important sea route was laid here. God was also especially revered in Sunion, where his temple was built and the Isthmian games were held in honor of the god.

Poseidon also claimed patronage over Athens, giving the inhabitants horses and extremely fertile lands.

However, the gift brought by Athena was more significant: from the olive branch donated by the goddess, agriculture appeared in the city. Until now, Athens is considered the world leader in the import of products from olives and olive oil.

Poseidon also disputed with Athena the right to patronage over Troy, with Helios - to Corinth, with Dionysus - to Aegina.

Each time, he interfered in these disputes and resolved them, but Poseidon remained offended and now and then sent floods, storms or earthquakes to certain places.

As the ruler of the sea, Poseidon is described as gathering clouds and causing storms, but at the same time, according to myths, he can save those who are shipwrecked in the seas.

Since the sea surrounds the earth, Poseidon is often described as a god who holds the plane of the earth in his mighty hands. It is also believed that the god of the sea taught people the art of driving horses.

Poseidon is one of the central characters in. He supports the Achaeans and often, disguised as some kind of people, gives them instructions on how to fight.

And sometimes, according to Homer's Iliad, he leads the Achaean army into battle. The image of Poseidon is also found in Homer's Odyssey. In retaliation for the blinding of his son Polyphemus, God dooms the protagonist - Odysseus - to roam the seas for 10 years.

Poseidon in art

In art, Poseidon most often appears as a powerful man with a beard and a trident, whose blows, according to popular beliefs, he caused earthquakes and storms.

Sometimes the trident was inlaid with sea creatures - crayfish, octopuses or fish.

The sea god is also often depicted on a golden chariot drawn by hippocampi, half-horse, half-fish creatures.

Possibly the most famous depiction of Poseidon is a 2 m high bronze statue created around 460 BC. e. More often there are naked images of the god, but sometimes Poseidon is dressed in a tunic or cloak, and a diadem crowns his head.

There are also compositions in Greek art where Poseidon is represented surrounded by Amphitrite, Tritons, Nereids, Dioscurus, Palaenoa, Pegasus, Bellerophon, Thalassa, Ino and Galen.

As a rule, the god is depicted as majestic and calm (in this they are similar to their brother, Zeus).

The sacred animals associated with Poseidon were the bull, the horse, and the dolphin, as well as any creature of the sea. Among the plants, the pine and wild celery became the symbols of Poseidon.

The Romans borrowed the characteristics of Poseidon to create their own mythological system.

The god of the sea received the name Neptune and retained all the symbols characteristic of him.