Poseidon

The God of the Sea, Horses, and Earthquake
 * __Poseidon __**

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** Other Names: ** Earth-Shaker, Rain-God, Cloud-Gatherer, Neptune . ======

 Flaws: Moody, Causes earthquakes and rough seas, Kills people
=Sacred Animals: The horse, the ram, the white bull, and all aquatic creatures, but the dolphin is his particular favorite. =

** Background: ** [|Poseidon], the son of [|Cronus] and [|Rhea], is known mostly as the god of the sea. He is one of six siblings that “divided the power of the world.” His siblings were [|Hestia], [|Demeter], [|Hera], Hades, and the almighty Zeus. They divided the universe between Poseidon and his two brothers, Zeus and Hades. Poseidon became the god of the sea. His brother Zeus became the ruler of the sky and Hades was to become the ruler of the underworld. But what most people don’t know is that Poseidon also became the god of earthquakes and the god of horses.

= = = Characteristics: Poseidon’s main worshipers are mostly seamen and sea travelers. Although Poseidon was married to Amphitrite, he once had developed a strong desire for his sister Demeter. In order to distract Poseidon, Demeter had asked him to create the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. Poseidon had tried in vain non stop for several years, producing a few odd animals along the way. All of which were not attractive. When he had finally succeeded by creating the horse, his strong passion for his sister had faded. =

= = = = = God and Human Features: Besides the trident and gigantic muscles, Poseidon has a lot other characteristics. Poseidon’s human like features that he beholds is that he has long, black, wavy hair, a long brown or white beard depending on how old he is, brown eyes, a six pack, and he is usually naked. Also, from time to time, Poseidon was quite moody. Some god like features that he beholds is that when he is unhappy, he would create rough water and g  iant tidal surges. This mainly affected sailors in the sense of having a safe or deadly voyage while on the sea. But when he was happy, the waters were very calm and new islands were created. Also, he was mad or frustrated, he would create earthquakes and tsunamis and many people would drown. =

=  = =  = = Effects on Humans: Poseidon affected the humans positively and negatively. The positives were that when he was happy or in a good mood, he would create calm seas and islands. Some negative things that he would do that would end up hurting the humans is that when he would become unhappy, the seas would get rough and people would drown and when he was mad or frustrated, he would create tsunamis or earthquakes. =

=  = =<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">  = <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-size: 14pt;"> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">** Love Life: ** Like Zeus, Poseidon liked to exert his power on women in order to seduce them. Therefore he had many different affairs with separate women and fathered many children. He originally married [|Amphitrite] who gave birth to Poseidon’s first child [|Triton]. Triton was half-human and half-fish. He had an affair with [|Medusa] who gave birth to Chrysaor and [|Pegasus]. Pegasus is best known as the flying horse. Poseidon even raped a god known as Aethra which resulted in the birth of Theseus. He also raped [|Caeneus] and at her request, turned her human afterwards. The final raping involved Amymone after she tried to escape from satyr and Poseidon saved her. He had many other off spring such as Eumpolus, Polyphemus, Orion, and many more. <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255); font-size: 14pt;"> The most notorious affairs that Poseidon had was with his sister Demeter. In order to avoid him she turned herself into a mare. But Poseidon then turned himself into a stallion in order to capture her. Demeter then later gave birth to a horse names Arion. “Poseidon” is Greek for husband (possibly of wheat) while Demeter is said to be the god of wheat. Therefore they were a good match because together they were known as the god and goddess of fertility.

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<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">** Rule ** ** Over ** ** Land **** : ** The gods of Olympus decided that they were going to rule the land jointly. This created an argument between Poseidon and Athena for the rule of Athens. The gods had to try to win over the people of Athens in order to get its rule. Therefore, Poseidon created a spring at Acropolis. But this was not enough when Athena planted an olive tree. The people saw this as a greater gift so therefore she got to rule over Athens. This angered Poseidon and he then decided to flood the Attic Plain. Eventually Athena worked out her problems with Poseidon by creating the first chariot. She also built the first ship to cross over the sea. ======

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 * <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Summary: **

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=<span style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 14pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">Works Cited: = <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);"> “Athens.” __White History.__ April 2008. April 26, 2009 <http://www.white- history.com/UScities_files/athens.JPG>

“Poseidon.” Encyclopedia Mythica. November 2003. MMVI Encyclopedia Mythica. April 26, 2009 <http://www.pantheon.org/articles/p/poseidon.html>

“Poseidon.” Poseidon. July 25, 2002. April 26 2009 <http://zero- point.tripod.com/pantheon/Poseidon.html>

“Poseidon Boat.” __Intuiosity.__ January 2008. April 26, 2009. <http://www.intuiosity.com/storage/images/misc-images/gods/poseidon_02.jpg>

“Poseidon’s Symbol.” Neptune, Words From Myths. March 2007. April 26, 2009 <www.wordinfo.info/words/index/info/view_unit/3822>

“Poseidon’s Wave.” American Divers Ltd. May 2008. April 26, 2009 <www.poseidoncanada.com/history.htm>

Skidmore, Joel. “Poseidon.” Gods, Heroes Today Encyclopedia. March 2009. <http://www.mythweb.com/gods/Poseidon.html> <span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 255);">