After the battle the three siblings Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, drew lots to see who would rule each of Kronos' three kingdom's. The war, which is referred to as the Titanomachy, lasted ten years. However, he and his siblings were eventually freed when Zeus tricked Cronus into regurgitating them, and they rose up against the Titans. Like all of his godly siblings, with the exception of Zeus, Poseidon was swallowed by his father Cronus as an infant in order to prevent them from rising up against him. Poseidon, however, did not possess the tremendous authority over the lesser Olympians, gods and humans unlike Zeus, and in that respect, remained inferior to him. Unlike other gods, Poseidon enjoyed a greater level of autonomy and Zeus rarely exercised control over him. Poseidon was a patron god to majority of the Greek cities and ports, and thus earned the title of "Protector of Greece". Since then, the Greeks stripped women of their right to vote. Poseidon retaliated by massacring the local river gods, flooding the entire city and subjecting to drought.
The god once again lost control of Argos against Hera, when she won by one vote. Since then, Athenians gave equal worship to Poseidon. But when the people chose Athena, Poseidon unleashed a powerful flood. He fought for the patronship of many cities, mainly Athens. Before the horse, Poseidon created the hippo, the camel, the giraffe and the zebra, then refined the shape to create the first horses, out of sea waves. Poseidon posted one of them, Proteus to the icy regions in the north, to rule over these lands. Poseidon was more powerful than other sea deities combined and the latter were his subordinates. He controlled every aspect of the oceans and aquatic regions. Poseidon lived in an underwater palace and as such, ruled over the denizens of his watery world. When King Alcinous offended Poseidon, he cut off the Phaeacian's access to the sea, and trapped them in between steep mountains he had caused to rise. Poseidon was also known to cause mental illnesses from time to time, to punish people. He would send powerful storms, winds and floods to kill thousands of people, wreck entire ships on islands or sink them beneath the sea raze entire cities with devastating earthquakes or send terrible sea monsters to maraud cities. But if someone (like Odysseus) offended Poseidon, the god's vengeance knew no bounds. If Poseidon was pleased, he would bless sailors with a safe voyage in the sea, make the agricultural lands fertile, provide abundant supply of freshwater or would allow trade to flourish. The powerful god was also one of the many deities who could make lands fertile. The Greeks depended on the sea to carry out trade and earn their livelihood out of fishing, and prayed to Poseidon. Poseidon was a dreaded god among the Greeks, and rarely interacted with mortals. Like his brothers, Poseidon can control the earth. In Corinth, the Isthmian Games- a festival with sports and music competitions- were held in honor of Poseidon.Īs the god of the oceans, Poseidon was one of the three most powerful Greek gods, alongside his brothers, Zeus and Hades.
In the Odyssey, during the sea-voyage from Troy back home to Ithaca, the Greek hero Odysseus provokes Poseidon's fury by blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, resulting in Poseidon punishing him with storms, the complete loss of his ship and companions, and a ten-year delay. Poseidon is also known for his intense temper when wronged. In Homer's Iliad, Poseidon supports the Greeks against the Trojans during the Trojan War. Poseidon was protector of seafarers, and of many Hellenic cities and colonies. In Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece, he was venerated as a chief deity of the pantheon, as opposed to Zeus.
Like his brother Zeus, Poseidon fathered many offspring, both mortals and deities, through multiple affairs. As the source of earthquakes, he is also known as the “ Earth-shaker.” His consort is the sea goddess Amphitrite. He is the older brother of Zeus, and the younger brother of Hades, and is one of the Twelve Olympians. In Greek mythology, Poseidon was the god of the sea, floods, droughts, earthquakes and horses.
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