Poseidon

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Poseidon

the

Earth-Ruler

Homer, Odysseus (Rhapsody 1: 65)

Powerful Poseidon, the god of the horses (Ippios), the Earth-Mover (Gaies-kineter), the Earth-Ruler (Gaieohos), He-who-makes-earth-and-sea-to-heave (Mohleftir), the Earth-Shaker (Seisihthon), the Earth-Subduer (Damasihthon), the Earth-Striking-One (Elasihthon) the Lord-of-the-sea (Alimedon)… These epithets used in different regions of ancient Greece according to occult practices and interpretations, were given by locals and used by different historical writers.

The etymology of the word Poseidon in accordance with one belief is derived from the ancient Greek word όσις (meaning man or husband) and δα which is another appellation for the term earth from which we get the word Poseidon. The Greek epithet Ποσειδάν is a Doric rendering of the same term.

Furthermore, the renamed Poseidon, of the forty-six brides and about seventy-four children “is raised by a daughter of Oceania , battles with Zeus for the possession of Thetis – who is obviously a sea warrior and, according to theogony, the sea itself is the beginning of the world -..”.[1]

Kronos and Rea are the parents of Poseidon, and also of Zeus and Hades. When he was born (as narrated in Arcadia ) his mother Rea hid him and said to Kronos that she gave birth to a foal which Kronos devoured and in this way Poseidon was saved.

When the time came for the three sons of Rea to divide the world, whilst having removed Kronos, they resorted to choosing their equal share to a dominion by chance. Hence, Zeus receives the governance of heaven, Hades of the Underworld and Poseidon of the sea. “The earth and Mount Olympus remain undivided, to be enjoyed freely by all three.”[2]

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[1] I. Th. Kakrides, Ελληνική Μυθολογία, Οι Θεοί – (Greek Mythology, The Gods) p. 120, ( Athens 1986).

[2] Ibid, 114.

Attributes
of Poseidon

Before we talk about the name of Poseidon, let us make reference to his main attributes. Firstly, as mentioned before, Poseidon is the god of the sea. From Homer onwards, the sea is the region of the earth that is ruled by no-one else. Moreover, the trident as his symbol comes to remind us of a pronged weapon for the hunting of fish. Aeschylos names it a “fish-hunting-weapon” (Ihthyvolos). He does not use it (i.e. the trident) for fishing alone. Those who do not honour him are in danger wherever they are because even on dry land he can cause earthquakes, storms and floods. But where he primarily dominates is the sea as Odysseus correctly perceived.

Consequently, every sailor or fisherman goes out of his way to converse with him and offer him sacrifices after the completion of his voyage. And when the daily labour has ceased, a fisherman must find his way to the temple and hang his net outside if he wants to live until a ripe old age.
He is also ‘Earth-Shaker’ (Enosigaios) as mentioned above and all earthquakes originate from him. Furthermore, he is ‘God-of-Horses’ (Ippios), according to his devotion in many parts of Greece ; for example, in Arcadia , where he met Demetra who lost Persephone. In her attempt to avoid Poseidon, Demetra became a mare; Poseidon then disguised himself into a horse and caught her. This event explains the fact that Demetra’s wooden statue in Arcadia has a feminine body but the head of a horse (c.f. Pausanias, 8;25, 4; 42, 1). However, there is an assertion that combines Poseidon with horses
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