Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea, earthquakes and horses, and one of the most powerful of the Olympian gods. Sailors prayed to him for calm seas, and his temper was blamed for storms and earthquakes. Here are 12 facts about Poseidon.
1He was the brother of Zeus and Hades.
Poseidon was a son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. After the gods defeated the Titans, the three brothers divided the world: Zeus took the sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon the sea.
2His father swallowed him at birth.
Cronus had been warned that one of his children would overthrow him, so he swallowed each one as it was born. Zeus later forced him to bring them back up, Poseidon among them.
3The Cyclopes made his trident.
Poseidon’s three-pronged spear was forged by the Cyclopes, the one-eyed giants who also made Zeus’s thunderbolts. With it he could stir up storms, calm the waves and shake the earth.
4He was called the “Earth-shaker”.
The Greeks believed Poseidon caused earthquakes by striking the ground with his trident. One of his titles, Ennosigaios, means “Earth-shaker”.
5He was also the god of horses.
Some myths say Poseidon created the first horse. He was also the father of Pegasus, the winged horse, who sprang from the body of Medusa when the hero Perseus cut off her head.
6He lost Athens to an olive tree.
Poseidon and Athena competed to become the patron of Athens. He struck the rock of the Acropolis and made a spring of salt water, while she gave the city an olive tree. The citizens chose the olive tree, and the city was named after Athena.
7His wife was a sea goddess.
Poseidon married the sea nymph Amphitrite. Their son Triton, half man and half fish, blew a conch shell to calm or raise the waves.
8The Cyclops Polyphemus was his son.
In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus blinds the one-eyed giant Polyphemus. In revenge, Poseidon battered Odysseus with storms and delayed his journey home for ten years.
9He helped to build the walls of Troy.
According to myth, Poseidon and Apollo built the walls of Troy for King Laomedon, who then refused to pay them. Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack the city.
10His temple at Sounion still stands.
The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, built around 440 BC on a cliff above the Aegean Sea, is one of the most famous ruins in Greece. The poet Lord Byron carved his name on one of its columns.
11Plato said he ruled Atlantis.
In Plato’s story of Atlantis, the legendary island was given to Poseidon, and its kings were said to be his descendants.
12The Romans called him Neptune.
The Romans identified Poseidon with their own sea god, Neptune. The planet Neptune is named after him, and its largest moon is called Triton, after his son.
FAQs about Poseidon
What was Poseidon the god of?
The sea, earthquakes and horses.
What is Poseidon’s symbol?
The trident, a three-pronged spear. He is also linked with horses, bulls and dolphins.
Who was Poseidon’s wife?
The sea nymph Amphitrite, the mother of Triton.
Sources and further reading
Explore more: facts about Zeus, facts about Apollo and facts about Hermes.
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