Soon after, Demeter gave birth to the stallion Arion and mare Despoina. Arcadians believe that while in horse form, the stallion Poseidon pursued the goddess Demeter (who was also in horse form as a mare). Poseidon’s association with the sea and sailing meant that sailors venerated him, frequently praying to him and sometimes even sacrificing horses to him by drowning them.Īmongst the peoples of the isolated island Arcadia, Poseidon usually appeared as a horse and the river spirit of the underworld. Poseidon could also cause certain disorders, specifically epilepsy. When angered, however, he was believed to cause floods, earthquakes, drownings, and shipwrecks as punishment. His more magnanimous side saw him creating new islands and calming the seas in order to aid sailors and fishermen.

Poseidon was a major god and as a result was worshipped in many cities. Poseidon was given the seas to be his domain while Zeus received the sky and Hades the underworld. He freed his siblings, including Poseidon, by having Cronus disgorge them.Īfter his father, Cronus, was defeated, the world was said to then be divided between Poseidon and his brothers, Zeus and Hades. However, his son Zeus conspired with Rhea and overthrew Cronus. To thwart destiny, Uranus swallowed all his children. Uranus was fearful of the fulfillment of a prophecy which stated that one of his children would overthrow him. Mount Olympus was believed to be the home of the gods, and it acted as a link between the world of the gods and the world of humanity.Poseidon was one of the children of the Titans Uranus and Rhea, along with Demeter, Hades, Hestia, Hera and Chiron. The surface represented the world of humanity, the sky was represented by Zeus, and the underground was represented by Hades. Through these concepts, the Greeks were attempting to explain their relationship with verticality. Hades took the darkness of the realms under the earth, while air and sky and clouds were the portion that fell to Zeus but earth and great Olympus are the common property of all. When we cast lots, it fell to me to have my dwelling in the sea forevermore. Heaven and earth were divided into three parts, and each of us was to have an equal share. We were three brothers whom Rhea bore to Cronus - Zeus, myself and Hades who rules the world below. In book XV of Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, Poseidon explains how it turned out: As the story goes, when the world was divided among the three brothers, each got one part to rule over. Together, these three brothers came to be associated with the sky, the surface, and the underground, respectively. He was a son of the titan Cronus, along with Poseidon and Hades. At the heart of it all is Zeus, the father of the gods.

Greek mythology tells the story of these gods, including their complex family trees and tales of their interactions with each other and humanity. The Ancient Greeks were polytheistic, meaning they believed in many gods. An example of the latter is the Ancient Greek gods Zeus and Hades. An example of the former is the Christian idea of heaven and hell. Typically, they’re either represented by an abstract concept or a god. These three concepts represent something primal for humans, and throughout history we’ve attached myriad meanings and stories to the relationship between them. Nearly all ancient belief systems are based on the surface, the underground, and the sky in some way.

Greek mythology poseidon