Poseidon波塞冬

Origins

Son of Cronus and Rhea and elder brother of Zeus, swallowed at birth like the rest. The Cyclopes made his trident during the war with the Titans; when the lots were drawn afterwards, the whole sea fell to him.

Sacred symbols

TridentHorseDolphinBull

Myths

Ten years for Odysseus

Odysseus blinded his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, and then shouted his real name as he sailed away. Poseidon kept him wandering the sea for ten years before he saw home.

Where the Minotaur came from

King Minos of Crete asked him for a bull to prove his right to rule, promising to sacrifice it — then kept the beautiful animal for himself. Poseidon made Queen Pasiphaë fall in love with the bull, and she bore the bull-headed Minotaur.

Maker of horses

The Greeks believed he created the first horse, and riders and charioteers prayed to him. The winged horse Pegasus was his child too, sprung from the severed neck of Medusa.

Relationships with the other gods

• RivalryZeus

  The resentful elder brother

  The lots gave Zeus the sky and Poseidon the sea, but Poseidon never accepted his younger brother as king. He joined the plot to bind Zeus, and when it failed was sentenced to a year building walls for the king of Troy. In the Iliad he is still shouting: "We three brothers are equals!"

• RivalryAthena

  The naming of Athens

  Both wanted to be patron of a new city. Poseidon struck the rock with his trident and a salt spring gushed out; Athena planted the first olive tree. The people chose the olive and the city became Athens. Poseidon, furious, flooded the surrounding plain.

• AllianceApollo

  Two labourers at Troy

  The two were once sentenced to serve King Laomedon of Troy: Poseidon built the walls while Apollo herded cattle. When the work was done the king refused to pay and threatened to cut off their ears. Later, on opposite sides of the war, Poseidon challenged him — and Apollo answered that fighting his uncle over short-lived mortals was not worth it.

• FeudDemeter

  The mare and the stallion

  While Demeter was searching for her daughter, Poseidon would not leave her alone. She hid among a herd as a mare; he became a stallion and forced himself on her, and she bore the talking horse Arion. In Arcadia she was worshipped in her rage as "Demeter the Fury."

• FeudAres

  The first murder trial

  A son of Poseidon assaulted Ares's daughter, and Ares killed him on the spot. Poseidon took the war-god to court; the twelve gods sat in judgement on a hill in Athens and acquitted him. The hill has been called the Areopagus ever since.