Poseidon

The god of the Seas and earthquakes.

Blessings

Poseidon is one of the oldest and strongest of the Gods, whose kingdom is the sea. Sailors, fisherfolk, and all who work on or around the sea are his. He values strength and courage, but is not above taking even the most beloved sailor down to the briny depths. He is a chaotic God, completely unpredictable. He is also connected to horses, which form he frequently takes to mate with mortals and Goddesses alike.

God Of

  • Seas and sailors
  • Earthquakes

Primary Cult Centers

  • Cape Sounion
  • Mount Mykale
  • Pylos

Epithets

  • Aspheleios – Steadfast
  • Basileus – King
  • Ennosigaios – Earth-Shaker
  • Gaieokhos – Earth-Holder
  • Hippios – of Horses
  • Pater – Father
  • Petraios – of the Rock
  • Phutalmios – Nourishing
  • Soter – Savior
  • Taureos – Bull-like

Symbols

Trident, crown, conch shell

Animals

Horse, bull, dolphin, all marine life

Sacrifices

Conch shells, coral, amethyst, sapphire, aquamarine, cedar, onycha, amergris, myrrh, bisquits, salt, tuna, or the first catch of the season

Festivals

  • Eight (8th of each month) .
  • Isthmian Games (2nd and 4th years of the Olympiad) .
  • Poseidea (8 Poseidon (December-January)) .

Ways to honor

Visit a beach. Ride horses. Go out on boats. Support fishermen and sailors. Fight pollution of our seas and beaches. Learn a water sport, such as diving or snorkling or boating.

More…

Articles

Ancient Hymns and Texts

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Modern Hymns and Devotions

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Primary Sources

  • Apollodorus’ Library 1.1.6, 1.2.2, 1.4.3-5, 1.5.1, 1.6.2, 1.7.5, 1.9.9, 2.1.5, 2.151-57, 2.249, 2.297, 2.4.1, 2.4.4, 2.147, 2.5.5, 2.5.8, 2.5.10, 3.1.4, 3.14.2, 3.14.3, 3.15.5-7, 3.16.6, 3.7.1
  • Apollonius Rhodius’ Argonautica 1.179-189, 4.566-571
  • Demosthenes’ Against Aristocrates 66
  • Euripides’ The Trojan Women
  • Herodotus’ The Histories 4.180.4, 7.129, 8.55
  • Hesiod’s Catalogues of Women 7, 9, 10, 13, 72
  • Hesiod’s Theogony 278-281, 453-506, 730-733, 930
  • Homer’s Iliad 7.445, 8.200, 12.15, 13.1, 13.32, 13.59, 13.205, 13.231, 15.155, 15.15.184, 20.54, 20.309, 21.435
  • Homer’s Odyssey 1.19-26, 1.44, 1.68-79, 4.500, 5.282-381, 11.250, 13.125-187
  • Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite 5.22-25
  • Homeric Hymn to Poseidon 22
  • Hyginus’ Fabulae 89, 140, 166, 169, 186-188
  • Hyginus’ Poetica Astronomica 2.5, 2.17, 2.20, 2.22
  • Ovid’s Metamorphoses 4.531-542, 2.547-595, 4.790-803, 6.115-120, 8.848-854, 12.580-596
  • Pausanias’ Description of Greece 1.14.6, 2.1.6, 2.15.5, 2.33.1, 8.8.2, 8.25.5-8, 8.42.1-2, 8.37.9, 10.5.6
  • Pindar’s Isthmean Odes 8.21, 8.30-45
  • Pindar’s Olympian Odes 1.25-88
  • Plato’s Republic 391c
  • Plutarch’s Theseus 6.1
  • Virgil’s Aeneid 1.124-156, 5.779-826
  • Virgil’s Georgics 1.12-14

Links

Modern Books

Poseidon