POSEIDON (Neptune)
POSEIDON (Neptune).
Poseidon was the son of Kronos and Rhea, and the brother of Zeus. He
was god of the sea, more particularly of the Mediterranean, and, like the
element over which he presided, was of a variable disposition, now
violently agitated, and now calm and placid, for which reason he is
sometimes represented by the poets as quiet and composed, and at others
as disturbed and angry.
In the earliest ages of Greek mythology, he merely symbolized the
watery element; but in later times, as navigation and intercourse with
other nations engendered greater traffic by sea, Poseidon gained in
importance, and came to be regarded as a distinct divinity, holding
indisputable dominion over the sea, and over all sea-divinities, who
acknowledged him as their sovereign ruler. He possessed the power of
causing at will, mighty and destructive tempests, in which the billows
rise mountains high, the wind becomes a hurricane, land and sea being
enveloped in thick mists, whilst destruction assails the unfortunate
mariners exposed to their fury. On the other hand, his alone was the
power of stilling the angry [102]waves, of soothing the troubled waters,
and granting safe voyages to mariners. For this reason, Poseidon was
always invoked and propitiated by a libation before a voyage was
undertaken, and sacrifices and thanksgivings were gratefully offered to
him after a safe and prosperous journey by sea.
The symbol of his power was the fisherman’s fork or trident,[37] by means of which he
produced earthquakes, raised up islands from the bottom of the sea, and
caused wells to spring forth out of the earth.
Poseidon was essentially the presiding deity over fishermen, and was
on that account, more particularly worshipped and revered in countries
bordering on the sea-coast, where fish naturally formed a staple
commodity of trade. He was supposed to vent his displeasure by sending
disastrous inundations, which completely destroyed whole countries, and
were usually accompanied by terrible marine monsters, who swallowed up
and devoured those whom the floods had spared. It is probable that these
sea-monsters are the poetical figures which represent the demons of
hunger and famine, necessarily accompanying a general inundation.
Poseidon is generally represented as resembling his brother Zeus in
features, height, and general aspect; but we miss in the countenance of
the sea-god the kindness and benignity which so pleasingly distinguish
his mighty brother. The eyes are bright and piercing, and the contour of
the face somewhat sharper in its outline than that of Zeus, thus
corresponding, as it were, with his more angry and violent nature. His
hair waves in dark, disorderly masses over his shoulders; his chest is
broad, and his frame powerful and stalwart; he wears a short, curling
beard, and a band round his head. He usually appears standing erect in a
graceful shell-chariot, drawn by hippocamps, or sea-horses, with golden
manes and brazen hoofs, who bound over the dancing waves with such
wonderful swiftness, that the chariot scarcely touches [103]the water. The
monsters of the deep, acknowledging their mighty lord, gambol playfully
around him, whilst the sea joyfully smooths a path for the passage of its
all-powerful ruler.
He inhabited a beautiful palace at the bottom of the sea at Ægea in
Eubœa, and also possessed a royal residence on Mount Olympus,
which, however, he only visited when his presence was required at the
council of the gods.
His wonderful palace beneath the waters was of vast extent; in its
lofty and capacious halls thousands of his followers could assemble. The
exterior of the building was of bright gold, which the continual wash of
the waters preserved untarnished; in the interior, lofty and graceful
columns supported the gleaming dome. Everywhere fountains of glistening,
silvery water played; everywhere groves and arbours of feathery-leaved
sea-plants appeared, whilst rocks of pure crystal glistened with all the
varied colours of the rainbow. Some of the paths were strewn with white
sparkling sand, interspersed with jewels, pearls, and amber. This
delightful abode was surrounded on all sides by wide fields, where there
were whole groves of dark purple coralline, and tufts of beautiful
scarlet-leaved plants, and sea-anemones of every tint. Here grew bright,
pinky sea-weeds, mosses of all hues and shades, and tall grasses, which,
growing upwards, formed emerald caves and grottoes such as the Nereides
love, whilst fish of various kinds playfully darted in and out, in the
full enjoyment of their native element. Nor was illumination wanting in
this fairy-like region, which at night was lit up by the glow-worms of
the deep.
But although Poseidon ruled with absolute power over the ocean and its
inhabitants, he nevertheless bowed submissively to the will of the great
ruler of Olympus, and appeared at all times desirous of conciliating him.
We [104]find him coming to his aid when emergency
demanded, and frequently rendering him valuable assistance against his
opponents. At the time when Zeus was harassed by the attacks of the
Giants, he proved himself a most powerful ally, engaging in single combat
with a hideous giant named Polybotes, whom he followed over the sea, and
at last succeeded in destroying, by hurling upon him the island of
Cos.
These amicable relations between the brothers were, however, sometimes
interrupted. Thus, for instance, upon one occasion Poseidon joined Hera
and Athene in a secret conspiracy to seize upon the ruler of heaven,
place him in fetters, and deprive him of the sovereign power. The
conspiracy being discovered, Hera, as the chief instigator of this
sacrilegious attempt on the divine person of Zeus, was severely
chastised, and even beaten, by her enraged spouse, as a punishment for
her rebellion and treachery, whilst Poseidon was condemned, for the space
of a whole year, to forego his dominion over the sea, and it was at this
time that, in conjunction with Apollo, he built for Laomedon the walls of
Troy.
Poseidon married a sea-nymph named Amphitrite, whom he wooed under the
form of a dolphin. She afterwards became jealous of a beautiful maiden
called Scylla, who was beloved by Poseidon, and in order to revenge
herself she threw some herbs into a well where Scylla was bathing, which
had the effect of metamorphosing her into a monster of terrible aspect,
having twelve feet, six heads with six long necks, and a voice which
resembled the bark of a dog. This awful monster is said to have inhabited
a cave at a very great height in the famous rock which still bears her
name,[38] and was supposed
to swoop down from her rocky eminence upon every ship that passed, and
with each of her six heads to secure a victim.
Amphitrite is often represented assisting Poseidon in attaching the
sea-horses to his chariot.
The Cyclops, who have been already alluded to in the history of
Cronus, were the sons of Poseidon and Amphitrite. They were a wild race
of gigantic growth, similar in their nature to the earth-born Giants, and
had only one eye each in the middle of their foreheads. They led a
lawless life, possessing neither social manners nor fear of the gods, and
were the workmen of Hephæstus, whose workshop was supposed to be in the
heart of the volcanic mountain Ætna.
Here we have another striking instance of the manner in which the
Greeks personified the powers of nature, which they saw in active
operation around them. They beheld with awe, mingled with astonishment,
the fire, stones, and ashes which poured forth from the summit of this
and other volcanic mountains, and, with their vivacity of imagination,
found a solution of the mystery in the supposition, that the god of Fire
must be busy at work with his men in the depths of the earth, and that
the mighty flames which they beheld, issued in this manner from his
subterranean forge.
The chief representative of the Cyclops was the man-eating monster
Polyphemus, described by Homer as having been blinded and outwitted at
last by Odysseus. This monster fell in love with a beautiful nymph called
Galatea; but, as may be supposed, his addresses were not acceptable to
the fair maiden, who rejected them in favour of a youth named Acis, upon
which Polyphemus, with his usual barbarity, destroyed the life of his
rival by throwing upon him a gigantic rock. The blood of the murdered
Acis, gushing out of the rock, formed a stream which still bears his
name.
Triton, Rhoda,[39] and
Benthesicyme were also children of Poseidon and Amphitrite.
The sea-god was the father of two giant sons called Otus and
Ephialtes.[40] When only
nine years old they [106]were said to be twenty-seven cubits[41] in height and nine in
breadth. These youthful giants were as rebellious as they were powerful,
even presuming to threaten the gods themselves with hostilities. During
the war of the Gigantomachia, they endeavoured to scale heaven by piling
mighty mountains one upon another. Already had they succeeded in placing
Mount Ossa on Olympus and Pelion on Ossa, when this impious project was
frustrated by Apollo, who destroyed them with his arrows. It was supposed
that had not their lives been thus cut off before reaching maturity,
their sacrilegious designs would have been carried into effect.
Pelias and Neleus were also sons of Poseidon. Their mother Tyro was
attached to the river-god Enipeus, whose form Poseidon assumed, and thus
won her love. Pelias became afterwards famous in the story of the
Argonauts, and Neleus was the father of Nestor, who was distinguished in
the Trojan War.
The Greeks believed that it was to Poseidon they were indebted for the
existence of the horse, which he is said to have produced in the
following manner: Athene and Poseidon both claiming the right to name
Cecropia (the ancient name of Athens), a violent dispute arose, which was
finally settled by an assembly of the Olympian gods, who decided that
whichever of the contending parties presented mankind with the most
useful gift, should obtain the privilege of naming the city. Upon this
Poseidon struck the ground with his trident, and the horse sprang forth
in all his untamed strength and graceful beauty. From the spot which
Athene touched with her wand, issued the olive-tree, whereupon the gods
unanimously awarded to her the victory, declaring her gift to be the
emblem of peace and plenty, whilst that of Poseidon was thought to be the
symbol of war and [107]bloodshed. Athene accordingly called the
city Athens, after herself, and it has ever since retained this name.
Poseidon tamed the horse for the use of mankind, and was believed to
have taught men the art of managing horses by the bridle. The Isthmian
games (so named because they were held on the Isthmus of Corinth), in
which horse and chariot races were a distinguishing feature, were
instituted in honour of Poseidon.
He was more especially worshipped in the Peloponnesus, though
universally revered throughout Greece and in the south of Italy. His
sacrifices were generally black and white bulls, also wild boars and
rams. His usual attributes are the trident, horse, and dolphin.
In some parts of Greece this divinity was identified with the sea-god
Nereus, for which reason the Nereides, or daughters of Nereus, are
represented as accompanying him.
NEPTUNE.
The Romans worshipped Poseidon under the name of Neptune, and invested
him with all the attributes which belong to the Greek divinity.
The Roman commanders never undertook any naval expedition without
propitiating Neptune by a sacrifice.
His temple at Rome was in the Campus Martius, and the festivals
commemorated in his honour were called Neptunalia.
SEA DIVINITIES.
OCEANUS.
Oceanus was the son of Uranus and Gæa. He was the personification of
the ever-flowing stream, which, according to the primitive notions of the
early Greeks, encircled the world, and from which sprang all the rivers
and streams that watered the earth. He was married to Tethys, one of the
Titans, and was the father of a [108]numerous progeny called the Oceanides, who
are said to have been three thousand in number. He alone, of all the
Titans, refrained from taking part against Zeus in the Titanomachia, and
was, on that account, the only one of the primeval divinities permitted
to retain his dominion under the new dynasty.
NEREUS.
Nereus appears to have been the personification of the sea in its calm
and placid moods, and was, after Poseidon, the most important of the
sea-deities. He is represented as a kind and benevolent old man,
possessing the gift of prophecy, and presiding more particularly over the
Ægean Sea, of which he was considered to be the protecting spirit. There
he dwelt with his wife Doris and their fifty blooming daughters, the
Nereides, beneath the waves in a beautiful grotto-palace, and was ever
ready to assist distressed mariners in the hour of danger.
PROTEUS.
Proteus, more familiarly known as “The Old Man of the Sea,” was a son
of Poseidon, and gifted with prophetic power. But he had an invincible
objection to being consulted in his capacity as seer, and those who
wished him to foretell events, watched for the hour of noon, when he was
in the habit of coming up to the island of Pharos,[42] with Poseidon’s flock of seals, which
he tended at the bottom of the sea. Surrounded by these creatures of the
deep, he used to slumber beneath the grateful shade of the rocks. This
was the favourable moment to seize the prophet, who, in order to avoid
importunities, would change himself into an infinite variety of forms.
But patience gained the day; for if he were only held long enough, he
became wearied at last, and, resuming his true form, gave the information
desired, after which he dived down again to the bottom of the sea,
accompanied by the animals he tended.
