Saturday, February 7, 2015

Of the gods discussed in the pantheons PDF, I select Poseidon.  Poseidon was the god of the sea, earthquakes and horses.  He was considered one of the supreme gods of Mount Olympus, but he spent most of his time under wate.  He was the brother to Zeus and Hades; all three divided up creation.  One of the myths revolved around Poseidon was that he and Athena, the god of wisdom and war among other things, clashed heads with who would be the patron of Athens.  Poseidon used his three-pronged spear to strike the Acropolis, creating a spring of salt water. Athena, on the other hand planed an olive tree for the Athenians to use.  Despite the fact the water spring Poseidon created was salt water, the people of Athens knew they could not favor one god over the other, so they were careful over who they honored the most.  

Another myth that circulated around Poseidon, was that he cursed the wife of King Minos of Crete.  Minos called upon Poseidon to send a bull form the sea, which the king promised he would sacrifice.  When the bull was sent, Minos liked it too much to sacrifice it, so Poseidon asked Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to make Minos's queen fall in love with the bull.  This love resulted in the infamous Minotaur, half man and half bull.  

Lastly, another myth having to do with Poseidon that I found somewhat interesting was when he and Medusa were having a small love affair.  They had a sexual encounter in on of Athena's temples, which infuriated her.  As a punishment she transformed Medusa into a monster, and when Perseus decapitated her, Pegasus and Chrysaor came out from her neck. 


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