7: Poseidon and Sea-Gods Flashcards
Overview of Poseidon
- Poseidon aka Neptune
- depicted with a trident, 3 prongeed fork resembling a fisherman’s spear
- trident represents what was once a thunderbold
Who were the 3 Nereids
- Thetis
- Galatea
- Amphitrite
Who are the Gods of the Deep
Pontus = Sea
* produced by Gaia
Oceanus (Okeanos) = Ocean
* 1 of 12 titans
* Oceanus + Tethys = 3000 Oceanids
-Oceanus: river encircling Gaia
Gaia + who and who is Nereus
- Gaia + Pontus: countless monsters that are the mixture of human and animal
- Nereus: the wise old man of the sea and son of Gaia and Pontus. Gift of prophecy and able to change shape at will.
Who are the Old Man of the Sea
Nereus and Proteus
Who is Proteus
- another old man of the sea
- attendant of Poseidon, sometimes his son and is confused with Triton
- Protean: “taking on different forms”, “variable”
- In Homer’s Odyssey 4: Menelaus encounters Proteus and wrestles him for info
Who are the Nereids
- Daughters of Nereus and Doris
- -id: descendant of
- 50 Nereids
- 3 important Nereids: Thetis, Galatea, Amphitrite
Story of Peleus and Thetis
- Propechy given to Thetís that he is destined to bear son mightier than father
- Peleus was a mortal who had to wrestle and capture Thetis, who changes shape at will
- They have a demi-God son named Achilles
Galatea and Polyphemus
- From Ovid’s Metamorphoses
- Polyphemus is a child of Poseidon who had unrequited love for Galatea who is a Nereid but Galatea rejects him.
- Acis is Polyphemus’ rival, who is the son of Faunus and Symaethis
- Acis is buried under a boulder and becomes a river god
Thaumas and Electra
- Thaumas: child of Pontus and Gaia
- Electra: oceanid
- Thaumas + Electra have:
-Iris who is the messenger of Hera and name means rainbow
-Harpies = “snatchers”: originally strong winds but later, half woman half bird. More violent
Phorcys and Ceto
- Both children of Pontus and Gaia
- Cetacean: reating to whales, dolphins, etc…
- Have 2 set of triples
-first set: The 3 Graeae
-second set: The 3 Gorgons
The 3 Graeae
- 1st set of triplets of Phorcys and Ceto
- “The Old (Gray) Ones
- personification of old age
- gray haired from birth
- share 1 eye and 1 tooth between them
The 3 Gorgons
- 2nd set of tripletes from Phorcys and Ceto
- Most important is Medusa
- Apotropaic: turn away anything evil, analogous to Gargoyl
Who is Medusa
- one of the 3 Gorgons
- only mortal sister
- serpent haired
- enormous tusks
- wide eyed and can turn all who look at her into stone
Poseidon Genealogy and divine functions
- Son of Cronus and Rhea
- Divine Functions:
-The Sea: “Earth-holder”
-Earthquakes: “Earth-shaker”, produced tsunamis
Where is the Temple of Poseidon
- Cape Sounion, Greece
- Lord Byron’s Graffito (graffiti) on temple
Poseidon and Amphitrite
- Poseidon marries Amphitrite (nereid) and has a son named Triton, a merman who is the trumpeter of the sea. Blows conch shell to calm seas.
Historical Origins of Poseidon
- I.-E. connections: first part of name: Posis = husband. Husband of Da (earth mother)
- I-E god of fresh water: first part of name: Potamos = river, Posis = drink
-IE peoples encounter the sea
Origin of Pegasus
Poseidon gets Medusa pregnant and the hero, Perseus, beheads her and from her corpose sprang a winged horse, Pegasus
Epithet of Poseidon
- God of horse riding in IE peoples
- Hippios = Horsey
- Horses drown in his honor
- Medusa + Poseidon = Pegasus
- Poseidon pursues Demeter in Arcadia and Demeter transformes into a mare, Poseidon into a stallion. They have an offspring of a magical hrose, Arion
-horse headed Demeter statue
Who is Scylla and her transformation origin
Daughter of sea god Phorcys.
2 versions
1. Poseidon tries to seduce her and Amphitrite transforms her into a monster –> lower half is ringed with raging dogs
2. From Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Glaucus falls in love with Scylla and asks sorceress Circe for aid. Circe is in love with Glaucus so she transforms Scylla
Scylla’s hangout and Charybdis
- Straits of Messina, between Siciliy and Italy
- Charybdis: is the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia
- Straits of Messine has a voracious whirlpool that sucks down and spews up water 3x a day
- “Caught between Scylla and Charybdis” in Homer’s Odyssey: means to be caught between a rock and a hard place (two unpleasant decisions)
Significance of Water
- Greeks as Sailors in the Mediterranean
-Cf. Minoan Thalassocracy
-Cf. Odysseus, Jason, Theseus and later, Athenian Naval Supermacy - Importance of Poseidon: Aegeus is the father of Theseus. Eponym (origin) for Aegean Sea. Poseidon was said to be the true father of Theseus.
- Sea dieties not fully anthropogenic, part monster. Symbolizes safe passage across the sea
Who is Theseus
- great national hero of Athens through Aegeus, the Athenian King
- Poseidon was said to be the true father of Theseus
