He fathered three minor sea deities with his wife, Amphtrite. Poseidon was, like most Greek gods, the father of many children. The imagined kinship to the Greek gods made contemporary rulers part of the Greek world, even if they did not share the belief. In making characters like Busirus descended from Poseidon, the Greeks reaffirmed their belief that the gods of lands like Egypt were simply different aspects of the familiar Olympians. As much as the connection to a god legitimized Greek cities, the god’s connection to a foreign dynasty legitimized Greek religion. This practice linked Greece with other major Mediterranean civilizations, particularly the ancient culture of Egypt. Many of the kings that gave their names to the cities and regions of the Greek world were said to be the sons of deities. It was common for the gods to be credited as fathers of important figures in Greek history, whether real or legendary. Instead, they were recognized more locally. Most of Poseidon’s supposed children, however, were not well-known throughout Greece. Polydictes, who sent Perseus on his quest and Augeas, the king who refused to pay Heracles for cleaning his stables, were both human sons of Poseidon. Sometimes, the antagonists of the heroes were Poseidon’s sons instead. The hero had been born from both Poseidon and a human father, but proved his divine lineage through his heroic actions. More famously, he was the father of Theseus. Some myths claimed that Bellerophon was the son of Poseidon, while some made him the rightful son of the king of Corinth. Like Zeus, Poseidon was also the father of heroes. Orion, the huntsman, was a son of Poseidon who was not as antagonistic toward mankind as many of his half-siblings. Charybdis, they claimed, was the offspring of Poseidon and Gaia. Some writers also made the god of the sea the father of the giant whirlpool featured in the Odyssey. He was the father of the Laestrygonians, an entire tribe of cannibalistic giants who inhabited Sicily. Laestrygon was another man-eating giant said to have been a son of Poseidon. The one-eyed giant was a brutal cannibal who was blinded by Odysseus and called out to his father for revenge. He was also the father of the cyclops Polyphemus and his brothers. The Gorgon, however, was not the only monster associated with Poseidon. Later writers tried to justify the union between the god and the monster by having Medusa transferred into a monster but born a beautiful woman. Chrysaor, a golden giant, and the winged horse Pegasus came forth from their mother’s neck when she was beheaded by Perseus. He also was the father of two children by the Gorgon Medusa. Their son, Areion, took the form of an exceptionally handsome immortal horse. She turned into a mare to run away from him, but he changed himself into a stallion to chase her.Īs a result they had a daughter, Despoina, who was associated with the Eleusinian Mysteries. In one story, Poseidon attempted to seduce his sister, Demeter. While Zeus was the father of many daimones, or minor gods and goddesses, Poseidon was more well-known as the father of many children who were neither divine nor human. They also had two daughters, Benthesikyme and Rhodos, for whom the island of Rhodes was named. Their only son was Triton, the merman, who was most often shown as a member of his father’s retinue. He had only three children with his wife, Amphitrite. The god of the sea was credited with fathering nearly as many children as his notoriously adulterous brother, Zeus. Like most of the gods of ancient Greece, Poseidon was believed to have had many affairs. Divine, Monstrous, and Human Offspring of Poseidon Many kingdoms, cities, and islands claimed descent from the god of the sea. The list of Poseidon’s human sons is, as is typical in Greek mythology, expansive. He was the father of at least one hero and one of the most iconic and noble animals of Greek mythology. Poseidon’s children were not all infamously horrible, though. While Zeus was known to have many minor goddesses among his children, his brother was more well-known for creating monsters. Some were born within their marriages but many more were the results of affairs with other goddesses, nymphs, and human women.įor Poseidon, this list of mistresses even includes at least one monster. The gods of ancient Greece were known for fathering many children.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |