Olympian god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses.
Overview
Poseidon is a major Olympian god in Greek myth. He is one of the main gods of the pantheon and is especially linked with the sea, earthquakes, and horses.
He is known mainly as Poseidon, but also by names and epithets such as Earth-Shaker, Enosichthon, and Ennosigaios. These stress his power to shake the earth and stir the waters.
As a brother of Zeus and Hades, he belongs to the core divine family that rules the cosmos in the age of the Olympian gods. His position as a major pan-Hellenic deity appears in his wide worship and his important role in myth. He rules the sea while still sharing in the authority of Olympus.
Epithets and Titles
Poseidon has many epithets and titles that point to different sides of his power and cult.
Key epithets include Enosichthon and Ennosigaios, both meaning Earth-Shaker, Gaieochos (Holder of the Earth), Asphaleios (Of Stability), Hippios (Of Horses), and Pelagios (Of the Sea). In cult, he was called on under titles such as Poseidon Hippios, Poseidon Asphaleios, Poseidon Helikonios, Poseidon Taureos, and Poseidon Phytalmios, each tied to specific local roles or traits.
Descriptive titles like Earth-Shaker, Lord of the Sea, and God of Horses sum up his main domains. The meaning of his name is often taken as “husband of the earth” or “lord of the earth,” but its exact origin is uncertain. Many link the first part to posis (“husband, lord”) and the second to da or gē (“earth”), while others suggest a pre-Greek origin.
These epithets and name explanations appear in sources such as Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Hesiod’s Theogony, the Homeric Hymns, Pausanias’ Description of Greece, and many inscriptions from Attica, Corinthia, and the Peloponnese.
Family and Relationships
Poseidon is the son of the Titans Cronus and Rhea. This makes him a second-generation Olympian and brother to Zeus, Hades, Hera, Demeter, and Hestia.
His main consort is the sea goddess Amphitrite. Myth also gives him many other relationships, including with Demeter, Medusa, Tyro, Aethra, Caeneus (originally Caenis), Thoosa, Iphimedeia, Alope, Melanippe, Libya, Euryale in some accounts, and various nymphs and mortal women in local stories.
From these unions he has many children. These include Triton, Theseus, Polyphemus, Pegasus, Chrysaor, and, in some traditions, Orion. Other offspring are Pelias, Neleus, Chryseis (Chryse), Benthesikyme, Rhode, Nausithous, Nausinous, Eumolpus, Antaeus, Procrustes (Damastes), Amycus, Otus, Ephialtes, and many local kings and heroes. Notable descendants include Nestor through Neleus, the royal line of Pylos, the royal line of Iolcus through Pelias, and various dynasties that claimed him as ancestor.
His ties are often marked by rivalry as well as kinship. He is a rival of Athena, especially in contests over cities such as Athens. He is hostile to Odysseus because of the blinding of his son Polyphemus. He also clashes with Laomedon of Troy, with the Greeks at Troy at certain times, and with many seafarers who anger him.
At the same time, he stands as ally and partner of his brothers Zeus and Hades in the division of the cosmos. He is closely linked with Amphitrite, Triton, the Nereids, and many sea deities and spirits who form his court.
Domains and Powers
Poseidon rules the sea and all salt waters, earthquakes, and horses. He is also linked with storms and tempests at sea and with some parts of coastal lands and islands.
His reach covers navigation and seafaring, the lives of fishermen and sailors, the fortunes of coastal cities and island communities, and the breeding of horses and chariot racing. He is tied both to the stability and the shaking of the earth, and to the making and breaking of springs and floods.
As a patron, he protects sailors and travelers by sea, horse breeders and charioteers, and cities such as Corinth and Helike, along with islanders and coastal peoples in general.
His powers include full control over the sea, waves, and storms; the ability to start and stop earthquakes; the power to raise and sink land, including islands and cities; and the power to create springs and salt-water fountains with his trident. He can grant or deny safe passage over the sea, bring forth and tame horses, and is marked by great physical strength and warlike skill.
Even with this great power, Poseidon is still under the higher authority of Zeus in the Olympian order and can be held back or overruled by the gods acting together. In a broad sense he is linked to storms and clouds through sea-storms, not through the sky itself. In the three-part division of the cosmos he is clearly not an underworld god, but the ruler of the sea, alongside Zeus of the sky and Hades of the underworld.
Myths and Narratives
In myth, Poseidon is a key figure in both the stories of the gods and the tales of heroes.
After the fall of the Titans, he and his brothers Zeus and Hades draw lots to divide the cosmos. Poseidon receives the sea but still keeps his place among the Olympians. He often steps into human affairs at sea, sometimes saving sailors and sometimes destroying them. He appears in many stories about the founding of cities and islands.
His nature as Earth-Shaker and his changeable temper make him both a bringer of disaster and a giver of stability. This reflects how Greek communities saw the sea and earthquakes as both dangerous and necessary.
Some of his best-known myths include the division of the cosmos among the three brothers, his contest with Athena for the patronage of Athens, his changing role in the Trojan War from supporting the Greeks to times of hostility, and his long persecution of Odysseus after Polyphemus is blinded.
Other tales show him creating the horse and linking him with chariot races, his love affairs with figures such as Medusa, Demeter, and Tyro and the births of Pegasus and many heroes, his work with Apollo in building the walls of Troy and his later conflict with King Laomedon, and his part in destroying cities and lands by earthquake or flood, including stories about Helike and other coastal places.
These stories belong to wider myth cycles: the Olympian succession and Titanomachy, the Trojan War cycle, the Odyssean nostos or return cycle, and many local foundation and aition myths that explain the origins of cities and sanctuaries.
In these tales, Poseidon appears as a major Olympian god and ruler of the sea, a helper or enemy of heroes and sailors, an agent of divine punishment through storms and earthquakes, a founder or co-founder of cities and sanctuaries in local traditions, and the ancestor of many heroes, monsters, and royal families.
His main feats include taking rule over the sea as his share of the cosmos, shaking the earth and knocking down walls (including those of Troy in some accounts), raising storms that nearly destroy the Greek fleet and later torment Odysseus, creating the first horse in some versions and giving horses to humans, helping to build the walls of Troy with Apollo, and flooding or destroying cities that offend him. He is also linked with transformations, such as taking the form of a stallion when he pursues Demeter in horse form, and causing transformative births like that of Pegasus and Chrysaor from Medusa’s blood after her death.
Main literary sources for these myths include Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Hesiod’s Theogony and brief mentions in Works and Days, the Homeric Hymn to Poseidon, the poetry of Pindar, Apollonius of Rhodes’ Argonautica, Apollodorus’ Library, Pausanias’ Description of Greece, and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, which, though Roman, keeps many Greek traditions.
Cult and Worship
The cult of Poseidon goes back to the Mycenaean period. His name appears in Linear B tablets as Po-se-da-o or similar forms, showing early and important pre-Homeric worship.
His cult carried on through Archaic and Classical Greece and stayed active in Hellenistic and Roman times. Major centers of worship included the Isthmus of Corinth, Helike in Achaea, Sounion in Attica, Onchestos in Boeotia, Tenos and other Aegean islands, and many coastal cities across the Greek world.
Important cult sites included the sanctuary of Poseidon at the Isthmus of Corinth, where the Isthmian Games were held for him; the temple of Poseidon at Sounion; the sanctuary of Poseidon Helikonios at Helike; the grove and sanctuary at Onchestos; and many local shrines in harbors, on headlands, and in coastal sanctuaries.
Festivals and rituals included the Isthmian Games, local celebrations for Poseidon Hippios tied to horses and equestrian contests, and seasonal or crisis rites asking for safe voyages or relief from earthquakes and storms.
Rituals usually involved animal sacrifice, especially bulls and sometimes horses, libations and offerings before sea journeys, and dedications of votive items such as miniature ships, horse figurines, and tripods. There were also processions and athletic contests, especially at the Isthmian Games.
People who took part in his cult ranged from sailors and merchants to horse breeders and charioteers, citizens of coastal and island poleis, and pan-Hellenic visitors to major festivals. Over time, his figure blended with local sea or earthquake gods in different regions, and later he was identified with the Roman Neptune.
Symbolism and Iconography
In art and literature, Poseidon is usually shown as a mature, bearded god with a strong, muscular body, often with long hair and a stern or majestic look. He is often shown standing in a commanding pose or riding in a chariot over the sea.
His main symbol is the trident, which he may hold or use to strike the earth or sea. He is also often shown as a charioteer over the waves, in a chariot drawn by hippocamps or horses.
He is commonly pictured with sea creatures such as dolphins, fish, and hippocamps, and sometimes appears with Amphitrite, Triton, or the Nereids in rich marine thiasos scenes. Art also places him in key myth scenes, such as the contest with Athena and moments from the Trojan War.
His main attributes and symbols include the trident, dolphin, horses, hippocamps, the bull, and wave and sea motifs. Signature items are the trident, as the chief sign of his rule over sea and earthquakes, and the chariot drawn by horses or hippocamps.
He is tied to the elements of water—especially the sea—and the shaking earth. Later art often links him visually with deep blue or green sea colors. Poseidon is a major subject in Greek vase painting, temple sculpture, and Roman mosaics, especially in marine thiasos scenes. He later becomes the standard model in classical and neoclassical sculpture for the sea god, shaping images of Neptune and other sea deities in Western art.
Origins and Development
Poseidon’s worship reaches back to the Mycenaean period. His name in Linear B tablets shows that he was already an important god before the Homeric epics.
His origin is usually tied to Mycenaean and early Greek religion, with especially strong growth in coastal and island areas of the Aegean. Possible forerunners include a Mycenaean sea or earthquake god seen in the Linear B references. Some have linked him with pre-Greek or local Aegean earth and sea spirits, though this remains debated.
Over time, Poseidon’s character shifts from that of a powerful Mycenaean god—possibly with broader chthonic or earth-related traits—into the clear Olympian sea god found in Homeric poetry. In the Archaic and Classical periods, his role as patron of sailors and horses and as Earth-Shaker is built up further. In Hellenistic and Roman times, his image as a grand sea god becomes fixed and spreads widely around the Mediterranean.
Blending with other gods also shapes this change. Under interpretatio Romana he is identified with the Roman god Neptune, and he is sometimes matched with local sea and earthquake gods in areas under Greek influence.
Modern work on him has looked at the first meaning and origin of his name and at whether he began mainly as an earth god, a sea god, or a more general chthonic power. It has also looked at how his Mycenaean form may have differed from the later Homeric Poseidon.
Local Variants
Local traditions across the Greek world brought out different sides of Poseidon through regional names, epithets, and cult customs.
He was worshipped as Poseidon Helikonios at Helike in Achaea, Poseidon Isthmios at the Isthmus of Corinth, Poseidon Hippios in regions such as Thessaly, Arcadia, and Attica, Poseidon Taureos in some Peloponnesian areas, and Poseidon Phytalmios in certain farming settings.
Local myths reflect these focuses. In Athens, the contest with Athena includes Poseidon bringing forth a salt-water spring or, in some versions, a horse on the Acropolis. In Corinth and nearby areas, he is closely tied to the Isthmus and the founding of the Isthmian Games. At Helike, Poseidon Helikonios is linked with the city’s destruction by earthquake and submersion, remembered as his act.
Regional cult practices also differed. There were strong horse cults of Poseidon Hippios in horse-breeding regions like Thessaly, sea-focused cults on islands such as Tenos and in harbor cities that stressed safe voyages and protection from storms, and farming aspects under epithets like Phytalmios, where he was called on for plant growth and fertility.
Important local centers included Helike, the Isthmus of Corinth, Onchestos in Boeotia, Sounion in Attica, and various Thessalian and Arcadian sites for Poseidon Hippios. These local traditions show how different communities stressed maritime, equestrian, or agricultural sides of Poseidon based on their own needs and economies.
Genealogy
In genealogy, Poseidon belongs to the main divine line of Greek myth. His grandparents are Uranus and Gaia, and his parents are the Titans Cronus and Rhea, placing him in the second generation of Olympian gods.
His immediate line names him as a child of Cronus and Rhea and a member of the generation that follows the Titans. As a father, he has many divine and mortal children, including Triton, Theseus, Pegasus, Chrysaor, Pelias, Neleus, and, in some traditions, Orion, as well as Polyphemus and many others who stand at the start of various royal and heroic lines.
He is part of the Olympian family of Zeus and is linked by blood to many royal houses through his mortal children. Genealogical variants appear in stories about the parentage of figures such as Orion and some local kings, but these still present Poseidon as their father, with only the mother or story details changing.
Minor differences in lists of his children appear in mythographers such as Apollodorus and later writers. Main references for his genealogy include Hesiod’s Theogony, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, Apollodorus’ Library, Pausanias’ Description of Greece, and various scholia and later myth collections.
Retinue and Associates
Poseidon is often shown with a clear retinue that highlights his rule over the sea.
His close attendants include Triton, who often appears as his herald or near companion. He is also surrounded by spirits and personifications such as the Nereids, many sea nymphs, and various sea daimones and minor marine deities.
Typical groups around him form a marine thiasos, with Nereids, Tritons, and many sea creatures, along with hippocamps and dolphins that pull or follow his chariot.
Among mortals and semi-divine figures, he is closely tied to heroes such as Theseus, who is both his son and at times a favored hero, and to other local founders and champions who claim his patronage or descent.
Mythic creatures in his service include hippocamps, the fish-tailed horses that pull his chariot, and dolphins that act as messengers or companions in some stories. Art often shows Poseidon’s retinue as a grand sea procession, making his rule over the sea and its beings clear.
Sacred Animals and Plants
Several animals are strongly linked with Poseidon and are important in his cult and symbols.
The horse is one of his main sacred animals. It reflects his power, speed, and link to both land and sea, especially through the hippocamp. The bull is another key animal, standing for strength and often used as a high-status sacrifice to him. The dolphin is also sacred to Poseidon, pointing to his helpful guidance and command over sea life.
Sacrificial animals in his rites usually include bulls and rams, with horses sometimes offered in special equestrian cults. No steady animal taboos, sacred plants, or plant offerings are recorded for his worship.
The symbolic ties of horses, bulls, and dolphins bring out different parts of his rule over earth and sea.
Sacred Objects and Attributes
Poseidon’s sacred objects and attributes focus on tools and symbols that show his power over sea and earth.
The most important is the trident, his main divine weapon and sign of rule. He uses it to stir the sea and to cause earthquakes by striking the ground.
He is also linked with a chariot used for sea travel and ceremonial rides, often imagined as drawn by horses or hippocamps. Ritual items in his cult include altars and sea-related votive objects at coastal sanctuaries, as well as model ships and horse figurines given as offerings.
Apart from the trident, there is no other single named artifact that is always treated as a separate mythic object belonging to him.
Symbolically, the trident stands for his rule over the waters and his power to shake the earth, while the sea-chariot and its team of hippocamps stress his royal status and command over the marine world.
Sanctuaries and Cult Sites
Poseidon’s worship was based in a network of major sanctuaries and many local cult sites across the Greek world.
Leading among these were the sanctuary and temple of Poseidon at the Isthmus of Corinth, the temple of Poseidon at Sounion in Attica, the sanctuary of Poseidon Helikonios at Helike in Achaea, and the sanctuary at Onchestos in Boeotia.
Alongside these main centers, there were countless smaller shrines and altars to Poseidon on coastal headlands and in harbors, as well as in horse-breeding regions where he was honored as Poseidon Hippios. Onchestos in particular had oracular features in some stories, hinting at a prophetic side to his cult there.
His temples were often placed on headlands overlooking the sea, as at Sounion, making his link with the sea clear. Sanctuaries at the Isthmus and Helike were tied to major festivals and athletic areas.
Real-world places tied to his cult include the Isthmus of Corinth, Cape Sounion, Helike in the Gulf of Corinth, and Onchestos in Boeotia. Finds for his worship include the remains of the temple at Sounion with its sculptures, buildings at the Isthmus of Corinth linked to the sanctuary and the Isthmian Games, and submerged and nearby remains tied to Helike and its cult of Poseidon Helikonios.
Rituals and Offerings
Ritual life for Poseidon included major festivals, sacrifices, and votive customs.
The Isthmian Games, or Isthmia, were held for him at the Isthmus of Corinth. Various local festivals, often called Poseideia or Poseidonia (with names changing by region), were celebrated in different communities.
The ritual calendar set the Isthmian Games every two years in spring. Many local festivals were timed with sailing seasons or farming cycles, depending on whether people stressed his maritime or agrarian side.
Common offerings and sacrifices included blood sacrifices of bulls and other livestock, occasional horse sacrifices in equestrian cults, libations of wine and possibly seawater in some coastal rites, and votive gifts such as miniature ships, horse figurines, and inscribed dedications.
Ritual actions included processions to coastal sanctuaries or headlands, athletic contests—especially chariot and horse races—at festivals like the Isthmian Games, and prayers and vows made before sea journeys or during earthquakes and storms.
Those who took part in these rites included city officials and priests in charge of sacrifices and games, athletes and charioteers competing in Poseidon’s honor, sailors and merchants making private or shared offerings, and the wider citizens and resident foreigners of coastal and island poleis.
Ritual objects used in his worship included altars and sacrificial tools, crowns and prizes for winners at the Isthmian Games, and votive models of ships and horses. No fixed ritual taboos are regularly reported, and any such rules seem to have followed local custom rather than a single pan-Hellenic standard.
Interpretations and Reception
In antiquity, people widely saw Poseidon as the god who personified the sea’s power and the sudden force of earthquakes. In some local and philosophical traditions he was linked with both the steadiness and the unsteadiness of the earth’s foundations.
Philosophical and allegorical writers, including Stoics, sometimes took him as the element of water or as the moist principle in nature. Euhemeristic authors turned him into an ancient king or famous seafarer who was later worshipped as a god.
Comparative mythology has often placed him beside other Indo-European or Near Eastern sea and storm gods, though direct one-to-one matches remain a matter of discussion.
Later religious reactions, especially among early Christian writers, used Poseidon as a symbol of pagan polytheism and attacked his myths as immoral or absurd. In late antiquity he was more and more merged with Neptune in the Roman world.
Modern work has focused on his Mycenaean roots and on how his roles changed from possible earth or underworld links to a mainly sea-based role. It has also looked at his importance for coastal and island communities and the social meaning of his horse cults. Studies of local cults such as that at Helike have looked at the ties between natural disasters and religious belief.
Ongoing questions include whether Poseidon was first an earth god later tied to the sea or a sea god who kept older chthonic traits, and how strong and continuous his Mycenaean worship was into later times.
In Renaissance and later European art and literature, Poseidon—often called Neptune—became a standard figure for the sea, maritime power, and sometimes the depths of emotion or the unconscious.
Roman Equivalents
The Roman equivalent of Poseidon is Neptune (Neptunus). In Roman religion he came to share many of Poseidon’s traits and myths.
Roman names and epithets for this god include Neptunus, Neptunus Eques for his horse-linked side, and Neptunus Pelagius in some inscriptions that stress his sea nature.
Through interpretatio Romana, Greeks and Romans often equated Poseidon with Neptune, especially in bilingual and cross-cultural settings. Roman writers often used the name Neptune in Latin texts where Greek sources had Poseidon.
Even with this match, Neptune in early Roman religion seems to have had a smaller and less central role than Poseidon in Greece, with stronger links to fresh water in some stories. Under Greek influence, however, Neptune’s sea character and imagery came to look much more like Poseidon’s.
In the Roman Empire, sanctuaries and festivals could honor Neptune with imagery and myths taken from Poseidon. Marine thiasos scenes and horse themes were shared between the two in art and cult.
Main Roman sources for Neptune include Virgil’s Aeneid, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Livy’s History of Rome, Varro’s De Lingua Latina, and many inscriptions and dedication texts to Neptunus.
Modern Legacy
In modern times, Poseidon still has a strong cultural presence under his Greek name and as Neptune.
He appears often in contemporary novels, comics, and fantasy series that use Greek myth, as well as in children’s and young adult books that retell or adapt ancient stories. As a literary figure, he serves as a model for sea gods and maritime powers in Western storytelling and is often used in poetry and prose as a symbol of the sea’s might and unpredictability.
In visual and performing arts, he is a common subject in neoclassical sculpture, fountains, and public monuments, usually shown as a trident-bearing sea god. He also appears in paintings and decorative arts that show marine scenes and ocean allegories.
His image and name are widely used in popular culture, in branding and logos for maritime companies, sports teams, and sea-related products. He appears in films, television series, and games that adapt or refer to Greek myth.
Some modern Hellenic polytheist and neopagan groups worship Poseidon as a living god of the sea and natural forces. His name is also used for ships, submarines, and maritime technologies, and he is mentioned in scientific and astronomical naming—often through the Roman form Neptune—showing his lasting role as a symbol of the sea and its powers.