Poseidon
To the sea, man was called. To the sea.
To the sea, where life began.
To the sea we cast our hopes. To the sea.
To the sea we look for answers.
On the sea there is no calm. On the sea.
Movement and chaos.
On the sea we sailed, afraid and alone. On the sea.
We sought you out, great king.
Brother of the sky and the dark lord of death.
Your heart is strong and pure.
Brother of the sky and the lord of death.
I call on you to stand between them.
The Mighty God Poseidon
Like many other Gods in the Olympian Pantheon, Hades for example, Poseidon seems to have a rather distant quality about him. There is a feeling, when worshipping him, that speaks of awesome power, restrained and in control. As one of the three Kings of our Mythology, he is by rights one of the three great patriarchs of our universe, one of the three great rulers under whose domain fall not only aspects of nature, but the domains of other Gods as well. Like Zeus, Poseidon appears to be lord over a vast domain which for us, represents on of the vital elements of nature. Where Zeus is Sky, Poseidon is Sea. On an elemental level, Zeus is air, Hades is earth, Poseidon is Water, while Fire escapes me. One could easily point to Hephaestos or Prometheus, but in truth, neither one of these seems to eminate the same kind of aura of controlled power that Zeus, Poseidon and Hades do. One could also point at Hestia, as Goddess of the hearth and of beneficent uses of fire, but her silence is sometimes deafening in terms of mythology.
Whatever the domain of fire may be in the universe, assuming there even is one, it is Poseidon’s realm, that of Water, the sea, the spaces between lands, that is our concern here. Like all Gods, Poseidon gives, and takes away. What he gave man was a way to establish communication with others. Sea travel, or at least the route for such, as it was Athena who in myth created the boat. This beneficent creation of means is evident again in his creation of the horse, which again gave man the means to travel longer distances, but once again it was Athena who gave man the technology to do so by inventing the bridle. Thus, like some of Zeus’ aspects, Poseidon seems to provide a foundation upon which others build. His power, however, is awesome.
Poseidon, however, seems more the paternal figure as we might see him today than does Zeus. Sure, there are stories of his sexual escapades, as there would be of any patriarchal figure in ancient Greece, but there is also a feeling of restraint there. When Hephaestos catches Aphrodite and Ares in their tryst, Poseidon is most mortified, conservative in his opinions while the other Gods laugh. Perhaps I see in Poseidon that wise father, the one who knows not to make fun of another’s pain. The father who wields great power, but who knows when not to use it.
God of the Sea
Poseidon is, first and foremost, the god of the sea. His the dominion of the sea and all the life that dwells within it. In an elemental way, he is Water, but in another sense he is also most important, for his is one of three kingdoms/domains of the universe, though how that translates on a universal level I am not certain. Like Zeus, Poseidon is a mighty king and is, and is owed much respect, for under his dominion fall of the other "water gods" and their influence on our universe is directed by his divine power.
As the king of the sea, on this earth, his is the realm of sailing, of fishing, of aquatic exploration, and of the sweet singers and intelligent life of the sea, the Whales and Dolphins.