But when the two strove for possession of the country, Zeus parted them and appointed arbiters. she planted an olive tree, which is still shown in the Pandrosion. After him came Athena, and, having called on Kekrops to witness her act of taking possession. So Poseidon was the first that came to Attika, and with a blow of his trident on the middle of the Acropolis, he produced a sea which they now call Erektheis. In his time, they say, the gods resolved to take possession of cities in which each of them should receive his own peculiar worship. "Kekrops, a son of the soil, with a body compounded of man and serpent, was the first king of Attika. – from the Iliad of Homer, translated by Richmond Lattimore (1951)įragment of Poseidon statue from west pediment of the ParthenonĬontest of Athena and Poseidon for dominion over Athens Lightly turning their battalions to strength drove them onward. Think they could win clear of the evil, but the earth-shaker The Trojans, and how in a mass they had overswarmed the great wall.Īs they saw them the tears dripped from their eyes they did not Who were cooling the heat of the inward heart back beside their vessels,įor their very limbs were broken with weariness of hard work, and alsoĭiscouragement of the heart came over them, as they watched Meanwhile the earth-encircler stirred up the Achaians behind them In the delight of battle the god had put into their spirits, Now as these two were saying such things to each other, joyful Poseidon who circles the earth and shakes it spoke, and strikingīoth of them with his staff filled them with powerful valour,Īnd he made their limbs light, and their feet, and their hands above them. His food was honey, and he drank Amaltheia's milk, with Goat-Pan, his foster- brother.Kylix - Poseidon with Trident urges on the Greek Heroes attacking Troy Mother Earth left him there to be nursed by the Ash- nymph Adrasteia and her sister Io, both daughters of Melisseus, and by the Goat-nymph Amaltheia. She bore Zeus, her third son, at dead of night on Mount Lycaeum in Arcadia, where no creature casts a shadow and, having bathed him in the River Neda, gave him to Mother Earth by whom he was carried to Lyctos in Crete, and hidden in the cave of Dicte on the Aegean Hill. Every year, therefore, he swallowed the children whom Rhea bore him: first Hestia, then Demeter and Hera, then Hades, then Poseidon. But it was prophesied by Mother Earth, and by his dying father Uranus, that one of his own sons would dethrone him. From the spot which Athene touched with her wand, issued the olive- tree, whereupon the gods unanimously awarded to her the victory, declaring her gift to be the emblem of peace and plenty, whilst that of Poseidon wasĬRONUS married his sister Rhea, to whom the oak is sacred. Upon this Poseidon struck the ground with his trident, and the horse sprang forth in all his untamed strength and graceful beauty. The Greeks believed that it was to Poseidon they were indebted for the existence of the horse, which he is said to have produced in the following manner: Athene and Poseidon both claiming the right to name Cecropia (the ancient name of Athens), a violent dispute arose, which was finally settled by an assembly of the Olympian gods, who decided that whichever of the contending parties presented mankind with the most useful gift, should obtain the privilege of naming the city. Pelias became afterwards famous in the story of the Argonauts, and Neleus was the father of Nestor, who was distinguished in the Trojan War. Their mother Tyro was attached to the river-god Enipeus, whose form Poseidon assumed, and thus won her love. Pelias and Neleus were also sons of Poseidon. Nor was illumination wanting in this fairy-like region, which at night was lit up by the glow-worms of the deep. Here grew bright, pinky sea-weeds, mosses of all hues and shades, and tall grasses, which, growing upwards, formed emerald caves and grottoes such as the Nereides love, whilst fish of various kinds playfully darted in and out, in the full enjoyment of their native element. This delightful abode was surrounded on all sides by wide fields, where there were whole groves of dark purple coralline, and tufts of beautiful scarlet-leaved plants, and sea-anemones of every tint. Some of the paths were strewn with white sparkling sand, interspersed with jewels, pearls, and amber. Everywhere fountains of glistening, silvery water played every- where groves and arbours of feathery-leaved sea-plants appeared, whilst rocks of pure crystal glistened with all the varied colours of the rainbow. The exterior of the building was of bright gold, which the continual wash of the waters preserved untarnished in the interior, lofty and graceful columns supported the gleam- ing dome. His wonderful palace beneath the waters was of vast extent in its lofty and capacious halls thousands of his followers could assemble.
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