Poseidon

Also known as: Hippius / Poseidon Hippius / Poseidon of Helice / the Flood-god · Family: Greek · Role: god · First appears: Book 1 · Chapter 2

In Book 1, Poseidon appears as an enemy of Polybotes and as the father of Hippothoon, Cercyon, and Halirrhothius. At Attica he contests the land with Athene; later, after Minos shows him little honour, Poseidon sends a bull into Crete. In Book 2, Briareus awards him the Isthmus after arbitrating his dispute with the Sun God, while in Argolis Inachus, Cephisus, and Asterion (river god) judge the land for Hera, prompting Poseidon to take away their water. Hera later persuades him to drain the flooded region.

The accounts also name many of his children, including Peratus, whom Chalcinia bears and Leucippus (son of Thurimachus) raises; Eumolpus, Megareus, Leches, and Cenchrias. In Book 2 he and Athene agree to share a country at Zeus’s command, and he exchanges Calaurea with Apollo. Later traditions pair him with Demeter: she becomes a mare to evade him, he takes horse form, and she bears a daughter and Arion. The Arcadians identify Despœna as their daughter.

In Book 7, Poseidon’s earthquake and the encroaching sea destroy Helice after suppliants are slain. At Mantinea, Æpytus (son of Hippothous) enters Poseidon’s forbidden temple, is blinded, and dies soon afterward. In Book 8, Rhea hides the newborn Poseidon from Cronos, substituting a foal; later accounts describe temples and offerings made to him, including one established by Odysseus. In Book 10, Taras is said to be his son by a local nymph, with both city and river named after him.