Poseidon: God of the sea and earthquakes
Poseidon - god of the sea and earthquakes - was a brother of Zeus.
After ten years of war against Kronos and his brothers, the Titans , Zeus shared the world with Poseidon, who was given dominion
over the sea and all other water on the Earth.
Poseidon showed a comparable sexual activity as that of Zeus and had a correspondingly large progeny. His love affairs with goddesses,
nymphs and mortals were numerous.
Sailors always prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage and threw horses into the sea as sacrifice in order to appease him. When Poseidon was in a good mood,
he created new islands and let the sea be calm and navigable. But he also had a stubborn and quarrelsome character, especially with female
gods and also with ordinary women. When he was in a temper, he stabbed his trident into the Earth, causing earthquakes, floods and caused ships
to sink in the storms he created.
Poseidon was also greedy for Earthly kingdoms. He once hurled his trident into the Acropolis of Athens in order to take
it into his possession. At once, sea water started to gush out of the rock. In response
Athene, following the wisdom characteristic of Athens, then planted the first olive tree in
extinguishing the sea water.
As a result, Poseidon was furious. In order to appease him, Athenian women had their voting rights taken away, in order to disempower them.
Also men were then not allowed to bear the name of their mother.
Poseidon also invented horse races. He is often portrayed carrying his trident.