Poseidon: the Cruel Creator God of Greek Mythology

My claim is that Poseidon was actually a pretty bad god, You might be thinking Why would a god be mean? I mean he wasn’t like a bully or anything, but Poseidon was cruel. I mean after Athens and the many more things, how could he be nice?

One reason I believe Poseidon was a bad God is that he did take advantage of many females. How many of you know the story of Medusa? Okay, when I thought of Medusa I thought of a scary reptile lady but she wasn’t always like that.

Medusa once was a very pretty woman, true story. Everyone wanted to marry Medusa. One day Medusa was worshipping Athena in her temple which is not allowed, and Poseidon was coming by and took advantage of her.

As a punishment for being in her temple, Athena gave her those ugly looks so that if she looked at anything it would turn to stone (ancient.eu). Another thing is he doesn’t only take advantage of Medusa but also his sister, Demeter. I will make this one short but Poseidon needed so much attention from the female species that he even wanted it from his sister, Demeter. Demeter said No but no wasn’t an option. Demeter turned herself into a mare and Poseidon took the form of a stallion and took advantage of her also. That resulted in 2 children for Poseidon. The horse Areion and the goddess Despoine (theoi.com)

Another reason I believe that Poseidon is cruel is because of the battle over Athens. Who knows what Athens is? Well, Athens was a City that was ruled by a man named Cecrops who was half human half snake. Athena and Poseidon were interested in taking over Athens one day. One day they both stepped forth and Cecrops asked them to show him what they would contribute to The Athens community. Poseidon created a well with his trident, but the water turned out to be salty to it was good or useful for the population. Athena went next, she “struck her spear into the ground and then she kneeled and planted an olive branch in it” (greek-gods.info). Cecrops was impressed by Athena’s power so he chose her as the next ruler. Poseidon being the Bad person he is put a curse on Athens and they would never have enough water.

Another reason Poseidon was a bad God is because that Poseidon is overly determined for the wrong reasons. I know what you’re thinking, what the what? Well for instance, who knew that Amphitrite was Poseidon wife well other, than Mr.Youngs? Well, when you get married nowadays there is a 99% chance that it isn’t a forced marriage. Amphitrite was forced by Poseidon to marry her. Poseidon was restless without her apparently. Poseidon would practically hunt her down and bother her to marry him. She finally married him because she was tired of him harassing her for this marriage. Poseidon and Amphitrite married, but Poseidon cheated on her a lot!

So we all know that Poseidon is the God of the sea, earthquakes, and horses. Poseidon was and is mainly known for being the God of the sea, right? Poseidon often used his powers to install fear into people. He also used his powers against people and used his powers as punishments for some. When he is in a bad mood he would strike the ground with his famous trident and cause unruly springs, earthquakes, shipwrecks, and drownings. He has caused many deaths. The World Health Organization estimates that 3.575 million people pass away a year due to water-related issues a year. Globally in 2010, about 320,120 people passed away as a result of earthquakes. In 2012 earthquakes only killed 786 people. Poseidon is in control of earthquakes and the sea, he controls this stuff. In that case, he isn’t the best god out there.

Poseidon hunted down and destroyed Odysseus’s entire fleet and almost Odysseus himself. Before I get into this topic I’ll explain who Odysseus is. Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, is a legendary Greek king of Ithaca and the hero of Homer’s epic poem the Odyssey. Anyways, Poseidon was mad at Odysseus because he had blinded Poseidon’s Cyclops son with a large pointed stick ( sort of like a spear). In the passage, It said it was self-defense which I could see how but they said he did it because the Cyclops was going to eat his entire fleet anyways.

I’m making Poseidon sound like a terrible person I know, but one more bad thing and I’ll say a good thing about him. I do want to state that Gods aren’t good nor evil in my opinion just Poseidon is evil. My Final reason is that Poseidon was known as bad-tempered God. You obviously don’t get this name out of nowhere. There aren’t as much evidence or stories than in my other paragraph.

Poseidon was a pretty bad god but he did some good things. One thing he did that was a good thing was He made the Horse, heck he made the entire underwater realm. He also helped in The Trojan War. During the Trojan War, Poseidon fights on behalf of the Greeks because he holds a grudge against Laomedon, the Trojan king. Although Poseidon did use his powers in a bad way he still used them in a good way not all the time but did it. He was very creative which made him General the person to go to if you need help with a design or such. He created all of the creatures of the sea. Fish, Octopus, Sharks, and Eel which some communities make livings with these animals.

Did you like this example?

397

21