Description

When the sovereignty of the heavens, the earth and the underground regions was drawn by lot, the sovereignty of the sea was shared by Poseidon, who took a trident as his emblem. Note, however, that it is as if Poseidon had control over the forces affecting the movement of water, rather than inhabiting the water itself, that he reigns over the wet element. There is a god whose real dwelling is the sea: Nereus, who dwells in the depths of the waves, being opposite Poseidon in the same relationship as Helios, living in the sun, opposite Phoibos, lord of light. The meaning of the name Poseidon, a trait that can shed some light on this obscure name. Poseidon, in the Iliad and in the Odyssey, is represented as equal to Zeus in dignity and inferior to him only in power. He has the power to create, because, according to a story, he is the author of the horse. His name is Gaiêochos, guardian of the earth, and Enesichos, who shakes the world; and finally he disputes with Héré, Hélios and Athéné, the sovereignty of certain Greek cities.