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Greek Mythology: Bellerophon And Poseidon

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Greek mythology is a bloody and interesting subject. One such part of Greek mythology is Bellerophon and Poseidon. These two are supposedly father and son. Poseidon is also considered the father of Pegasus. The Pegasus was the steed of Bellerophon in his adventures and through out his reign as a King. Pegasus has his own myth entirely and so does his mother the Gorgon Medusa. Medusa was a beautiful turned ugly person. Greek mythology is interesting and many people enjoy reading it. Poseidon was the god of the sea, earthquakes and horses. Although he was one of the big three gods of Olympus, he spent most of his time in his under water domain. Poseidon had two brothers their names were Zeus and Hades. These three gods divided up the parts …show more content…

Because Odysseus blinded the Cyclops Polyphemus, who was Poseidon's son, the god not only delayed the hero's return home from the Trojan War but caused him to face perils that would cause any normal man to go insane. Poseidon similarly cursed the wife of King Minos. Minos had proved his right to rule over Crete by calling on Poseidon to send a bull from the sea, which the king promised to sacrifice in his honor. Poseidon sent the bull, but Minos liked it too much to sacrifice it to Poseidon. So because of this Poseidon asked Aphrodite, the goddess of love, to make Minos's queen, Pasiphae, fall deeply love with the bull. The result was the monstrous Minotaur, half-man, half-bull. As god of horses, Poseidon often adopted the shape of a white stallion which he used to mate with others at times. It is not certain that he was in this form when he wooed Medusa the Gorgon. But when Perseus later killed the Gorgon, the winged horse Pegasus sprang from her severed neck. Poseidon at times would grant mortals with his power to shape-shift. And he ceded to the request of the maiden Caenis that she be transformed into the invulnerable, male warrior …show more content…

While he was a young man he honored the gods and was given their favor but, then his pride clouded his better judgement and this led to his ultimate downfall. Bellerophon was the son of Eurynome, wife of Glaucus, by Poseidon. He was raised by Glaucus who thought that he had brought forth Bellerophon from his own loins. Considering both his supposed fathers involvement with horses it was not surprising at all that he quested after the legendary winged horse Pegasus. After many failures at capturing Pegasus he asked the seer Polyeidus for help. Polyeidus had told him to honor the gods and spend one night at Athena's temple. Following Polyeidus instructions he spent the night at an alter to Athena. Here he had dreamt of the goddess gifting him a magical golden bridle. He awoke the next morning to find the magical bridle draped across his lap. Seeing this he had the foresight to sacrifice a tribute to both Athena and Poseidon. This done he went to where he knew Pegasus grazed and put the bridle upon him and was able to ride him with no trouble. Triumphant in his success he went to King Pittheus and received permission to marry his daughter Aethra. However, before the marriage could take place he accidently killed a man Possibly one of his brothers, and was

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