Similar Gods of Different Cultures During the time of ancient cultures, myths arose to explain a cause for natural phenomena within that region. There are archetypes within similar gods and goddesses between multiple cultures manipulating the same concepts and ideas for their functionality. For ancient Greece, Poseidon, the god of the seas and waters was created to explain why floods, sea storms, and earthquakes occurred and to promote the fertility of certain plants and animals on land (Felson 15: 697; Conner 80). The ancient Egyptians lived near the Nile River and attributed many occurrences of the Nile River to the water and fertility god, Hapy (Wilkinson 106). Even the Norse had their own water god, Aegir, to whom they sought answers …show more content…
Hapy is referred to as a fertility god from the appearance of his large breasts that provide nourishment and fertility and his prominent belly that ensures security of a good harvest (Wilkinson 107). Poseidon is known as a fertility god through his many affairs and creations (Conner 84-87). Hapy is worshipped through prayer and sacrifice to ensure yearly floods to provide a balance of fertility and new silt on the fields hopefully without homes washing away (Wilkinson 106). He is even referred to as the “lord of the fishes and birds” (Wilkinson 106). Poseidon on the other hand created bodies of water with his trident, yet in return he wanted to win over cities and fulfill his sexual desires. In the land of Argos, Poseidon dried the region and the daughters of King Danaus sought out to find any water, in return of Poseidon creating a spring for Amymone, he wanted to fulfill his sexual desires with her. Through their affair, Nauplius was born (Conner 81, 85) As stated beforehand, Hapy’s physical appearance gives clarity to why he is a fertility god while Poseidon’s appearance doesn’t give him his name as a fertility god but as a water
The god I chose is Poseidon and I will explain his powers, accompleshments, and life in the pages listed below. Poseidon is a very important because he is one of the major three gods called the big 3. He is the brothers of the other two, Zues and Hades. Since the big 3 swore to never have kids they couldn’t marry humans, so Poseidon married a sea-nymph named Amphitrite. He was the god of the sea and horses and protected and ruled both of those things. There are many rivers with their own gods, poseidon was the god of all water in general. Other than the sea and horses he is also the god of earthquakes and can cause or stop them. When he was not on Mount Olympus he was in or near the water at pretty much all times. Other than being able to
Polytheism is the belief in multiple gods. They used these gods to explain natural phenomenons such as storms, droughts, and floods. In the sumerian religion, there were more than 3,000 different gods, many of them, however, were unknown outside their local area of origin. City-states could create their own gods and way of worship, on top of the standardized major gods and worship practices. Some of the major gods the people of Sumer recognized were Enlil, the god of air, Utu, the sun god, Nanna Suen, the moon god, Nin-Khursaga, the Earth goddess, and Enki, the god of waters. The Akkadian people believed in similar gods, just with different names. For example, the god Utu was known as Shamash to Akkadians, Nanna Suen was known as Sin, and Nin-Khursaga was known is Ishtar. To the west of Sumer and Akkad, ancient Egypt was participating in polytheism. The Egyptians also had a system of a widespread recognition of a company of major deities that would rule over local gods created in each cult center. One of the major gods, Ptah, was responsible for creating the world. Other gods include Osiris, Seth, Isiris, Anubis, and Horus. With all the gods having control of nature, the followers were heavily dependent upon them for the success of their harvests and
Poseidon was the god of the seas. He was worshiped by seamen but also very feared for his power over the water. Poseidon was thought to be the second strongest god after Zeus.
Many religious figures in Ancient Egypt explain events in nature. The Nile is no different. Hapi, son of Horus, was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile. Ancient Egyptians would celebrate Hapi for good harvests. The many drawings and sketches the Ancient Egyptians did help people understand today what they believed, and gave an insight as to how people lived back then. Many drawings included people farming and herding animals. These types of pictures seem very natural, and the Nile River is depicted in many of them. Many drawings also depicted the many Gods of Ancient Egypt. This was all thanks to the Nile River, which allowed people to create drawings and teach people today about life and religion during one of the first Ancient
In the end, Poseidon earned the title of God of the Sea. Over time, Poseidon found love. He married Amphitrite, the granddaughter of the previous god of the sea. They had three children, Triton, Rhode, and Behthesicyme, although he had other kids including Pegasus, Orion, Theseus, and many more. Knowing his characteristics of being mean spirited and having “temper tantrums,” it isn’t hard to see that he made a few enemies, which included: Athena and The Trojans, but he did manage to make some friends like, Apollo and Delphinus.
In the time of ancient Greeks many people believed in certain Gods and Goddesses and their mythological stories. Among the many gods and goddesses there was Athena, Goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war. Also there was Apollo, God of the sun, music, healing, prophecy, and poetry. Apollo’s twin sister Artemis Goddess of hunting and archery. Then there’s Poseidon, God of the ocean and brother to the most powerful God of them all, the God of all Gods, Zeus. However, there was only one specific God that mortals and even Gods feared, the brother of Poseidon and Zeus. He was the ruler of the underworld and the dead; he went by the name of Hades.
“About Poseidon, a great god, I begin to sing, the shaker of the earth and of the barren sea” (Morford, Lenardon, and Sham, 171). Poseidon in Greek Mythology, or Neptune in Roman Mythology, is the God of the Earthquakes and of the Seas. He is known for his “severe and rough” nature and is associated with “the surge of the seas” (Morford, Lenardon, and Sham, 171). Poseidon is often underrepresented in myth but his role is pivotal due to the fact that he ruled the earth and the seas. Travel via the sea was essential in the spreading of culture during this time period and worship to Poseidon played an important role.
The first reason Poseidon is an outstanding Greek god is because of his family. Poseidon’s family is large and unique in their own ways considering they are gods. “Zeus and Hades were his brothers” (Poseidon). According to the article Poseidon, Zeus and Hades were his brothers, and they were the ones who took down the titans and Cronus, their dad, which then started the Olympian era. “ He was similar to Zeus in that he liked to exert power over women and flaunt his rugged masculinity. At times, however, his efforts were appreciated. Poseidon saved Amymone from a satyr”(Poseidon). Poseidon was like his brother Zeus when it came to women, he had several martle affairs. “He and Medusa conceived the flying horse, pegasus and He was also the biological father of Orion, Polyphemus, Pelias, and many others”(Poseidon). This shows that the Poseidon had many affairs considering he was married to Amphitrite, a Nereid. “One of his most notable dalliances involved his sister Demeter. She refused his advances by turning herself into a mare. He then transformed into a stallion and pursued her. Their relations produced a
Poseidon plays an extreme role in Greek mythology. As told, it says, “He was the Lord and Ruler of the Sea (the Mediterranean) and the Friendly Sea (the Euxine, now the Black Sea). Underground rivers too, were his” (Hamilton 38). He is in charge of huge bodies of water, and what lies beneath them. Also, “To the ancient Greeks, Poseidon was primarily the god of sea, but he also had roles as the god of water in
One parallel between Greek and Egyptian creation stories is that they both begin with a God or Gods being created from the universe. The creation of
Poseidon is the ancient Greek god who resembles the power of the untamed, the brutal, and the wild. After the defeat of the Titans, Poseidon drew straws with his brothers and got the middle straw. Therefore, he became the lord of the Sea, earthquakes, and horses. The Romans knew Poseidon as Neptune. He is also associated with clouds, which was essential to agriculture. Poseidon could create springs, floods, and even tidal waves when angered. Besides the sea, Poseidon is also connected with the earth. It is believed that his anger is
Thousands of years ago, the ancient Greek civilization had a god for everything that they could have thought of. One such god was Poseidon. Poseidon was the god of the sea and horses (Gil). Symbols that represented Poseidon included the trident and dolphin(Gil). He became one of the most well known of the gods because of his fierce temper and his adulterous ways. Poseidon was also part of many battles, such as the Trojan Wars. (Poseidon: Greek) He also caused many hardships for Odysseus as he returned home from the war.(Gall 49). Poseidon was a lustful (Gall 48) being who showed signs of violence and was also known to hold fierce grudges against those who wronged him (Poseidon).
In myths we come across many names of gods and goddesses and strange creatures. All of them have many stories related to them. Different gods represent different aspects of life and the Earth is under their control.
First, there is Charybdis. Born to the Sea God Poseidon, Charybdis was a naiad that similar to Athena and Zeus had a strong Father-Daughter relationship. When Poseidon went to war against Zeus and created various storms, Charybdis brought uncanny quantities of water upon beaches. Due to this, villages, fields, forest, etc. would flood. After Charybdis had won land for Poseidon, Zeus was enraged and with that Zeus had transformed her
There is not one god, but rather a plethora that all have their own territories and powers which they use to manipulate humans to bend to their wills, and the myths teach the people very strange skepticisms and mannerisms which they must follow in order to avoid angering any of these gods. Their myth of creation, called Theogony, tells the story of the creation of the earth through love and light, showing that they are two connected beings and are important to life, and death was created first, showing that before light there was only chaos, which may symbolize that without structure, chaos is all that can exist. The many gods in the story give the perception that the Greeks believe that everyone has a job to do and has different influences, just like how Poseidon controls the sea and Aphrodite is the god of lust, and in their culture they have scribes, gladiators, and blacksmiths, people from every skill tree. There isn't a very strong impact due to water, but many of the Greeks live on islands. The one thing there is; Poseidon, God of the sea, whose anger caused storms and, the Greeks believed, could summon sea monsters to destroy ships.