Poseidon: God of the Sea | Greek Mythology (3)
The God of all waters, Poseidon was as unruly as the seas he controlled, constantly meddling in the affairs of mortals and once challenged Zeus himself. As the lord of the Ocean, Poseidon was a defiant god whose power was second only to that of Zeus. Once the Titans had been defeated it is the three brothers who divide the resources and inheritance amongst themselves. They drew lots as to who would inherit the various spheres. It is not chance, but the hand of fate that oversees the choice of their dominions. Poseidon, speaking through the voice of the poet Homer in the Iliad tells us how this was accomplished: “Since we are three brothers born by Rheia to Kronos, Zeus, and I, and the third is Hades, lord of the dead men. All was divided among us three ways, each given his domain. I when the lots were shaken drew the grey sea to live in forever; Hades drew the lot of the mists and the darkness, and Zeus was allotted the wide sky, in the cloud, and the bright air. But earth and high Olympos are common to all three.” Poseidon is a god of storms unsettling the atmosphere. He is a God of the margins, not the city, one of instinct, not culture. This is mythically portrayed through his antagonism to his niece, Athena. An important myth recounts their contest for the guardianship of Athens. Athena, the reflective, rational goddess of the new order, and Poseidon, an irrational stormy god, are competing against one another for the honor of becoming the deity of Athens. After they both race to the top of the Acropolis they present the people of Athens with a gift each for the polis. It is now up to the citizens to vote for what they consider to be the best gift for the city. Athena gives the city of Athens the olive tree, planting the tree in the sacred soil of the Acropolis. Poseidon takes his trident, dashes it on the rock face, and causes a spring of salt water to flow out of the rock. Of course the citizens of Athens vote for Athena and in Poseidon’s rage he floods the plains of Attica. When rageful, Poseidon is apt to create a flood, a metaphor for stormy and wild feelings. According to Hillman, this is a struggle between the rational and the irrational, the systematic and the emotional and impulsive, and Athena as the rational systematic planner is juxtaposed against Poseidon. Hillman says that “strategy is a self-limiting idea.” Not because you have a bad strategy or because you shouldn’t have a strategy, but simply because if you think that everything that you need or want to do can be planned, and if you think that your plans can contain every eventuality, well you’re tricking yourself and you’re setting yourself up for failure because there will always be chaos and unpredictable events. In astrology, Poseidon has his place on the planet Neptune which rules over the sign of Pisces. Carl Jung argued that psychic activity transcended the brain. In alchemy, Jung found that plain water, or seawater, corresponded to his concept of the collective unconscious. One of the future videos will cover the symbolism of water and what it represents from West to East. “We can no longer deny that the dark stirrings of the unconscious are active powers and that psychic forces exist which cannot be fitted into a rational order. The layman can hardly conceive how much his inclinations, moods, and decisions are influences by the dark forces of his psyche, and how dangerous or helpful they may be in shaping his destiny.” - Carl Jung #Poseidon #GreekMythology #Mythology #folklore #mythologyexplained Here at HermesHub, we share a wide range of interests ranging from mythology and history to psychology and philosophy, while having a great time at gaming. I’m quite open to new experiences and your suggestions on what kind of videos I should make. If you have enjoyed this video, please leave a like as it helps a lot. ► Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_hermeshub_... ► Join the Discord server: / discord ► Like the FB page: / twitchhermeshub
