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).
Poseidon was one of the sons of Cronus and Rhea. When he was born, he was immediately eaten by Cronus so that Poseidon would not be able to threaten his father. However, his mother, Rhea, was able to save him (Gall 45). After Zeus defeated his father, his siblings were set free (Gil). They later drew lots to see who would get what part of the Earth. Zeus won the skies, Hades won the Underworld, and Poseidon won the Earth and Seas (Cotterell 148). Zeus became the ultimate ruler of the gods and goddesses. However, Poseidon was not satisfied with his current position. He was the elder brother and thought that he should rule over everyone else (Gall 48). He tried to overthrow his brother with the help of the god Apollo and other allies, but ultimately failed (Gall 48). For his punishment, Zeus ordered Poseidon and Apollo to work for the king of Troy. Poseidon and Apollo had been ordered to build a great wall around the city and was promised that they would be rewarded with “vines of gold when the wall was finished” (Poseidon: Greek). However, when the task was complete, King Laomedon went against his word and refused to give the two their reward (Poseidon: Greek). Enraged, Apollo sent a plague while Poseidon sent a sea monster to terrorize the city. In order to