Poseidone - Nettuno/Poseidon - Neptune

Poseidone

Poseidone o Posidone (in greco antico: Ποσειδῶν, Poseidôn), è il dio del mare e dei terremoti e maremoti nella mitologia greca.
Figlio di Crono e fratello di Zeus, Ade, Era, Estia e Demetra, Poseidone è uno dei dodici dèi dell'Olimpo. La sua consorte è la Nereide Anfitrite e da lei ha avuto quattro figli: Tritone, un essere mezzo uomo e mezzo pesce, Roda, ninfa marina protettrice dell'isola di Rodi (chiamata così in suo onore) e sposa di Elio, Cimopolea, dea minore delle tempeste marine molto violente, e Bentesicima, dea minore delle onde.
Il simbolo del dio era il tridente e gli animali a lui sacri erano il cavallo (creato da lui dalle onde del mare), il toro e il delfino. Suo epiteto ricorrente è "Enosìctono" (traslitterazione dell'antico "Enosìgeo", che si trova più raramente; in latino: Ennosigaeum; greco: Ε(ν)νοσίγαιος), cioè "Scuotitore di terra".
Divinità simili a Poseidone del mondo antico furono Rodon nella religione illirica, Nethuns nella religione etrusca e Nettuno nella mitologia romana.
In suo onore venivano celebrati i giochi Istmici.

Etimologia del nome

Nell'età dell'oro^{[Età dell'oro della città di Pilo? E quando sarebbe?]}, Poseidone, se si fa affidamento alle tavolette d'argilla in scrittura Lineare B giunte fino a noi, nell'antica città di Pilo era considerato il più importante tra gli dei; in queste iscrizioni il nome PO-SE-DA-WO-NE (Poseidone) ricorre con frequenza molto maggiore rispetto a DI-U-JA (Zeus). Si trova anche una variante femminile dello stesso nome, PO-SE-DE-IA, il che indica l'esistenza di una dea compagna di Poseidone che in tempi successivi venne dimenticata. Le tavolette rinvenute a Pilo riportano la memoria di sacrifici in onore de Le due regine e Poseidone oppure Le due regine e il re. L'identità che più facilmente può essere attribuita alle due regine è quella di Demetra e Persefone o di due dee loro antesignane, in ogni caso divinità che in epoche successive non furono più associate alla figura di Poseidone. Il dio era già identificato come Scuotitore di terra ovvero E-NE-SI-DA-O-NE nella Cnosso di epoca micenea, un titolo estremamente importante, soprattutto considerando che i terremoti sono stati una delle cause principali della caduta della civiltà minoica.
In una delle tavolette di Pilo si trova un legame tra i nomi di Demetra e Poseidone, che compaiono come PO-SE-DA-WO-NE e DA-MA-TE, inseriti in un contesto di richieste di grazia agli dei. La sillaba DA, presente in entrambi i nomi sembrerebbe derivare da una radice protoindoeuropea associata al concetto di distribuzione di terre e privilegi, per cui Poseidone potrebbe significare Signore distributore o Compagno della distributrice parallelamente a Demetra, La madre distributrice.
Nella mitologia romana, fu chiamato Nettuno.

Origini del culto

Posidone era originariamente il dio dell'acqua (da cui il suo epiteto di Υαιήοχος, Gaiéokos, "Possessore della terra" inteso come marito della Terra ovvero l'acqua che la feconda) e del terremoto (Ennosigeo, Ἐννοσίγαιον, Scuotitore della terra), solo successivamente fu associato al mare. Questo perché l'ambiente originario dei Greci fu dapprima continentale, fatto dimostrato dalla rarità di nomi greci dei pesci.
Visto che la figura di Poseidone è in stretta relazione sia con il mare sia con i cavalli e considerando la lontananza dal mare delle zone in cui abitavano gli antichi indoeuropei, alcuni studiosi ritengono che Poseidone originariamente nasca come un dio-cavallo e che solo in seguito sia stato assimilato alle divinità acquatiche orientali quando i popoli greci mutarono la loro fonte di sostentamento principale passando dalla coltivazione della terra allo sfruttamento del mare con la pesca e i commerci marittimi.
Secondo Pausania, Poseidone era uno dei custodi dell'Oracolo di Delfi prima che Apollo ne assumesse il controllo. Apollo e Poseidone spesso si occuparono degli stessi aspetti delle vicende umane: ad esempio durante la fase della fondazione di nuove colonie Apollo per mezzo dell'Oracolo autorizzava i coloni a partire e indicava loro dove stabilirsi, mentre Poseidone si prendeva cura dei coloni durante la navigazione verso la nuova patria e procurava le acque lustrali per celebrare i sacrifici propiziatori per la fondazione della nuova città. L'Anabasi di Senofonte descrive un gruppo di soldati Spartani che intonano, dedicandolo a Poseidone, un peana che è un tipo di inno che, normalmente, veniva dedicato ad Apollo.
Come anche Dioniso e le Menadi Poseidone aveva la capacità di provocare alcune forme di disturbo mentale: uno dei testi di Ippocrate riporta come alla sua opera fosse attribuito l'insorgere di certi tipi di epilessia.
Poseidone era venerato come divinità principale in molte città: ad Atene era considerato secondo soltanto ad Atena, mentre a Corinto e in molte città della Magna Grecia era considerato il protettore della polis.
Le celebrazioni in onore di Poseidone si tenevano, all'inizio della stagione invernale, in molte città del mondo greco.
I marinai rivolgevano preghiere a Poseidone perché concedesse loro un viaggio sicuro e talvolta come sacrificio annegavano dei cavalli in suo onore. Quando mostrava il lato benigno della sua natura Poseidone creava nuove isole come approdo per i naviganti e offriva un mare calmo e senza tempeste. Quando invece veniva offeso e si sentiva ignorato allora colpiva la terra con il suo tridente provocando mari tempestosi e terremoti, annegando chi si trovasse in navigazione e affondando le imbarcazioni.
L'iconografia classica di Poseidone lo ritrae alla guida del suo carro trainato da cavallucci marini o da cavalli capaci di correre sul mare. Spesso era rappresentato insieme a delfini e con in mano il suo tridente.

Poseidone nella mitologia

La nascita e il trionfo su Crono

Poseidone era figlio di Crono e Rea e fratello di Zeus, Ade, Estia, Demetra ed Era. Secondo Esiodo Poseidone è fratello maggiore di Zeus, mentre secondo Omero il maggiore è Zeus, Poseidone il secondo e Ade il terzo.
Esiodo racconta infatti che, come i suoi fratelli e sorelle, Poseidone venne divorato dal padre Crono e successivamente rigurgitato da esso il quale fu costretto da Zeus, l'ultimogenito riuscito a sfuggire al terribile genitore grazie alla madre Rea. Secondo altre tradizioni invece Rea riuscì a salvare Poseidone: secondo Pausania diede in pasto al marito un puledro e nascose il figlio in un branco di cavalli; secondo Diodoro Siculo Rea affidò il figlio alle cure dei Telchini, magici abitanti di Rodi, e dell'Oceanina Cefira.
Poseidone insieme a fratelli e sorelle, agli Ecatonchiri e ai Ciclopi, che gli forgiarono la sua arma, il tridente, sconfisse Crono e i Titani nella Titanomachia. I Titani furono scaraventati nel Tartaro e Poseidone stesso provvide a costruire le mura di bronzo che li imprigionavano.
Quando poi si decise di dividere il mondo in tre regni, vi fu un sorteggio: Zeus ricevette il cielo, Ade, ingannato da Zeus, il mondo sotterraneo dell'oltretomba, mentre a Poseidone toccarono il mare e le acque.
Il dio del mare partecipò anche alla guerra tra gli Olimpi e i Giganti, la Gigantomachia, nella quale combatté contro il gigante Polibote e lo sconfisse tagliando un pezzo dell'isola di Coo con il suo tridente e scaraventandoglielo contro, creando così l'isola di Nisiro.

La contesa con Atena per Atene

Agostino nel La città di Dio riporta la spiegazione di Varrone sull'etimologia del nome della città di Atene: la sfida tra Atena e Poseidone. In quel luogo spuntò all'improvviso un ulivo e sgorgò dell'acqua. Consultato l'Oracolo di Delfi, rispose a lui che l'ulivo simboleggiava la dea Atena e l'acqua il dio Poseidone e che i cittadini potevano scegliere il nome di una delle due divinità per denominare la propria città. Il re Cecrope allora convocò tutti i cittadini: i maschi votarono per Poseidone, le donne per Atena. Vinse la seconda perché si ebbe un voto in più delle donne. Allora Poseidone devastò i campi di Atene con le onde del mare e per placarne l'ira le donne furono punite: da allora in poi non avrebbero votato, nessun figlio avrebbe preso il nome della madre e nessuna sarebbe stata chiamata come la dea vincitrice della contesa.
Apollodoro invece narra che a giudicare la disputa tra le due divinità furono gli dei dell'Olimpo, che decretarono la vittoria di Atena poiché Cecrope aveva testimoniato che la dea aveva piantato l'olivo prima di Poseidone.
Si pensa che questa leggenda sia sorta nel ricordo di contrasti sorti nel periodo miceneo tra gli abitanti originari della città e dei nuovi immigrati. È interessante notare come Atene, nonostante questa scelta, all'apice del suo sviluppo fu una grande potenza navale, capace di sconfiggere la flotta persiana nella battaglia di Salamina.
In una versione della storia differente, Atena e Poseidone avevano rotto una relazione appena prima della contesa, aggiungendo quindi un altro motivo valido alla lotta per il possesso della città.

L'Inno omerico a Poseidone

L'inno a Poseidone, incluso nella raccolta degli Inni omerici, consiste in una breve invocazione, un preambolo di sette versi che si rivolge al dio come "scuotitore della terra e delle lande marine, dio dei profondi abissi che è anche signore del Monte Elicona e dell'ampia Aigaì" e ricorda anche la sua doppia natura di dio dell'Olimpo: "domatore di cavalli e salvatore di navi".

La ribellione a Zeus e la punizione

Omero racconta che un giorno gli dei dell'Olimpo, capeggiati da Era, Apollo e Poseidone, si ribellarono a Zeus e lo legarono. A salvare il Re degli Dei fu la nereide Teti, che chiamò il centimano Briareo che lo salvò.
Come punizione Zeus costrinse Poseidone e anche Apollo a servire il re di Troia Laomedonte. Questi chiese loro di costruire un'enorme cinta muraria che corresse tutt'attorno alla sua città e promise di ricompensarli per questo servizio. Il re di Troia tuttavia non mantenne la parola data. Per vendicarsi, Poseidone mandò un mostro marino ad attaccare la città, che però venne ucciso da Eracle.

Nella guerra di Troia

Nell'Iliade Poseidone si schiera dalla parte dei Greci e in diverse occasioni scende in battaglia contro l'esercito Troiano. Tuttavia nel XX libro, interviene a salvare Enea quando il principe Troiano è sul punto di essere ucciso da Achille.

L'astio per Odisseo

Odisseo, come racconta lui stesso, per salvarsi dal selvaggio e antropofago Ciclope Polifemo, figlio del dio del mare e della ninfa marina Toosa, lo acceca e scappa. Poseidone, da quel momento, scatena tutta la sua furia nei confronti del re di Itaca, che non ucciderà, ma costringerà per anni lontano dalla sua patria.
Poseidone non partecipa al concilio degli dei nel quale viene deciso che Odisseo potrà tornare a casa lasciando Ogigia dopo tanti anni dal momento che partecipa a un banchetto presso gli Etiopi. Quando il dio del mare, tornando dal banchetto, si accorse che Odisseo stava navigando in mare, capì che gli dei avevano deciso che potesse ritornare a casa e scatenò i venti contro il mortale, facendolo naufragare dalla propria zattera prima che arrivasse a Scheria, la patria dei Feaci.
Per punire i Feaci che avevano riportato a casa Odisseo, il dio del mare trasformò la nave e gli uomini che avevano aiutato il re di Itaca in pietra.

Il culto di Poseidone a Corinto

Uno dei miti più antichi su Corinto è raccontato da Pausania nel II secolo d.C., secondo cui sarebbe sorta una disputa tra Poseidone e Elios sul possesso dell’istmo di Corinto. Per risolvere la controversia fu chiamato in causa Briareo, uno degli Ecatonchiri. Il suo verdetto fu che l'istmo di Corinto apparteneva a Poseidone e l'acropoli di Corinto (Acrocorinto) apparteneva a Helios. Così, i greci dell'età classica rappresentavano il culto arcaico del sole-titano nella parte più alta del sito e legato a Poseidone lungo la cosa, esiste infatti un antico Santuario di Poseidone a Istmia vicino Corinto.

«Dicono pertanto i Corintj, che Nettuno venne a contesa col Sole per la loro terra; ma il loro mediatore Briareo decise, che l’istmo, e la terra a quello confinante fosse di Nettuno, e che la rupe, la qua- le domina la città appartenesse al sole. Da quel tempo dicono, che l’istmo appartenga a Nettuno.»

(Pausania, II 1.6)

Amanti e figli di Poseidone

Madre	Stato	Figli	Mito
Afrodite	Dea	Erice Erofilo
Alope		Ippotoo	Poseidone ebbe una relazione con sua nipote Alope, figlia di suo figlio Cercione re di Eleusi, generando così Ippotoo. Cercione decise di seppellire viva Alope, ma Poseidone la trasformò nell'omonima fonte che si trova nei pressi di Eleusi.
Anfitrite	Nereide	Tritone Bentesicima
Amimone		Nauplio	Poseidone salvò Amimone da un satiro lascivo che l'aveva aggredita e in seguito ebbe da lei un figlio di nome Nauplio.
Arene		Idas
Aretusa		Abante
Astipalea		Periclimeno
Calice		Cicno
Celeno		Eufemo Lico Nitteo
Clito		Atlante Eumelo Anfere Evemone Mneseo Autoctono Elasippo Mestore Azae Diaprepe	Platone raccontò nel Crizia che a Poseidone toccò in sorte Atlantide. Il dio si innamorò di Clito, una fanciulla dell'isola, e «recinse la collina dove ella viveva, alternando tre zone di mare e di terra in cerchi concentrici di diversa ampiezza, due erano fatti di terra e tre d'acqua», rendendola inaccessibile agli uomini, che all'epoca non conoscevano la navigazione. Poseidone e Clito ebbero dieci figli, il primo dei quali, Atlante, sarebbe divenuto in seguito il governatore dell'Impero. Ognuno dei dieci re governava la propria regione di competenza, ed erano legati gli uni agli altri dalle disposizioni previste da Poseidone e incise su una lastra di oricalco posta al centro dell’isola, attorno a cui si riunivano per prendere decisioni che riguardavano tutti.
Demetra	Dea	Arione Despena	Secondo un antico mito, una volta Poseidone tentò di insidiare Demetra, ma la dea rifiutò i suoi approcci e si trasformò in una giumenta per nascondersi confondendosi tra una mandria di cavalli. Poseidone però la individuò ugualmente, nonostante le sue nuove sembianze, si trasformò a sua volta in uno stallone e in questo modo riuscì a farla sua: dall'unione nacque Arione, un cavallo dotato del dono della parola.
Gea	Dea	Anteo Cariddi
Ifimedea		Oti Efialte
Melia		Amico
Medusa	Gorgone	Pegaso Crisaore	Secondo il mito Poseidone si era innamorato di Medusa, una delle Gorgoni, le figlie di Forco e Ceto. Una notte il dio la sedusse o la violò nel tempio di Atena. Quest'ultima, profondamente irritata dall'affronto subito, aveva trasformato la fanciulla in un orribile mostro.
Peribea	mortale	Nausitoo
Satyria		Taras
Tiro	mortale	Pelia Neleo	Tiro era sposata con Creteo, dal quale aveva avuto Esone, ma era innamorata del dio fluviale Enipeo: la donna si offrì a Enipeo che però la rifiutò. Un giorno Poseidone, innamoratosi di Tiro, assunse le sembianze di Enipeo e dalla loro unione nacquero i due gemelli Pelia e Neleo.
Toosa	ninfa	Polifemo
Euriale	Gorgone	1. Manuelio 2. Tronos	Un giorno, Poseidone nuotava tranquillamente nel mare, quando (con l'inganno) Ares lo sfidò a chi si faceva dire ti amo da Euriale. Vinse Poseidone, ma Euriale si innamorò di Ares e, per vendetta, Poseidone la sedusse ed ebbe da lei Manuelio e Tronos

Genealogia (Esiodo)

Urano

Gea

Genitali di  Urano

Crono

Rea

Zeus

Era

POSEIDONE

Ade

Demetra

Estia

a

b

Ares

Efesto

Meti

Atena

Latona

Apollo

Artemide

Maia

Ermes

Semele

Dioniso

Dione

a

b

Afrodite

Nella cultura di massa

• La saga Percy Jackson e gli dei dell’Olimpo è incentrata sulla vita di un semidio figlio di Poseidone.
• Poseidone è uno dei principali nemici de I Cavalieri dello Zodiaco.In questa versione intende scatenare il Diluvio Universale per uccidere ogni forma di vita umana e creare,a suo dire, un mondo migliore.

Le Poseidon de Milo

  Frederic Daniel Boissonnas Baud-Bovy. Des Cyclades en Crète au gré du vent, Geneva, Boissonnas & Co, 1919.

Nettuno

Nettuno (in latino Neptūnus, in greco Ποσειδώνας) è una divinità della religione romana, dio delle acque e delle correnti e in seguito divenne, dopo il 399 a.C., il dio del mare e dei terremoti, trasformandosi nell'equivalente del dio greco Poseidone, e già Cicerone nel suo trattato Sulla natura degli dei così lo descrive:

«…Il primo regno, cioè il dominio su tutto il mare, fu affidato a Nettuno che la tradizione vuole fratello di Giove ed il cui nome è un ampliamento del verbo nare…»

(Marco Tullio Cicerone, De natura deorum, II, 66)

Malgrado il fatto che il suo culto si sia sviluppato dopo il suo accostamento a Poseidone, Nettuno fu sempre meno popolare, fra i marinai, di quanto lo fosse Poseidone presso i greci.

Storia

Secondo la mitologia abitava in fondo al mare e comandava i mostri marini e le tempeste. Viene spesso rappresentato ritto su di un carro trainato da cavalli marini, e con un tridente nella mano destra come simbolo di comando.
Veniva onorato il 23 luglio, con le festività dei Neptunalia, a cui furono poi uniti i ludi Neptunialicii (dal III secolo a.C.) Il suo tempio si trovava al Circo Flaminio all'interno del Campo Marzio a Roma. Nella mitologia romana aveva una divinità associata (paredra) detta a volte Salacia a volte Venilia.
Nettuno, signore del mare e delle acque, ha dato il nome al Nettunismo, una teoria proposta del geologo tedesco Abraham Gottlob Werner nel XVIII secolo, secondo la quale tutte le rocce avrebbero avuto origine marina.
Epiteto di Nettuno/Poseidone era Enosìctono o Enosigeo (lat. Ennosigaeum, gr. Ε(ν)νοσίγαιος, scuotitore di terre).
A Nettuno è anche ispirato il nome dell'omonima città di mare in provincia di Roma, situata tra l'agro romano e l'agro pontino, dove è presente una fontana che lo raffigura nel centro della città.

Citazioni su Nettuno

• Dicono pertanto i Corintj, che Nettuno venne a contesa col Sole per la loro terra; ma il loro mediatore Briareo decise, che l’istmo [di Corinto], e la terra a quello confinante fosse di Nettuno, e che la rupe, la quale domina la città appartenesse al sole. Da quel tempo dicono, che l’istmo appartenga a Nettuno. (Pausania il Periegeta)
• Sbaglia ad accusare Nettuno chi fa naufragio la seconda volta! (Publilio Siro)

A torto dà la colpa a Nettuno chi fa naufragio per la seconda volta.

Mosaico di Nettuno (Museo archeologico regionale Antonio Salinas, Palermo)

G.dallorto - Opera propria

Nettuno. Dettaglio dal "Mosaico delle Stagioni", di epoca romana, da Palermo. Museo archeologico regionale di Palermo, 28 settembre 2006. Foto di Giovanni Dall'Orto.

Poseidon

Poseidon (/pəˈsaɪdən, pɒ-, poʊ-/; Greek: Ποσειδῶν, pronounced [pose͜edɔ́͜ɔn]) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth. He was god of the Sea and other waters; of earthquakes; and of horses. In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes. His Roman equivalent is Neptune.
Poseidon was protector of seafarers, and of many Hellenic cities and colonies. In Homer's Iliad, Poseidon supports the Greeks against the Trojans during the Trojan War. In the Odyssey, during the sea-voyage from Troy back home to Ithaca, the Greek hero Odysseus provokes Poseidon's fury by blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, resulting in Poseidon punishing him with storms, the complete loss of his ship and companions, and a ten-year delay. Poseidon is also the subject of a Homeric hymn. In Plato's Timaeus and Critias, the island of Atlantis was Poseidon's domain.

Etymology

The earliest attested occurrence of the name, written in Linear B, is 𐀡𐀮𐀆𐀃 Po-se-da-o or 𐀡𐀮𐀆𐀺𐀚 Po-se-da-wo-ne, which correspond to Ποσειδάων (Poseidaōn) and Ποσειδάϝονος (Poseidawonos) in Mycenean Greek; in Homeric Greek it appears as Ποσειδάων (Poseidaōn); in Aeolic as Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn); and in Doric as Ποτειδάν (Poteidan), Ποτειδάων (Poteidaōn), and Ποτειδᾶς (Poteidas). The form Ποτειδάϝων (Poteidawon) appears in Corinth. A common epithet of Poseidon is Ἐνοσίχθων Enosichthon, "Earth-shaker", an epithet which is also identified in Linear B, as 𐀁𐀚𐀯𐀅𐀃𐀚, E-ne-si-da-o-ne, This recalls his later epithets Ennosidas and Ennosigaios indicating the chthonic nature of Poseidon.
The origins of the name "Poseidon" are unclear. One theory breaks it down into an element meaning "husband" or "lord" (Greek πόσις (posis), from PIE *pótis) and another element meaning "earth" (δᾶ (da), Doric for γῆ (gē)), producing something like lord or spouse of Da, i.e. of the earth; this would link him with Demeter, "Earth-mother". Walter Burkert finds that "the second element da- remains hopelessly ambiguous" and finds a "husband of Earth" reading "quite impossible to prove."
Another theory interprets the second element as related to the word *δᾶϝον dâwon, "water"; this would make *Posei-dawōn into the master of waters. There is also the possibility that the word has Pre-Greek origin. Plato in his dialogue Cratylus gives two alternative etymologies: either the sea restrained Poseidon when walking as a "foot-bond" (ποσίδεσμον), or he "knew many things" (πολλά εἰδότος or πολλά εἰδῶν).
At least a few sources deem Poseidon as a "prehellenic" (i.e. Pelasgian) word, considering an Indo-European etymology "quite pointless".

Bronze Age Greece

Linear B (Mycenean Greek) inscriptions

If surviving Linear B clay tablets can be trusted, the name po-se-da-wo-ne ("Poseidon") occurs with greater frequency than does di-u-ja ("Zeus"). A feminine variant, po-se-de-ia, is also found, indicating a lost consort goddess, in effect the precursor of Amphitrite. Poseidon carries frequently the title wa-na-ka (wanax) in Linear B inscriptions, as king of the underworld. The chthonic nature of Poseidon-Wanax is also indicated by his title E-ne-si-da-o-ne in Mycenean Knossos and Pylos, a powerful attribute (earthquakes had accompanied the collapse of the Minoan palace-culture). In the cave of Amnisos (Crete) Enesidaon is related with the cult of Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth. She was related with the annual birth of the divine child. During the Bronze Age, a goddess of nature, dominated both in Minoan and Mycenean cult, and Wanax (wa-na-ka) was her male companion (paredros) in Mycenean cult. It is possible that Demeter appears as Da-ma-te in a Linear B inscription (PN EN 609), however the interpretetion is still under dispute.
In Linear B inscriptions found at Pylos, E-ne-si-da-o-ne is related with Poseidon, and Si-to Po-tini-ja is probably related with Demeter. Tablets from Pylos record sacrificial goods destined for "the Two Queens and Poseidon" ("to the Two Queens and the King": wa-na-soi, wa-na-ka-te). The "Two Queens" may be related with Demeter and Persephone, or their precursors, goddesses who were not associated with Poseidon in later periods.

Arcadian myths

The illuminating exception is the archaic and localised myth of the stallion Poseidon and mare Demeter at Phigalia in isolated and conservative Arcadia, noted by Pausanias (2nd century AD) as having fallen into desuetude; the stallion Poseidon pursues the mare-Demeter, and from the union she bears the horse Arion, and a daughter (Despoina), who obviously had the shape of a mare too. The violated Demeter was Demeter Erinys (furious) . In Arcadia, Demeter's mare-form was worshiped into historical times. Her xoanon of Phigaleia shows how the local cult interpreted her, as goddess of nature. A Medusa type with a horse's head with snaky hair, holding a dove and a dolphin, probably representing her power over air and water.

Origins

It seems that the Arcadian myth is related with the first Greek speaking people who entered the region during the Bronze Age. (Linear B represents an archaic Greek dialect). Their religious beliefs were mixed with the beliefs of the indigenous population. It is possible that the Greeks did not bring with them other gods except Zeus, Eos, and the Dioskouroi. The horse (numina) was related with the liquid element, and with the underworld. Poseidon appears as a beast (horse), which is the river spirit of the underworld, as it usually happens in northern-European folklore, and not unusually in Greece. Poseidon “Wanax”, is the male companion (paredros) of the goddess of nature. In the relative Minoan myth, Pasiphaë is mating with the white bull, and she bears the hybrid creature Minotaur. The Bull was the old pre-Olympian Poseidon. The goddess of nature and her paredros survived in the Eleusinian cult, where the following words were uttered : " Mighty Potnia bore a strong son"
In the heavily sea-dependent Mycenaean culture, there is not sufficient evidence that Poseidon was connected with the sea. We do not know if "Posedeia" was a sea-goddess. Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea following the defeat of his father Kronos, when the world was divided by lot among his three sons; Zeus was given the sky, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the sea, with the Earth and Mount Olympus belonging to all three. Given Poseidon's connection with horses as well as the sea, and the landlocked situation of the likely Indo-European homeland, Nobuo Komita has proposed that Poseidon was originally an aristocratic Indo-European horse-god who was then assimilated to Near Eastern aquatic deities when the basis of the Greek livelihood shifted from the land to the sea, or a god of fresh waters who was assigned a secondary role as god of the sea, where he overwhelmed the original Aegean sea deities such as Proteus and Nereus. Conversely, Walter Burkert suggests that the Hellene cult worship of Poseidon as a horse god may be connected to the introduction of the horse and war-chariot from Anatolia to Greece around 1600 BC.
It is almost sure that once Poseidon was worshiped as a horse, and this is evident by his cult in Peloponnesos. However he was originally a god of the waters, and therefore he became the "earth-shaker", because the Greeks believed that the cause of the earthquakes was the erosion of the rocks by the waters, by the rivers who they saw to disappear into the earth and then to burst out again. This is what the natural philosophers Thales, Anaximenes and Aristotle believed, which could not be different from the folklore belief. Later, when the Myceneans travelled along the sea, he was assigned a role as god of the sea.
In any case, the early importance of Poseidon can still be glimpsed in Homer's Odyssey, where Poseidon rather than Zeus is the major mover of events. In Homer, Poseidon is the master of the sea.

Worship of Poseidon

Poseidon was a major civic god of several cities: in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance, while in Corinth and many cities of Magna Graecia he was the chief god of the polis.
In his benign aspect, Poseidon was seen as creating new islands and offering calm seas. When offended or ignored, he supposedly struck the ground with his trident and caused chaotic springs, earthquakes, drownings and shipwrecks. Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage, sometimes drowning horses as a sacrifice; in this way, according to a fragmentary papyrus, Alexander the Great paused at the Syrian seashore before the climactic battle of Issus, and resorted to prayers, "invoking Poseidon the sea-god, for whom he ordered a four-horse chariot to be cast into the waves."
According to Pausanias, Poseidon was one of the caretakers of the oracle at Delphi before Olympian Apollo took it over. Apollo and Poseidon worked closely in many realms: in colonization, for example, Delphic Apollo provided the authorization to go out and settle, while Poseidon watched over the colonists on their way, and provided the lustral water for the foundation-sacrifice. Xenophon's Anabasis describes a group of Spartan soldiers in 400–399 BC singing to Poseidon a paean—a kind of hymn normally sung for Apollo.
Like Dionysus, who inflamed the maenads, Poseidon also caused certain forms of mental disturbance. A Hippocratic text of ca 400 BC, On the Sacred Disease says that he was blamed for certain types of epilepsy.

Epithets

Poseidon was known in various guises, denoted by epithets. In the town of Aegae in Euboea, he was known as Poseidon Aegaeus and had a magnificent temple upon a hill. Poseidon also had a close association with horses, known under the epithet Poseidon Hippios, usually in Arcadia. He is more often regarded as the tamer of horses, but in some myths he is their father, either by spilling his seed upon a rock or by mating with a creature who then gave birth to the first horse. He was closely related with the springs, and with the strike of his trident, he created springs. Many springs like Hippocrene and Aganippe in Helikon are related with the word horse (hippos). (also Glukippe, Hyperippe). In the historical period, Poseidon was often referred to by the epithets Enosichthon, Seisichthon and Ennosigaios, and Γαιήοχος Gaiēochos all meaning "earth-shaker" and referring to his role in causing earthquakes.
Some other epithets of Poseidon are:

• "Asphaleios", (ασφάλεια:safety), as protector from the earthquakes.
• "Helikonios", (Ελικώνιος) related with the mountain Helikon.
• "Tavreios", (Ταύρειος: related with the bull). There was a fest "Tavreia" in Ephesos.
• "Petraios" (Πετραίος: related with rocks) in Thessaly. He hit a rock, and the horse "Skyphios" appeared.
• "Epoptis"(επόπτης: supervisor) in Megalopolis
• "Pelagios" in Ionia.
• Phykios" ( Φύκιος: related with seaweeds) in Mykonos.
• "Phytalmios" ( Φυτάλμιος) related with the vegetation in Troizen, Megara, Rhodes.
• Epithets related with the genealogy trees: "Patrigenios", "Genethlios", "Genesios", "Pater", "Phratrios".
• "Epactaeus", meaning "god worshipped on the coast", in Samos.<ef> Leonhard Schmitz (1870). "Epactaeus". In Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.</ref>

Mythology

Birth

Poseidon was the second son of titans Cronus and Rhea. In most accounts he is swallowed by Cronus at birth but later saved, with his other brothers and sisters, by Zeus. However, in some versions of the story, he, like his brother Zeus, did not share the fate of his other brother and sisters who were eaten by Cronus. He was saved by his mother Rhea, who concealed him among a flock of lambs and pretended to have given birth to a colt, which she gave to Cronus to devour.
According to John Tzetzes the kourotrophos, or nurse of Poseidon was Arne, who denied knowing where he was, when Cronus came searching; according to Diodorus Siculus Poseidon was raised by the Telchines on Rhodes, just as Zeus was raised by the Korybantes on Crete.
According to a single reference in the Iliad, when the world was divided by lot in three, Zeus received the sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon the sea. In the Odyssey (v.398), Poseidon has a home in Aegae.

Foundation of Athens

Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens after a competition with Poseidon. Yet Poseidon remained a numinous presence on the Acropolis in the form of his surrogate, Erechtheus. At the dissolution festival at the end of the year in the Athenian calendar, the Skira, the priests of Athena and the priest of Poseidon would process under canopies to Eleusis. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and the Athenians would choose whichever gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprang up; the water was salty and not very useful, whereas Athena offered them an olive tree.
The Athenians or their king, Cecrops, accepted the olive tree and along with it Athena as their patron, for the olive tree brought wood, oil and food. After the fight, infuriated at his loss, Poseidon sent a monstrous flood to the Attic Plain, to punish the Athenians for not choosing him. The depression made by Poseidon's trident and filled with salt water was surrounded by the northern hall of the Erechtheum, remaining open to the air. "In cult, Poseidon was identified with Erechtheus," Walter Burkert noted; "the myth turns this into a temporal-causal sequence: in his anger at losing, Poseidon led his son Eumolpus against Athens and killed Erectheus."The contest of Athena and Poseidon was the subject of the reliefs on the western pediment of the Parthenon, the first sight that greeted the arriving visitor.
This myth is construed by Robert Graves and others as reflecting a clash between the inhabitants during Mycenaean times and newer immigrants. Athens at its height was a significant sea power, at one point defeating the Persian fleet at Salamis Island in a sea battle.

Walls of Troy

Poseidon and Apollo, having offended Zeus by their rebellion in Hera's scheme, were temporarily stripped of their divine authority and sent to serve King Laomedon of Troy. He had them build huge walls around the city and promised to reward them well, a promise he then refused to fulfill. In vengeance, before the Trojan War, Poseidon sent a sea monster to attack Troy. The monster was later killed by Heracles.

Consorts and children

Poseidon was said to have had many lovers of both sexes (see expandable list below). His consort was Amphitrite, a nymph and ancient sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus and Doris. Together they had a son named Triton, a merman.
Poseidon was the father of many heroes. He is thought to have fathered the famed Theseus.
A mortal woman named Tyro was married to Cretheus (with whom she had one son, Aeson), but loved Enipeus, a river god. She pursued Enipeus, who refused her advances. One day, Poseidon, filled with lust for Tyro, disguised himself as Enipeus, and from their union were born the heroes Pelias and Neleus, twin boys. Poseidon also had an affair with Alope, his granddaughter through Cercyon, his son and King of Eleusis, begetting the Attic hero Hippothoon. Cercyon had his daughter buried alive but Poseidon turned her into the spring, Alope, near Eleusis.
Poseidon rescued Amymone from a lecherous satyr and then fathered a child, Nauplius, by her.
After having raped Caeneus, Poseidon fulfilled her request and changed her into a male warrior.
A mortal woman named Cleito once lived on an isolated island; Poseidon fell in love with the human mortal and created a dwelling sanctuary at the top of a hill near the middle of the island and surrounded the dwelling with rings of water and land to protect her. She gave birth to five sets of twin boys; the firstborn, Atlas, became the first ruler of Atlantis.
Not all of Poseidon's children were human. In an archaic myth, Poseidon once pursued Demeter. She spurned his advances, turning herself into a mare so that she could hide in a herd of horses; he saw through the deception and became a stallion and captured her. Their child was a horse, Arion, which was capable of human speech. Poseidon also had sexual intercourse with Medusa on the floor of a temple to Athena. Medusa was then changed into a monster by Athena. When she was later beheaded by the hero Perseus, Chrysaor and Pegasus emerged from her neck.
His other children include Polyphemus (the cyclops) and, finally, Alebion and Bergion and Otos and Ephialtae (the giants).

List of Poseidon's consorts and children

Female lovers and offspring

Goddesses	Children	Mortal Women	Children	Mortal Women	Children
Amphitrite	Triton	Agamede	Dictys	Larissa	Achaeus
	Benthesikyme		Actor		Pelasgus
	Rhodos	Aethra	Theseus		Pythius
Gaea	Antaeus	Alistra	Ogygus	Leis, daughter of Orus	Altephus, king of Troezen
	Charybdis	Alope	Hippothoon	Libya	Agenor
	Laistryon	Amphimedusa, Danaid	Erythras		Belus
Demeter	Despoina	Amymone	Nauplius		Lelex
	Areion	Anippe or	Busiris	Melantho	Delphus
Aphrodite	Rhodos	Lysianassa		Melissa, daughter of Epidamnus	Dyrrhachius
	Herophile (possibly)	Arene	Idas (possibly)	Melite	Metus
Medusa	Pegasus	Arne or	Aeolus	Mestra	–
	Chrysaor	Melanippe	Boeotus	Molione	The Molionides
Unknown	Proteus	Ascre	Oeoclus		• Cteatus
Nymphs	Children	Astypalaea	Ancaeus		• Eurytus
Aba	Ergiscus		Eurypylus	Mytilene	Myton
Alcyone	Aethusa	Boudeia / Bouzyge	Erginus	Oenope	Megareus (possibly)
	Hyrieus	Caenis	–	Ossa	Sithon (possibly)
	Hyperenor	Calchinia	Peratus	Periboea	Nausithous
	Hyperes	Calyce or	Cycnus	Phoenice	Torone
	Anthas	Harpale or		Rhode	Ialysus
Arethusa	Abas	Scamandrodice			Cameirus
Bathycleia or	Halirrhothius	Canace	Hopleus		Lindus
Euryte			Nireus	Syme	Chthonius
Beroe	–		Aloeus	Themisto	Leucon (possibly)
Celaeno	Lycus		Epopeus	Theophane	Chrysomallus
	Nycteus		Triopas	Tyro	Pelias
	Eurypylus (Eurytus)	Celaeno, Danaid	Celaenus		Neleus
	Lycaon	Cerebia	Dictys	Daughter of Amphictyon	Cercyon
Kelousa or	Asopus (possibly)		Polydectes	Unknown Women	Amphimarus
Pero		Ceroessa	Byzas		Amyrus, eponym of a river in Thessaly
Cleodora	Parnassus	Chrysogeneia	Chryses		Aon, eponym of Aonia
Chione	Eumolpus	Cleito	Ampheres		Astraeus of Mysia
Corcyra	Phaeax		Atlas		Alcippe of Mysia
Diopatra	–		Autochthon		Augeas
Halia	Rhode (possibly)		Azaes		Calaurus
	Six sons		Diaprepes		Caucon or Glaucon
Melantheia, daughter of Alpheus	Eirene		Elasippus		Corynetes (possibly)
Melia	Amycus		Euaemon		Cromus (eponym of Crommyon)
	Mygdon		Eumelus (Gadeirus)		Dercynus (Bergion) of Liguria
Mideia	Aspledon		Mestor		Dicaeus, eponym of Dicaea, a city in Thrace
Olbia	Astacus		Mneseus		Eryx, king of Eryx in Sicily
Peirene	Cenchrias	Coronis	–		Euseirus (father of Cerambus)
	Leches	Eidothea	Eusiros		Geren, eponym of a town or village Geren on Lesbos
Pitane or	Euadne	Europa or	Euphemus		Ialebion (Alebion) of Liguria
Lena		Mecionice			Lamus, king of the Laestrygonians
Pronoe	Phocus	Euryale	Orion (possibly)		Messapus
Rhodope, daughter of Strymon	Athos	Eurycyda	Eleius		Onchestus
Salamis	Cychreus	Eurynome (Eurymede)	Bellerophon		Palaestinus
Satyria, nymph of Taras	Taras (eponym of the location)	Helle	Almops		Phineus
Thoosa	Polyphemus		Edonus		Phorbas of Acarnania
Thyia	–		Paion		Poltys
Nymph of Chios, unnamed	Chios	Hermippe	Minyas (possibly)		Procrustes
Nymph of Chios, unnamed (another one)	Melas	Hippothoe	Taphius		Sarpedon of Ainos
	Agelus	Iphimedeia	The Aloadae		Sciron
	Malina		• Ephialtes		Syleus
Unknown	Cymopoleia		• Otus		Taenarus (possibly)
	Lotis (possibly)	Lamia	Sibylla (Sibyl)		Thasus
	Ourea, a nymph	Laodice	–

Male lovers

• Nerites
• Pelops
• Patroclus

Genealogy

Poseidon's family tree
Uranus Gaia Uranus' genitals Cronus Rhea Zeus Hera POSEIDON Hades Demeter Hestia     a      b Ares Hephaestus Metis Athena Leto Apollo Artemis Maia Hermes Semele Dionysus Dione     a      b Aphrodite

In literature and art

In Greek art, Poseidon rides a chariot that was pulled by a hippocampus or by horses that could ride on the sea. He was associated with dolphins and three-pronged fish spears (tridents). He lived in a palace on the ocean floor, made of coral and gems.
In the Iliad Poseidon favors the Greeks, and on several occasion takes an active part in the battle against the Trojan forces. However, in Book XX he rescues Aeneas after the Trojan prince is laid low by Achilles.
In the Odyssey, Poseidon is notable for his hatred of Odysseus who blinded the god's son, the cyclops Polyphemus. The enmity of Poseidon prevents Odysseus's return home to Ithaca for many years. Odysseus is even told, notwithstanding his ultimate safe return, that to placate the wrath of Poseidon will require one more voyage on his part.
In the Aeneid, Neptune is still resentful of the wandering Trojans, but is not as vindictive as Juno, and in Book I he rescues the Trojan fleet from the goddess's attempts to wreck it, although his primary motivation for doing this is his annoyance at Juno's having intruded into his domain.
A hymn to Poseidon included among the Homeric Hymns is a brief invocation, a seven-line introduction that addresses the god as both "mover of the earth and barren sea, god of the deep who is also lord of Helicon and wide Aegae, and specifies his twofold nature as an Olympian: "a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships."
Poseidon appears in Percy Jackson and the Olympians as the father of Percy Jackson and Tyson the Cyclops. He also appears in the ABC television series Once Upon a Time as the guest star of the second half of season four played by Ernie Hudson. In this version, Poseidon is portrayed as the father of the Sea Witch Ursula.

Narrations

Poseidon myths as told by story tellers

Bibliography of reconstruction:

• Homer, Odyssey, 11.567 (7th century BC)
• Pindar, Olympian Odes, 1 (476 BC)
• Euripides, Orestes, 12–16 (408 BC)
• Bibliotheca Epitome 2: 1–9 (140 BC)
• Ovid, Metamorphoses, VI: 213, 458 (AD 8);
• Hyginus, Fables, 82: Tantalus; 83: Pelops (1st century AD)
• Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2.22.3 (AD 160 – 176)

Bibliography of reconstruction:

• Pindar, Olympian Ode, I (476 BC)
• Sophocles, (1) Electra, 504 (430 – 415 BC) & (2) Oenomaus, Fr. 433 (408 BC)
• Euripides, Orestes, 1024–1062 (408 BC)
• Bibliotheca Epitome 2, 1–9 (140 BC)
• Diodorus Siculus, Histories, 4.73 (1st century BC)
• Hyginus, Fables, 84: Oinomaus; Poetic Astronomy, ii (1st century AD)
• Pausanias, Description of Greece, 5.1.3 – 7; 5.13.1; 6.21.9; 8.14.10 – 11 (c. AD 160 – 176)
• Philostratus the Elder Imagines, I.30: Pelops (AD 170 – 245)
• Philostratus the Younger, Imagines, 9: Pelops (c. 200 – 245)
• First Vatican Mythographer, 22: Myrtilus; Atreus et Thyestes
• Second Vatican Mythographer, 146: Oenomaus

Triumph of Neptune standing on a chariot pulled by two sea horses (Latin: hippocampes). Mosaïque d'Hadrumète (Sousse) the mid-third century AD. Musée archéologique de Sousse.

Asram

Neptune

Neptune (Latin: Neptūnus [nɛpˈtuːnʊs]) was the god of freshwater and the sea in Roman religion. He is the counterpart of the Greek god Poseidon. In the Greek-influenced tradition, Neptune was the brother of Jupiter and Pluto; the brothers presided over the realms of Heaven, the earthly world, and the Underworld. Salacia was his wife.
Depictions of Neptune in Roman mosaics, especially those of North Africa, are influenced by Hellenistic conventions. Neptune was likely associated with fresh water springs before the sea. Like Poseidon, Neptune was worshipped by the Romans also as a god of horses, under the name Neptunus Equester, a patron of horse-racing.

Etymology

The etymology of Latin Neptunus is unclear and disputed. The ancient grammarian Varro derived the name from nuptus i.e. "covering" (opertio), with a more or less explicit allusion to the nuptiae, "marriage of Heaven and Earth".
Among modern scholars Paul Kretschmer proposed a derivation from IE *neptu- "moist substance". Similarly Raymond Bloch supposed it might be an adjectival form in -no from *nuptu-, meaning "he who is moist". Georges Dumézil though remarked words deriving root *nep- are not attested in IE languages other than Vedic and Avestan. He proposed an etymology that brings together Neptunus with Vedic and Avestan theonyms Apam Napat, Apam Napá and Old Irish theonym Nechtan, all meaning descendant of the waters. By using the comparative approach the Indo-Iranian, Avestan and Irish figures would show common features with the Roman historicised legends about Neptune. Dumézil thence proposed to derive the nouns from IE root *nepot-, "descendant, sister's son".
More recently, in his lectures delivered on various occasions in the 1990s, German scholar Hubert Petersmann proposed an etymology from IE rootstem *nebh- related to clouds and fogs, plus suffix -tu denoting an abstract verbal noun, and adjectival suffix -no which refers to the domain of activity of a person or his prerogatives. IE root *nebh-, having the original meaning of "damp, wet", has given Sanskrit nábhah, Hittite nepis, Latin nubs, nebula, German Nebel, Slavic nebo etc. The concept would be close to that expressed in the name of Greek god Όυράνος (Uranus), derived from IE root *h₂wórso-, "to water, irrigate" and *h₂worsó-, "the irrigator". This etymology would be more in accord with Varro's.
A different etymology grounded in the legendary history of Latium and Etruria was proposed by Preller and Müller-Deeke: Etruscan Nethunus, Nethuns would be an adjectival form of toponym Nepe(t), Nepete (presently Nepi), town of the ager Faliscus near Falerii. The district was traditionally connected to the cult of the god: Messapus and Halesus, the eponymous hero of Falerii, were believed to be his own sons. Messapus led the Falisci and others to war in the Aeneid. Nepi and Falerii have been famed since antiquity for the excellent quality of the water of their springs, scattered in meadows. Nepet is considered a hydronymic toponym of pre-Indo-European origin widespread in Europe and from an appellative meaning "damp wide valley, plain", cognate with pre-Greek νάπη, "wooded valley".

Worship

The theology of Neptune may only be reconstructed to some degree, as since very early times he was identified with the Greek god Poseidon: his presence in the lectisternium of 399 BC is a testimony to the fact. Such an identification may well be grounded in the strict relationship between the Latin and Greek theologies of the two deities. It has been argued that Indo-European people, having no direct knowledge of the sea as they originated from inland areas, reused the theology of a deity originally either chthonic or wielding power over inland freshwaters as the god of the sea. This feature has been preserved particularly well in the case of Neptune who was definitely a god of springs, lakes and rivers before becoming also a god of the sea, as is testified by the numerous findings of inscriptions mentioning him in the proximity of such locations. Servius the grammarian also explicitly states Neptune is in charge of all the rivers, springs and waters. He also is the lord of horses because he worked with Minerva to make the chariot.
He may find a parallel in Irish god Nechtan, master of the well from which all the rivers of the world flow out and flow back to.
Poseidon on the other hand underwent the process of becoming the main god of the sea at a much earlier time, as is shown in the Iliad.
In the earlier times it was the god Portunus or Fortunus who was thanked for naval victories, but Neptune supplanted him in this role by at least the first century BC when Sextus Pompeius called himself "son of Neptune." For a time he was paired with Salacia, the goddess of the salt water.




Neptune was also considered the legendary progenitor god of a Latin stock, the Faliscans, who called themselves Neptunia proles. In this respect he was the equivalent of Mars, Janus, Saturn and even Jupiter among Latin tribes. Salacia would represent the virile force of Neptune.

Neptunalia

The Neptunalia was the festival of Neptune on July 23, at the height of summer. The date and the construction of tree-branch shelters suggest a primitive role for Neptune as god of water sources in the summer's drought and heat.
The most ancient Roman calendar set the feriae of Neptunus on July 23, two days after the Lucaria of July 19 and 21 and two days before the Furrinalia of July 25.
Georg Wissowa had already remarked that festivals falling in a range of three days are complementary. Dumézil elaborated that these festivals in some way were all related to the importance of water during the period of summer heat (canicula) and drought, when river and spring waters are at their lowest.
Founding his analysis on the works of Palladius and Columella Dumézil argues that while the Lucaria were devoted to the dressing of woods, clearing the undergrown bushes by cutting on the 19, then by uprooting and burning on the 21, the Neptunalia were devoted to works of conservation and draining of superficial waters, thus corresponding to the Lucaria of 19, that required only work above the ground.
Then the Furrinalia of July 25, sacred to Furrina goddess of springs and wells, were devoted to those waters which had to be captured by drilling, i.e. required the work of man, thereby corresponding to the Lucaria of 21, which equally entailed human action upon the soil.
The Furrinalia are explained by Dumézil on the grounds of the hydraulic works prescribed by Palladius on this day, i.e. the drilling of wells to detect and capture underground water: the visible and the hidden waters are thus dealt with on separate, albeit next, occasions: the Neptunalia and Furrinalia. This complementarity between Neptunalia and Furrinalia corresponds to that between the first and second Lucaria, forming in fact two complementary couplets.
In recorded times the Neptunalia were spent in outings under branch huts (umbrae, casae frondeae), in a wood between the Tiber and the Via Salaria, drinking springwater and wine to escape the heat. It looks the Neptunalia were a time of general, free and unrestrained merrymaking, during which men and women mixed without the usual Roman traditional social constraints. This character of the festival as well as the fact that Neptune was offered the sacrifice of a bull would point to an agricultural fertility context.

Temples

In Rome Neptune had only one temple. It stood near the Circus Flaminius, the Roman racetrack, in the southern part of the Campus Martius. It already existed in 206 BC. It appears on a coin struck by Gn. Domitius Ahenobarbus around 40 BC doubtless because of a restoration carried out by this personage. It contained a famous sculpture of a marine group by Scopas Minor. The Basilica Neptuni, was built on the Campus Martius and dedicated by Agrippa in honour of the naval victory of Actium. This building substituted the older temple, which in its turn substituted a more ancient altar.

Sacrifices

Neptune is one of only four Roman gods to whom it was appropriate to sacrifice bulls, the other three being Apollo, Mars and Jupiter, although Vulcan was also allowed the offering of a red bull and a red bull calf. The wrong offering would require a piaculum if due to inadvertency or necessity. The type of the offering implies a stricter connection between the deity and the worldly realm.

Lake Albanus

During the war with Veii in 393 BC the level of Lake Albano (Albanus Lacus) rose to an unusual height even in the absence of rain. This prodigy was believed to be relevant on the siege of Veii because a haruspex from Veii recited some lines of a prophecy that illustrated the relationship between the level of its waters and either the safety or the fall of the town to the Romans. It foretold that as long as the waters of the lake remain high Veii would be impregnable to the Romans. If the waters of the lake were scattered in an inland direction on the other hand Veii would fall; but if they were to overflow through the usual streams or channels toward the sea this fact would be unfavourable to the Romans as well. Dumézil ascribed this story to the Roman custom of projecting religious legendary heritage onto history, considering it as a festival myth, aimed at giving relevance to an exceptional event which would have happened during the Neptunalia. This legend would show the scope of the powers hidden in waters and the religious importance of their control by man: Veientans too knowing the fact had been digging channels for a long time as recent archaeological finds confirm. There is a temporal coincidence between the conjuration of the prodigy and the works of derivation recommended by Palladius and Columella at the time of the canicula, when the waters are at their lowest.

Paredrae

Paredrae are entities who pair or accompany a god. They represent the fundamental aspects or the powers of the god with whom they are associated. In Roman religion they are often female. In later times under Hellenising influence they came to be considered as separate deities and consorts of the god. However this misconception might have been widespread in earlier folk belief. In the view of Dumézil, Neptune's two paredrae Salacia and Venilia represent the overpowering and the tranquil aspects of water, both natural and domesticated: Salacia would impersonate the gushing, overbearing waters and Venilia the still or quietly flowing waters. Dumézil's interpretation has though been varied as he also stated that the jolt implied by Salacia's name, the attitude to be salax lustful, must underline a feature characteristic of the god.
Salacia and Venilia have been discussed by scholars both ancient and modern. Varro connects the first to salum, sea, and the second to ventus, wind. Festus writes of Salacia that she is the deity that generates the motion of the sea. While Venilia would cause the waves to come to the shore Salacia would cause their retreating towards the high sea. The issue has been discussed in many passages by Christian doctor St. Augustine. He devotes one full chapter of his De Civitate Dei to mocking the inconsistencies inherent in the theological definition of the two entitites: since Salacia would denote the nether part of the sea, he wonders how could it be possible that she be also the retreating waves, as waves are a phenomenon of the surface of the sea. Elsewhere he writes that Venilia would be the "hope that comes", one of the aspects or powers of the all encompassing Jupiter understood as anima mundi.
Servius in his commentary to the Aeneid also writes about Salacia and Venilia in various passages, e.g. V 724: "(Venus) dicitur et Salacia, quae proprie meretricum dea appellata est a veteribus": "(Venus) is also called Salacia, who was particularly named goddess of prostitutes by the ancient". Elsewhere he writes that Salacia and Venilia are indeed the same entity.
Among modern scholars Dumézil with his followers Bloch and Schilling centre their interpretation of Neptune on the more direct, concrete, limited value and functions of water. Accordingly, Salacia would represent the forceful and violent aspect of gushing and overflowing water, Venilia the tranquil, gentle aspect of still or slowly flowing water.
Preller, Fowler, Petersmann and Takács attribute to the theology of Neptune broader significance as a god of universal worldly fertility, particularly relevant to agriculture and human reproduction. Thence they interpret Salacia as personifying lust and Venilia as related to venia, the attitude of ingraciating, attraction, connected with love and desire for reproduction. L. Preller remarked a significant aspect of Venilia mentioning that she was recorded in the indigitamenta also as a deity of longing, desire. He thinks this fact would allow to explain the theonym in the same way as that of Venus. Other data seem to point in the same direction: Salacia would be the parallel of Thetis as the mother of Achilles, while Venilia would be the mother of Turnus and Iuturna, whom she mothered with Daunus king of the Rutulians. According to another source Venilia would be the partner of Janus, with whom she mothered the nymph Canens loved by Picus. These mythical data underline the reproductive function envisaged in the figures of Neptune's paredrae, particularly that of Venilia in childbirth and motherhood. A legendary king Venulus was remembered at Tibur and Lavinium.

Fertility deity and divine ancestor

German scholar H. Petersmann has proposed a rather different interpretation of the theology of Neptune. Developing his understanding of the theonym as rooted in IE *nebh, he argues that the god would be an ancient deity of the cloudy and rainy sky in company with and in opposition to Zeus/Jupiter, god of the clear bright sky. Similar to Caelus, he would be the father of all living beings on Earth through the fertilising power of rainwater. This hieros gamos of Neptune and Earth would be reflected in literature, e.g. in Vergil Aen. V 14 pater Neptunus. The virile potency of Neptune would be represented by Salacia (derived from salax, salio in its original sense of salacious, lustful, desiring sexual intercourse, covering). Salacia would then represent the god's desire for intercourse with Earth, his virile generating potency manifesting itself in rainfall. While Salacia would denote the overcast sky, the other character of the god would be reflected by his other paredra Venilia, representing the clear sky dotted with clouds of good weather. The theonym Venilia would be rooted in a not attested adjective *venilis, from IE root *ven(h) meaning to love, desire, realised in Sanskrit vánati, vanóti, he loves, Old Island. vinr friend, German Wonne, Latin Venus, venia. Reminiscences of this double aspect of Neptune would be found in Catullus 31. 3: "uterque Neptunus".
In Petersmann's conjecture, besides Zeus/Jupiter, (rooted in IE *dei(h) to shine, who originally represented the bright daylight of fine weather sky), the ancient Indo-Europeans venerated a god of heavenly damp or wet as the generator of life. This fact would be testified by Hittite theonyms nepišaš (D)IŠKURaš or nepišaš (D)Tarhunnaš "the lord of sky wet", that was revered as the sovereign of Earth and men. Even though over time this function was transferred to Zeus/Jupiter who became also the sovereign of weather, reminiscences of the old function survived in literature: e.g. in Vergil Aen. V 13-14 reading: "Heu, quianam tanti cinxerunt aethera nimbi?/ quidve, pater Neptune, paras?": "What, why have so many clouds enringed the sky? What are you preparing, father Neptune?". The indispensability of water for its fertilizing quality and its strict connexion to reproduction is universal knowledge. Takács too points to the implicit sexual and fertility significance of both Salacia and Venilia on the grounds of the context of the cults of Neptune, of Varro's interpretation of Salacia as eager for sexual intercourse and of the connexion of Venilia with a nymph or Venus.
Müller-Deeke and Deeke had already interpreted the theology of Neptune as that of a divine ancestor of a Latin stock, namely the Faliscans, as the father of their founder heroes Messapus and Halesus. Sharing this same approach Fowler considered Salacia the personification of the virile potency that generated a Latin people, parallel with Mars, Saturn, Janus and even Jupiter among other Latins.

Neptunus equestris

Poseidon was connected to the horse since the earliest times, well before any connection of him with the sea was attested, and may even have originally been conceived under equine form. Such a feature is a reflection of his own chronic, violent, brutal nature as earth-quaker, as well as of the link of the horse with springs, i.e. underground water, and the psychopompous character inherent in this animal.
There is no such direct connection in Rome. Neptune does not show any direct equine character or linkage.
On the other hand, Roman god Consus was associated with horses: his underground altar was located in the valley of the Circus Maximus at the foot of the Palatine, the place of horse races. On the day of his summer festival (August 21), the Consualia aestiva, it was customary to bring horses and mules in procession crowned with flowers and then hold equine races in the Circus. It appears these games had a rustic and archaic character: they marked the end of the yearly agricultural cycle, when harvest was completed. According to tradition this occasion was chosen to enact the abduction of the Sabine (and Latin) women. The episode might bear a reflection of the traditional sexual licence of such occasions. On that day the flamen Quirinalis and the vestal virgins sacrificed on the underground altar of Consus. The fact the two festivals of Consus were followed after an equal interval of four days by the two festivals of Ops (Opeconsivia on August 25 and Opalia on December 19) testifies to the strict relationship between the two deities as both pertaining to agricultural plenty, or in Dumezilian terminology to the third function. In Dumézil's view this fact shows the radically different symbolic value of the horse in the theology of Poseidon and of Consus. Tertullian (De Spectaculis V 7) states that according to Roman tradititon Consus was the god who had advised Romulus on the abduction of the Sabines because of his quality of god of hidden counsels and quotes an inscription that was on the southern meta of the circus corroborating his assertion: Conso consilio Marte duello Lares + covillo potentes: Consus is powerful in counsel, Mars in war, the Lares in meeting. A. Von Blumenthal and G. Radke have proposed to read consivio instead of consilio, though this correction is not generally accepted: the inscription is not extant and it was visible only on the days of the sacrifices to Consus, so some scholars argue it may have been misread.
Perhaps under the influence of Poseidon Ίππιος Consus, whose festival entailed horse races, was reinterpreted as Neptunus equestris and for his underground altar also identified with Poseidon Ένοσίχθων. Moreover, the etymology of Poseidon, understood as from Posis lord, husband and De grain or Earth, may have contributed to the identification of Consus with Neptune. The archaic and arcane character of his cult, which required the unearthing of the altar, are signs of the great antiquity of this deity and of his chthonic character. He was certainly a deity of agrarian plenty and of fertility. On the basis of Augustine (De Civitate Dei IV 8 about the role of Tutilina in assuring the safety of stored grain) Dumézil interprets its name as derived from verb condere to hide, store, as a verbal noun in -u parallel to Sancus and Janus, meaning god of stored grains. A direct identification of Consus with Poseidon in spite of all the data pointing to it is the fact that Poseidon is nowhere worshipped on underground shrines or altars.
Martianus Capella places Neptune and Consus together in region X of Heaven: it might be that he followed an already old interpretatio graeca of Consus or he might be reflecting an Etruscan idea of a chthonic Neptune which is apparent in the recommendation of the De Haruspicum Responso stating the need of expiations to Neptune for the prodigy of the cracking sounds heard underground in the ager latiniensis. Etruscans were particularly fond of horse races.

Neptune in Etruria

Nethuns is the Etruscan name of the god. In the past it has been believed that the Roman theonym derived from Etruscan but more recently this view has been rejected.
Nethuns was certainly an important god for the Etruscans. His name is to be found on two cases of the Piacenza Liver, namely case 7 on the outer rim and case 28 on the gall-bladder, (plus once in case 22 along with Tinia). This last location tallies with Pliny the Elder's testimony that the gall-bladder is sacred to Neptune. Theonym Nethuns recurs eight times on columns VIII, IX and XI of the Liber Linteus (flere, flerchva Nethunsl), requiring offerings of wine.
On a mirror from Tuscania (E. S. 1. 76) Nethuns is represented while talking to Uśil (the Sun) and Thesan (the goddess of Dawn). Nethuns is on the left hand side, sitting, holding a double ended trident in his right hand and with his left arm raised in the attitude of giving instructions, Uśil is standing at the centre of the picture, holding in his right hand Aplu's bow, and Thesan is on the right, with her right hand on Uśil's shoulder: both gods look intent in listening Nethuns's words. The identification of Uśil with Aplu (and his association with Nethuns) is further underlined by the anguiped demon holding two dolphins of the exergue below. The scene highlights the identities and association of Nethuns and Aplu (here identified as Uśil) as main deities of the worldly realm and the life cycle. Thesan and Uśil-Aplu, who has been identified with Śuri (Soranus Pater, the underwold Sun god) make clear the transient character of worldly life. The association of Nethuns and Uśil-Aplu is consistent with one version of the theory of the Etruscan Penates (see section below).
In Martianus Capella's depiction of Heaven Neptune is located in region X along with the Lar Omnium Cunctalis (of everybody), Neverita and Consus. The presence of the Lar Omnium Cunctalis might be connected with the theology of Neptune as a god of fertility, human included, while Neverita is a theonym derived from an archaic form of Nereus and Nereid, before the fall of the digamma. For the relationship of Neptune with Consus see the above paragraph. Martianus's placing of Neptune is fraught with questions: according to the order of the main three gods he should be located in region II, (Jupiter is indeed in region I and Pluto in region III). However, in region II are to be found two deities related to Neptune, namely Fons and Lymphae. Stephen Weinstock supposes that while Jupiter is present in each of the first three regions, in each one under different aspects related to the character of the region itself, Neptune should have been originally located in the second, as is testified by the presence of Fons and Lymphae, and Pluto in the third. The reason of the displacement of Neptune to region X remains unclear, but might point to a second appearance of the triads in the third quarter, which is paralleled by the location of Neth in case 7 of the Liver. It is however consistent with the collocation in the third quadrant of the deities directly related to the human world.
Bloch remarks the possible chthonic character and stricter link of Nethuns with Poseidon to which would hint a series of circumstances, particularly the fact that he was among the four gods (Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Tellus in order) the haruspices indicated as needing placation for the prodigy related in Cicero's De haruspicum responso 20, i.e. a cracking sound perceived as coming from the underground in the ager latiniensis.

Neptune and the Etruscan Penates

Among ancient sources Arnobius provides important information about the theology of Neptune: he writes that according to Nigidius Figulus Neptune was considered one of the Etruscan Penates, together with Apollo, the two deities being credited with bestowing Ilium with its immortal walls. In another place of his work, book VI, Nigidius wrote that, according to the Etrusca Disciplina, his were one among the four genera, types of Penates: of Iupiter, of Neptune, of the underworld and of mortal men. According to another tradition related by a Caesius, also based on the same source, the Etruscan Penates would be Fortuna, Ceres, Genius Iovialis and Pales, this last one being the male Etruscan god (ministrum Iovis et vilicum, domestic and peasant of Jupiter).

Depiction in art

Neptune is depicted in the 7th and final movement of Gustav Holst's orchestral suite 'The Planets', subtitled 'The Mystic' as Holst described the god.
The French Department of Subaquatic Archaeological Research divers (headed by Michel L'Hour) discovered a lifesize marble statue of Neptune, in the Rhône River at Arles; it is dated to the early fourth century. The statue is one of a hundred artifacts that the team excavated between September and October 2007.
Etruscan representations of the god are rare but significative. The oldest is perhaps the carved carnelian scarab from Vulci of the 4th century BC: Nethuns kicks a rock and creates a spring. (Paris: Bibliothèque Nationale, Cabinet des Medailles).
Another Etruscan gem (from the collection of Luynes, inscribed Nethunus) depicts the god making a horse spring out of the earth with a blow of his trident.
A bronze mirror of the late 4th century in the Vatican Museums (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco: C.S.E. Vaticano 1.5a) depicts the god with Amymone, daughter of Danaus, whom he prevents being assaulted by a satyr and to whom he will teach the art of creating springs.
A bronze mirror from Tuscania dated to 350 BC also in the Vatican Museums (Museo Gregoriano Etrusco E. S. 1. 76). Nethuns is talking to Usil and Thesan. In the lower exergue is an anguiped demon who holds a dolphin in each hand (identification with Aplu-Apollo is clear also because Uśil holds a bow). Nethuns holds a double-ended trident, suggesting he might be one of the gods who can wield lightningbolts.

Poseidon. National Archaeological Museum of Athens].

Ricardo André Frantz 

 Poseidon holding a trident. Corinthian plaque, 550-525 BC. From Penteskouphia.

Unknown - Jastrow (2006)

Poseidon holding a trident. Corinthian plaque, 550–525 BC. From Penteskouphia.

 Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, ca 440 BC

 Athena and Poseidon. Side A from a Faliscan red-figure volute-krater.

Nazzano Painter - Marie-Lan Nguyen (2007)

circa 360 BC

 Poseidon on an Attic kalyx krater (detail), first half of the 5th century BC.

Syriskos Painter - Marie-Lan Nguyen (User:Jastrow), 2008-04-04

Head of Poseidon, detail of a scene representing Poseidon greeting Theseus (on the right). Side A from an Attic red-figured calyx-krater, first half of the 5th century BC. From Agrigento.

 Sea thiasos depicting the wedding of Poseidon and Amphitrite, from the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus in the Field of Mars, bas-relief, Roman Republic, 2nd century BC

Unknown - User:Bibi Saint-Pol, own work, 2007-02-08

So-called “Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus” or “Statue Base of Marcus Antonius”, relief freize of a monumental statue group base. Sea thiasos for the wedding of Poseidon and Amphitrite, 2nd half of the 2nd century BC. Detail: Poseidon and Amphitrite in the bridal carriage, drawn by two Tritons playing music (front panel).

 Colossal-type statue of Neptune. Probably sculpted in a workshop in Aphrodisias (Asia Minor), it was at Palaemon's sanctuary in Isthmia (near Corinth), where it was described by Pausanias (II, 2, 1) in the 2nd century CE. It is an important sample of Roman Empire's classicism.

Luis García

 Triumph of Poseidon and Amphitrite showing the couple in procession, detail of a vast mosaic from Cirta, Roman Africa (ca. 315–325 AD, now at the Louvre)

 Poseidon and Amphitrite. Ancient Roman fresco (50-79 d.C.), Pompeii, Italy.

 Stefano Bolognini - Own work

 Woodcut illustration (leaf [d]7v, f. xxvij) of Medusa and Neptune embracing beside a winged horse (either Pegasus or Chrysaor), with Perseus mounted upon Pegasus (following later developments of the Perseus legend) in the background, hand-colored in red, green, yellow and black, from an incunable German translation by Heinrich Steinhöwel of Giovanni Boccaccio's De mulieribus claris, printed by Johannes Zainer at Ulm ca. 1474 (cf. ISTC ib00720000). One of 76 woodcut illustrations (1 on leaf [e]8v dated 1473), each 80 x 110 mm., depicting scenes from the life of the women chronicled (for a full list of subjects, cf. W.L. Schreiber, Handbuch der Holz- und Metallschnitte des XV. Jahrhunderts (Nendeln: Kraus Reprints, 1969), no. 3506). "Pour la première moitie le nom se trouve inscrit à côte de la tête de chaque femme, pour le reste il es ajouté entre les deux réglettes. Il n'y en a que trois, qui n'ont qu'un seul trait carré."--Schreiber. Established form: Zainer, Johannes, ‡d d. 1541?. Established form: Medusa (Greek mythology) Established form: Neptune (Roman deity) Established form: Perseus (Greek mythology) Established form: Pegasus (Greek mythology) Penn Libraries call number: Inc B-720 All images from this book Penn Libraries catalog record

 Battle of the sea gods (left and right part)

 Andrea Mantegna

tra il 1490 e il 1506 

Neptune naked holding a fork with both hands turning to the right, a sea horse is behind him, set within a niche; Jacopo Caraglio, from a series of 20 engravings depicting mythological gods and goddesses. 1526 Engraving 

 Andrea Doria as Neptune, by Angelo Bronzino.

circa 1540-1550

Neptune rising from the sea and bearing a staff, accompanied by two horse-headed sea creatures, reverse copy after a series of engravings by Cherubino Alberti of mythological scenes after Polidoro da Caravaggio 
 1550 circa

 Faenza, bottega di virgiliotto calamelli, nettuno che calma le acque, (da raffaello), 1540-60 ca.I, Sailko

Neptune and Amphitrite - Paris Bordone (1560) 

Fontana del Nettuno a Bologna, opera del 1563 del Giambologna

Georges Jansoone - Opera propria

La Fontana del Nettuno a Bologna, opera del Giambologna, in Piazza Maggiore.

 After Albrecht Dürer. Formerly attributed to Georg Pencz. Date 1530-1580. Amymone carried away by a sea-god; copy after Dürer (Meder 66); the sea-god to right, Amymone on his back; landscape background with a town at left.

Copy after Albrecht Dürer (1471 - 1528)

 Paolo Farinati, Nettuno con la Medusa, 1590 circa, affresco, Villa Nichesola-Conforti, Ponton di Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella (Verona).

Giuseppeconforti - Opera propria

Paolo Farinati, "Nettuno con la Medusa", 1590 circa, affresco (restaurato nel 2016). Il dio del mare, Nettuno, imbraccia il tridente; accanto sta la Medusa dalla chioma serpentata.

 Neptune and Amphitrite by Jacob de Gheyn II (late 1500s)

Holland, 1586 Series: Sea and River Gods, pl. 2 Prints; engravings Engraving Mary Stansbury Ruiz Bequest (M.88.91.382c) Prints and Drawings

Philip Galle (Holland, Haarlem, 1537-1612)

 Eustache Le Sueur (French - Marine Gods Paying Homage to Love 

about 1636 - 1638

 Neptune with trident riding two horses at sea. Frontispice with title De imperio maris variorum dissertationes on a banner

sconosciuto - Peace Palace Library

1663 

Wenceslas Hollar - Neptune and Venus (State 3)

Wenceslaus Hollar - Artwork from University of Toronto Wenceslaus Hollar  (author lived 1607-1677)

Wenceslas Hollar - The Greek gods. Neptune

Wenceslaus Hollar - Artwork from University of Toronto Wenceslaus Hollar  (author lived 1607-1677)

Bon Boullogne - Triumph of Neptune
1699 

 The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune by René-Antoine Houasse (circa 1689 or 1706)

 Frontispice "A complete body of the sea laws antient and modern of most nations with the proceedings of the admiraltie courts, ther ensigns at sea, &c." showing Neptune wielding British flags at sea. Sailings ships, sea horses (hippocampus), a Triton blowing on a conch.

sconosciuto - Peace Palace Library

1710 

THE ILLIAD OF HOMER (translated by POPE) p4.015 13th Book Page 957 1718

 Abb. „Poseidon“ in: Histoire physique de la mer : Ouvrage enrichi de figures dessinées d'après le naturel von Luigi Ferdinando Marsili

Matthijs Pool - Self-photographed

1725

 Fontana di Nettuno sulla Place Stanislas di Nancy, opera del 1751 di B.Guibal

Parsifall - Opera propria

Nancy, Place Stanislas, Fontana di Nettuno

 Kupferstich (1795) von Tommaso Piroli (1752 – 1824) nach einer Zeichnung (1793) von John Flaxman (1755 – 1826).

H.-P.Haack - Antiquariat Dr. Haack Leipzig

In Greek mythology, Amymone was a daughter of Danaus. This picture depicts the abduction of Amymone by Poseidon.

Felix Henri Giacomotti - Unknown

1865

 Tobacco label illustrated with 2 nymphs and 2 horses pulling Neptune through water.
 1866 circa

 arine, U.S. Capitol, by G. D. Wakely
 Created: 1865-1870. Coverage: 1865-1870. Source Imprint: 1865?-1870?. Digital item published 1-25-2006; updated 2-13-2009.

 Нептун

Fyodor Petrovich Tolstoy

before 1873 

Meister des ornamentstichs, eine auswahl aus vier jahrhunderten (1900) 

 Dionysus, Plato, or Poseidon sculpture excavated at the Villa of the Papyri.

Ethel Ross Barker, Buried Herculaneum

Dionysus or Plato sculpture, or Poseidon

 1908

Ornament with Neptune by Adolphe Giraldon, illustrating the month of February

Adolphe Giraldon (1855-1933) - Larousse mensuel illustré, février 1911

 10,000 Belgian francs (2,000 belgas) of 1929 (obverse). Middle and dark tones adjusted to compensate for fading. 

National Bank of Belgium - Museum of Belgian National Bank

 Poseidon Pursuing Nymph Monotype, signed lower left, 'Rupert C. W. Bunny', monogrammed upper left, 23 x 29 cm

Rupert Bunnu

1950

 Neptune Seafair logo, Seattle, Washington, U.S., 1960.

 Seattle Municipal Archives from Seattle, WA - Seafair logos, 1960

 Sign ca. 1940-1960 13 1/2 x 9 5/8 x 1/4 in. Vinyl, plastic, cardboard, metal Gift of Bella C. Landauer New-York Historical Society 2002.1.3707 Wikipedia Loves Art at the New-York Historical Society This photo of item # 2002.1.3707 at the New-York Historical Society was contributed under the team name "the_adverse_possessors" as part of the Wikipedia Loves Art project in February 2009. New-York Historical Society The original photograph on Flickr was taken by _cck_—please add a comment to the original Flickr page whenever a use has been made on Wikipedia or another project. Project galleries on Flickr: this institution, this team

Nettuno come polena di un galeone al porto antico di Genova

Twice25 & Rinina25

Genova, immagine dal porto antico, piazza Caricamento - Polena della goletta utilizzata per il film del 1986 con Walter Matthau e diretto da Roman Polanski "Pirati"

Poseidon, Paella Museum

Fingalo - Own work

 La Fontana del Nettuno (detta anche fontana Medina) è una fontana monumentale della città di Napoli. 

Lalupa - Opera propria

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by Artmus

Fontana di Nettuno a Danzica

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by GenzoMan

 Poseidon in Kadriorg Palace, Tallinn

 Avi1111 dr. avishai teicher - Own work

Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by GenzoMan

 Fontana del Nettuno, simbolo dell'omonima città in provincia di Roma

 Stefano.nicolucci

Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by Gokberk Kaya

 Fontana del Nettuno a Norimberga

Diego Delso

Neptune Fountain, Nuremberg, Germany

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by God of War III ConceptArt

Poseidon sculpture Copenhagen 2005

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by Mytheon

 Caenis and Poseidon. Engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's Metamorphoses Book XII, 189-209.

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by Neffo

 Neptune, king of waters. Engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's Metamorphoses Book I, 330-347. Fol. 6v, image 10.

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God riding a whale - Art Picture

Villa Emo. From the west wall of the hall. Frescoes by Giovanni Battista Zelotti 1526 – 28 August 1578.

Hans A. Rosbach - Own work

Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by TaekwondoNJ

Title: These are to certify that Richard Lawrence is pursuant to law nominated and appointed one of the fireman of the City of New York / painted by H. Inman ; engraved by Geo. W. Hatch. Abstract/medium: 1 print : hand-colored engraving ; sheet 39 x 48.6 cm.

Hatch, George W., approximately 1805-1867, engraver; Inman, Henry, 1801-1846, artist - Library of Congress 1839

Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by Seraphim87

   Tapís d'Amfitrite i Posidó (detall central), Museu de Belles Arts de València. Llana i seda (406 x 639 cm). Representa Amfitrite acompanyada del seu espòs Posidó, déus del mar, asseguts en un carro marí tirat per dofins, envoltats de Tritó i les nereides. Als costats, abundant vegetació d'arbres i arbustos. Emmarca l'escena una motllura de gallons amb garlandes de flors penjant en la part superior i dues cortines de vellut roig arreplegades als costats sobre columnes jòniques. Rematen els extrems dos gerros amb sumptuosos rams de flors, sobre un alt pedestal. En la part inferior una ampla bordura de flors i fruits entrellaçats, que caractteritzen l'època i la procedència. El colorit és elegant i propi de l'escola de Brussel·les. A la vora superior lletres B. B. entre l'escut de Brussel·les i Brabant i ALBERT AWERK. Aquest artista (1657 - 1710) va col·laborar amb Guillem Pannemaquer i hi ha obres del seu taller a Viena i Toledo. Tapissos de cartons semblants existeixen a la col·lecció Berwick-Alba. 

Joanbanjo - Own work

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by uysaltimsah

 The Realm of Neptune, from Drawing Book 

Abraham Bloemaert 1650–56

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by Angg

 Göteborg, Götaplatsen, Avenyn, Poseidon
Sweden

Fred PetterSonic Pettersson - Own work

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by rodolfoguerreiro

Title: The old salt salutes / Keppler. Abstract/medium: 1 photomechanical print : offset, color.

Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956, artist - Library of Congress

1904

Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by mullerpereira

 Göteborg, Götaplatsen, Konstmuseet, Poseidon 

Fred PetterSonic Pettersson - Own work

Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by mellon007

RomanVirgilFolio235v  

Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God - Art Picture by GBrush

 Sandrart (attributed), Troppa (attr.) - Laomedon Refusing Payment to Poseidon and Apollo - 17th c

Joachim von Sandrart

 

 Poseidon (Neptune) Greek God under a cloudy sky - Art Picture

 

 "Over-Weighted" - a Punch cartoon on the subject of ironclads from 1876. Left, Neptune; Right, Britannia 

Swainso (?) - Punch

 

 Chariot of Poseidon, Greco-Roman mosaic, Bardo National Museum

 Rupert Bunny - Poseidon and Amphitrite
circa 1913

 Poseidon Aegaeus
Marvel

 Poseidon riding Hippocamp, Athenian black-figure cup C6th B.C., British Museum

 Print made by Daniel Marot. Date 1680-1700. Water; an elaborate vignette showing Neptune riding the sea in a chariot surrounded by a fountain embellished with monstrous fish, a net and anchors Etching

 Rottenhammer Hochzeit von Neptun und Amphitrite

Hans Rottenhammer

1600

 

Neptune Poseidon Mermaid Sea

 

 

 

anthony-hopkins-poseidon

 

Poseidon Neptune Full Color Sleeve In Progress by Terry Ribera