Poseidon, Sea Deities, Group
Divinities, and Monsters
By the harbor there is a temple of Poseidon and a
freestanding statue of stone. In
addition to the many names that have been
fashioned
by the poets for Poseidon
as an
adornment for their
for each
particular
lished
verses, and those names which custom
has
the names of the
that
all
men use are
god
estab
community,
Pelagaios, (God of the Sea), Asphaleios (God of Security), and
of Horses).
-PAUSANIAS, Description
Hippios (God
of Greece 7.21.7
POSEIDON, BEST KNOWVN AS the
great god of waters in general
and of the sea in particular, was
no
means the first or
by
only such
divinity. As we have seen, Pontus (Sea) was produced by Ge in the
initial stages of creation; and two of the Titans, Oceanus and
Tethys,
bore thousands of children, the Oceanids. In addition, Pontus mated
with his mother, Ge, and begat (among other progeny, discussed later
in this chapter) Nereus, the eldest of his children, who was
gentle,
wise, and true, an old man of the sea with the gift of
prophecy. Nereus
in turn united with Doris (an Oceanid) who bore him
the Nereids; three of these mermaids should be
Galatea, and Amphitrite.
fifty daughters,
singled out: Thetis,
Peleus and Thetis
We
have already mentioned that Thetis was destined to bear a
mightier than his father. Zeus learned this secret from Prometheus
son
avoided mating with Thetis; she married instead a mortal named
and
Peleus, who was hard pressed to catch his bride. For Thetis possessed
165
166
Chapter 7
PosEIDON, SEA LDEITIES, GROUP DIVINITIES, AND MONSTERS
the power of changing shape and transformed herself into a variety of states
(eg, a bird, a tree, a tigress) in rapid succession, but eventually she was forced
to succumb. Peleus and Thetis celebrated their
with
marriage
great ceremony
(although she later left him), and their son Achilles did indeed become mightier
than his father (see p. 481).
Acis, Galatea, and the
Cyclops Polyphemus
Galatea, another Nereid, was loved by the Cyclops Polyphemus, a son of Poseidon. Ovid's account
(Metamorphoses 13. 750-897) presents a touching rendition
of their story,
playing upon the incongruity of the passion of the monstrous
and boorish giant for the delicate
nymph. Repelled by his attentions, she loved
Acis, handsome son of Faunus and a sea-nymph, Symaethis, daughter of the
river-god, Symaethus,
to
in Sicily. Overcome
by emotion,
attempted
mend his savage ways; he combed his hair with a rakePolyphemus
and cut his beard with
a scythe.
Ovid's Galatea tells how the fierce
Cyclops would sit on the cliff of a promon
tory jutting out to the sea, where he would lay down his staff (a huge pine-trunk
the size of a
ship's mast) and take up his pipe of a hundred reeds. Hiding below
in the arms of her beloved Acis, Galatea would listen
to his song. First, he would
extravagantly describe her magnificent beauty, then bitterly lament her adamant
rejection of him, and continue with an offer of many rustic
appeal concludes as follows (839-897):
4)
Audio
gifts.
His
tragicomic
"Now Galatea, come, don't
despise my gifts. Certainly I know whatI look
like: just recently I saw myself in the reflection of a
limpid pool, and I was
pleased with the figure that I saw. Look at what a size l am!
Jupiter in the sky
doesn't have a body
bigger than mine-you are always telling me that
one or other named
some
Jove reigns up there. An abundance of hair
over
hangs
my rugged features and, like a grove of trees, overshadows
my shoulders; and
don't think my body
ugly because it bristles with the thickest and coarsest of
hair. A tree without leaves is
ugly; ugly is a horse, if a bushy mane doesn't
cover its tawny neck; feathers cover
birds, and their own wool is an adorn.
ment for
sheep; for a man a beard and shaggy hair are only
fitting. So there
is one eye in the middle of
my forehead. What of it? Doesn't the great Sun
see all these
things here on earth from the sky? Yet the Sun has only a single
10
eye. (839-853)
"Furthermore,
my father Neptune rules over your waters, and he is the one
father-in-law. Only have pity and listen to the
prayers of my sup
plication! I succumb to you alone. I am scornful of
Jove, of his sky and his dev
astating thunder; but I am afraid of you; your wrath is more
deadly than his
thunderbolt. (854-858)
I give you
as a
"I should better endure this
contempt of yours, it you would run away trom
everybody: but why do you reject me and love Acis? Why do
you prefer Acis to
my embraces? Yet he may be allowed to
himself and you as well-but |
please
don't want him to be
pleasing to you! Just let me have the chance. He will know
then that
my strength is as huge as the size of my
body. I'll tear out his living
innards, and l'll scatter his dismembered limbs over
the land and the waves
20
10:20
d
92%
chegg.com/reade
Q
Poseidon and Amphitrite
of your waters-in this way may he mingle in love with you! For I burn with a
fery passion that, upon being rejected, flames up the more fiercely and I seem
to carry Mt. Aetna, with all its volcanic force, buried in my breast. And you,
Galatea, remain unmoved." (859-869)
After such complaints made all in vain, he rose up (for I saw it all) and
was unable to stand still, but wandered the woods and his familiar pastures,
30
like a bull full of fury when his cow has been taken away from him. Then the
raging Cyclops saw me and Acis, who were startled by such an unexpected
fright. He shouted,
see you and I
make this loving union or yours your
last. That voice of his was as great as a furious Cyclops ought to have; Aetna
trembled at his roar. But I was terrified and dove into the waters nearby. My
Symaethian hero, Acis, had turned his back in flight and cried, "Bring help
to me, Galatea, help, my parents, and take me, about to die, to your wateryy
kingdom!" (870-881)
The Cyclops, in hot pursuit, hurled a section torn out of the mountain. Al
though onily a mere edge of that jagged mass struck Acis, it buried him com-
0
pletely; but it was through me that Acis appropriated to himself the watery
power of his ancestry-the only solution allowed by the Fates. Red blood
out the
that
and
a
time
the red of the blood began to disappear and it became the color of a stream
began to trickle from
mass
had buried him,
in short
made turbid by an early rain, and in a while the water cleared. Then the mass
that had been thrown upon him split open and, through the cleft, a reed,
green and slender, rose up and the hollow opening in the rock resounded
with the leaping waves. Suddenly a wonderful thing happened-up to his
waist in the midst of the waves there stood a youth, the sprouting horns on
his brow wreathed with pliant reeds. Except that he was bigger and his whole
face the bluish green of water, this was Acis indeed turned into a river-god.
(882--897)
Poseidon and Amphitrite
The third Nereid, Amphitrite, is important mainly as the wife of Poseidon; like
her sister Thetis, she proved a reluctant bride, but Poseidon finally was able to
win her. As husband and wife, they play roles very much like those enacted by
Zeus and Hera: Poseidon has a weakness for women, and Amphitrite, with good
cause, is angry and vengeful. They had a son, Triton, a merman, human above
the waist, fish-shaped below. He is often depicted blowing a conch shell, a veritable trumpeter of the sea; he can change shape at will.
Tyro, daughter of Salmoneus, was loved by Poseidon, who disguised himself
as the Thessalian river Enipeus (Homer, Odyssey 11. 245):
In the form of Enipeus did the Earthshaker lie by her at the mouth of the eddying
river. About them rose a crested wave, mountainous in size, which hid both god
and mortal woman.
The children born of this union were twins, Neleus and Pelias, notable leg
endary figures with significant progeny:
O
50
167
168
Chapter 7
PoSEIDON, SEA DEITIES, GrOUP DivINITIES, AND MONSTERS
For a translation of the ac-
counts about Proteus by
Homer and Vergil, see
www.oup.com/us/morford.
Proteus
The sea divinity Proteus, probably another of the older generation of gods, is
often named as the attendant of Poseidon or even as his son. Like Nereus, he
is an old man of the sea who can foretell the future; he can
also change shape. It is easy to see how the identities
of Nereus, Proteus, and Triton could be merged.
Confusion among sea divinities and duplica
tion of their characteristics are everywhere
apparent.
There are two classic accounts of Proand his powers: those of
teus'
nature
Homer (Odyssey 4. 360-570) and Vergil
(Georgics 4. 386-528). In Homer, Menelaüs, on his way home from Troy,
was unduly detained off the coast of
Egypt; he consulted Proteus, the old
man of the sea, with the help of Proteus' daughter Eidothea. Menelaüs
explains: "We rushed upon him with
a shout and threw our arms about
him; but the old man did not forget
his devious arts. First off he became
a
thickly maned lion, and then a serpent, a
leopard, and a great boar. And he became
liquid water and a tree with lofty branches.
But we held on to him firmly with steadfast spirits." Finally, the devious Proteus grew
weary and answered Menelaüs' questions about
his return home.
Neptune in His Chariot.
Mosaic, mid-second century
A.D., diameter 77 in. This is
the central panel of a very
large square mosaic of Nep
tune and the Seasons, in which
The Appearance and Character
of Poseidon
occupy
the corners. Neptune
(Poseidon) dominates the
Poseidon is similar in appearance to his brother Zeus, a majestic, bearded
figure, but he is generally more severe and rough, to illustrate his tempestuous nature; besides, he carries the trident, a three-pronged fork resembling a
fisherman's spear. By his very nature, Poseidon is ferocious. He is called the
central
supporter of the earth but the earthshaker as well, and as a god of earthquakes
female hgures representing
each of the tour seasons
panel, with four sea
horses pulling his chariot:
to the viewer's right in the
background is a sea-nymph,
and on the lett is a Triton.
he exhibits his violence by the rending of the land and the surge of the sea. By
a mere stroke of his trident, he may destroy and kill. Ovid provides a typical
description in his version of the Flood (see p. 100), provid ing a vivid character
theme was elaborated
The
by Poussin in his Triumph
ization of Poseidon under his Roman name of Neptune. Poseidon's relentless
anger against Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus provides a dominant theme
of Neptune and Amphitrite
in the Odyssey. The Homeric Hymn to Poseidon (22) attempts to appease his
See image on p. 171). (Gilles
Mermet/Art Resource, NT)
anger.
About Poseidon, a great god, I begin to sing, the shaker of the earth and of the
barren sea, ruler of the deep and also over Mt. Helicon and the broad town of
The Progeny of Pontus and Ge
Aegae. A double honor, the gods have allotted to you, O Earthshaker-to be
both a tamer of horses and a savior of ships. Hail, dark-haired Poseidon, who
surrounds the earth and, O blessed god, be of kind heart and protect those who
sail your waters. (1-7)
The origins of Poseidon are much disputed. If his trident represents what
ras once a thunderbolt, then he was in early times a god of the sky. More attrac
ve is the theory that he was once a male spirit of fertility, a god of earth who
ent up springs. This theory fits well with his association with horses and bulls
ne either creates them or makes them appear) and explains the character of
ome of his affairs. He mated with Demeter in the form of a stallion; he pursued
er while she was searching for her daughter, and her ruse of changing into a
nare to escape him was to no avail. Thus, we have the union of the male and
emale powers of the fertility ot the earth" t nevertheless should be remem-
ered that standard epic epithets of the sea are "barren" and "unharvested" as
pposed to the fecundity of the land. The suggestion that Poseidon's horses are
he mythical depiction of the whitecaps of the waves is not convincing, at least
n terms of
origins.
The important story of the contest between Poseidon and Athena for control
f Athens and its surrounding territory, Attica, is told in Chapter8 in connection
vith the sculpture of the west pediment of the Parthenon.
Scylla and Charybdis
Poseidon made advances to Scylla, the daughter of Phorcys and Hecate. Amphi-
rite became jealous and threw magic herbs into Scylla's bathing place. Thus,
Scylla was transformed into a terrifying monster, encircled with a ring of dogs'
heads. Ovid's different version of Scylla's transformation (Metamorphoses 13. 917-968;
14. 1-71) is more well known: Glaucus, a mortal who had been changed intoa
sea-god, fell in love with Scylla; when he was rejected, he turned to the sorceress
Circe for help. But Circe fell in love with him and, in her jealousy, poisoned the
waters of Scylla's bathing place.
Scylla's home was a cave in the Straits of Messina between Sicily and Italy.
With her was Charybdis, the daughter of Poseidon and Ge, a formidable and
voracious ally whom Zeus had cast into the sea by his thunderbolt; three times
a day she drew in mountains of water and spewed them out again. Scylla and
Charybdis have been rationalized into natural terrors faced by mariners when
they sailed through the straits. Certainly, many of the tales about the gods of
the waters are reminiscent of the yarns spun by fishermen, sailors, and the like,
whose lives are involved with the sea and with travel.
The Progeny of Pontus and Ge
Pontus and Ge produced legions of descendants. (Notice how elements of the
fantastic and the grotesque appear again and again in the nature of the progeny
associated with the sea and the deep)
In addition to Nereus, Pontus and Ge had two more sons, Thaumas and
Phorcys, and two daughters, Ceto and Eurybië. Thaumas mated with Electra
169
TURE
aphaël and Poussin
with Leonardo and Michelangelo a s one
He was born in Urbino, and
and Tuscany, especially in the city of
iring his early career he worked in Umbriaand architect.
In 1508, at the behest of
painter
orence. He was an accomplished
he went to Rome and remained there until his death. One of the first
(Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) stands
aphaël
the great masters of the High ltalian Renaissance.
pe Julius IL,
Galatea.
if not the first work, that Raphael painted in Rome was the
orks,
The most important sources for the story of Galatea are the ldylls of the
Greek
et Theocritus (third century BC) and, of course, the Metammorphoses of the Roman
et Ovid (43 B.C-ca. A.D. 17). In Ovid's version of the tale, the Trojan Aeneas is sail-
8 past Scylla and Charybdis. This encounter leads Ovid to recall that once Scylla
been a beautiful, young woman pursued by many suitors. She would often visit
d
ab thelatest suitor she had rejected. During one of these visits,
alatea contributes her ownstory at Scylla's urging Galatea had once been theobject
alatea
to gossip
the love of the barbarous Cyelops, Polyphemus. He would often sing to her in
attempt to woo her, but Galatea spurned his advances, she had eyes only for
handsome youth named Acis. One day, Polyphemus caught them together and
aried Acis under a mountain of stone. Galatea, however, had the power to trans
form her beloved's
which was
blood,
Seeping out from between the rocks, into
a river, and so Acis
became a river-god.
(Interestingly,
there
exists a variant of the
tale
in
which
Poly-
phemus' suit is suc
cessful and he wins
the hand of Galatea.)
The classical
was
later
tale
used
in
a
poem by the famed
Italian scholar and
poet Angelo Poliziano
(1454-1494);
his
was one of
the main literary in-
version
tluences for Raphaël's
fresco. In Raphael's
version of the
neither
nor Acis
story,
Polyphemus
is
present,
though shortly after
Raphael painted his
Galatea, another artist,
Myth and Culture
171
Sebastiano del Piombo, painted to the left of Raphaël's work, on another section of
the wall, a fresco of the Cyclops entitled Polyphemus. This addition gives Galatea
an object for her gaze. If considered alone, Galatea in Raphaël's fresco is neither
gazing at anyone nor being gazed upon; she stands strangely isolated amidst
the activity and amorous pursuits ot the other figures. Many have seen in her a
symbol of love itself; it is worth noting that she rides on a shell, a symbol that is
often associated with Aphrodite (Venus). This vision of the apotheosis of Galatea
had a tremendous influence on later artists.
The French painter Nicholas Poussin (1594-1665) was drawn to the
past, es
pecially the history and mythology of classical antiquity. Like Raphaël, he was
attracted by Rome and spent all of his working life there; Raphaëä's work exerted a
profound influence on his style and composition. This can certainly be appreciated
in The
Triunph of Neptune and Anphitrite, although the subject matter is different,
the color palette darker, and the scene more emotional. Amphitrite occupies the
same space as Galatea; she rides in a seashell chariot drawn by dolphins and is the
central focus of the surrounding figures. Since both Galatea and Amphitrite were
daughters of the sea god Nereus, this association makes perfect sense. Neptune
Occupies the same place as the Cyclops Polyphemus in Piombo's fresco; he is the
father of the Cyclops and, from the left side, is gazing adoringly at Amphitrite. Al
though the cupids are multiplied and disposed in various ways at the top, they do
correspond to Raphaëls cupids, particularly the one beneath Amphitrite's chariot.
The two Triton figures and the amorous
couples are also replicated on either side
of Neptune's consort. In myth,
the advances of
Amphitrite, like Galatea,
at
least
at
first.
Poussin's
Neptune,
reveals the end of the
painting
spurned
story.
CkerrLook
The
Triumph
of
Neptune
and Amphitrite, by Nicolas
Poussin (594-1665): oil on
canvas, ca. 1637. 45 X 58 in.
Amphitrite is at the center,
accompanied by Nereids
and Iritons as she rides over
the sea in her shell drawn
by tour dolphins. Neptune
comes
alongside his bride
in a chariot drawn by tour
sea-horses. Above, winged
cupids
(one
with
buttertiy's
wings and one with a wedding
and in
torch) strew tlowers,
to the left
the
background
ride two cupids, above whom
fly
the
swans
of Venus.
Pous
sin exuberantly reinterprets a
theme found in Roman foor
mosaics and in Raphael's
fresco Galatea (ca. i512) in
the Villa Farnesina at
Rome.
(Philadelphia Museum of Art:
The George W. Elkins
Collec
tion, 1932 Photo by
Graydon
Wood)
172
Chapter 7
PosEIDON, SEA DEITIES, GROUP DIVINITIES, AND MoNSTERS
PONTUS M. GE
Nereus
Thaumas m. Electra
Phorcys m. Ceto
Eurybie
. Doris
50 Nereids
Figure 7.1.
Iris
Harpies
Graeae
Gorgons
Ladon
Descendants of the Sea
(an Oceanid) to produce Iris and the Harpies. Iris is the goddess of the rainbow
(her name means "rainbow"). She is also a messenger of the gods, sometimes
the particular servant of Hera, with Hermes' offices then confined to Zeus. She
is fleet-footed and winged, as are her sisters, the Harpies, but the Harpies are
much more violent in nature. In early sources, they are conceived of as strong
winds
name
are
depicted in
means "the
ture and in art as birdlike creatures with the faces of women, often terrifying
(their
snatchers"), but later they
litera
anda pestilence.
his
Ceto produce two groups of children, the Graeae and
the Gorgons. The Graeae (Aged Ones) are three sisters, personifications of old
age; their hair was gray from birth, but in their general aspect they appeared
Phorcys and
sister
swanlike and beautiful. They had, however, only one eye and one tooth, which
theywere forced to share among themselves.
The Graeae knew the way to their sisters, the Gorgons, who were also three in
number (Stheno, Euryale, and Medusa) and whose hair writhed with serpents.
They were of such terrifying aspect that those who looked upon them turned to
stone. Gorgons are a favorite theme in Greek art, especially in the early period;
they leer out most disconcertingy with a broad archaic smile, tongue pro-
truding in the midst of a row of bristling teeth. Medusa is the most important
MEDUSA M. POSEIDON
Chrysaor m. Callirhoe
Pegasus
Geryon
Echidna m. Orthus
Theban Sphinx
Figure 7.2.
Nemean Lion
Descendants of Medusa
Echidna m. Typhon
Cerberus
Lernaean Hydra
Chimaera
Interpretative Summary
173
orgon; Poseidon was her lover. She presents the greatest challenge to
he hero Perseus (see pp. 542-544), and when he beheaded her, she
was pregnarnt; from her corpse sprang a winged horse, Pegasus, and
son, Chrysaor (He of the Golden Sword).
Phorcys and Ceto also bore a dragon named Ladon; he helped the
ovely Hesperides (Daughters of Evening), who guarded a wondrous
ree on which grew golden fruit, far away in the West, and passed their
ime in beautiful singing.Heracles slew Ladon when he stole the apples
of the Hesperides (seep. 565).
Chrysaor mated with an Oceanid, Callirhoë, and produced the
monsters Geryon and Echidna (half nymph and half snake). Echidna
inited with Typhon and bore Orthus (the hound of Geryon),
Cerberus (the hound of Hades), the Lernaean hydra, and the
Chimaera. Echidna and Orthus produced the Theban Sphinx and
he Nemean lion. These monsters will appear later in saga to be
vercome
by heroes; many of them are particularly associated
vith the exploits of Heracles (see Chapter 22).
Interpretative Summary
The stories about waters of all sorts-rivers, lakes, the ocean, and
he seas-and the deities associated with them are numerous and
evealing They remind us of how important travel by sea was
o the Greeks and Romans and how control of the seas, particu-
arly the Mediterranean, was the key to power. The thalassocracy
sea-power) of Minoan Crete makes this perfectly clear, as does the
subsequent dominance of the Mycenaeans, the inheritors of Cretan contro.
Subsequently, the naval empire of Periclean Athens, in the fifth century BC,
confirms the vital importance of sea-power, and so does the mighty empire
cquired by the Romans, for whom their Mediterranean "lake" was the
entral focus.
That there were two major periods in the initial creation of Greek mythology
s made evident by the nature and extent of the travels of the seafarers, Theseus,
ason, Odysseus, and the survivors of the Trojan War in Minoan-Mycenaean
imes, with the contlation of geographical and historical events belonging to the
nistorical age of colonization after 1100 B.C. From both periods evolved the tur-
ulent and romantic tales about the various facets of waters and their deities and
he sea monsters to be overcome by heroes.
We have shown Poseidon, the major god of the sea, to be characterized by
erocity and violence. He is "the earthshaker," a deity of storms and earthquakes.
His powers are made evident by his association with bulls and horses. He is the
ather of the monstrous Cyclops Polyphemus, and his inexorable anger is a major
heme of Homer's Odyssey. Poseidon lost to the goddess Athena in a contest for
control of Athens, as we shall see in the next chapter. Yet the Athenians, great
seafarersthemselves,continued to give him great honor, and linked him particu
arly to their ancient king Erechtheus and his beautiful temple on the Acropolis.
oseidon was also said to be the true father of Theseus, the great national hero of
Athens, through the human figure of Aegeus, an Athenian king. who gives his
name to the Aegean Sea.
Neptune
and Triton, by Gian
Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680);
in.
Neptune (Poseidon) is shown
marble, 1619, height 71%
striding forward
angrily, sup
ported by Triton blowing his
conch. The scene is based
on Ovid's description ot
the Flood (see pp.
100-101
"Neptune struck the earth
with his trident"). The statue
stood above a pond in the
gardens of the Roman villa of
Cardinal Montalto, nephew of
Pope Sixtus V. (V&A Images,
London/Art Resource, NY)
174
Chapter
7
AND MONSTERS
PosEIDON, SEA DEITIES, GROUP DIVINITIES,
Tales about waters are often yarns spun by sailors, full of abounding imagi
both the
nation, exciting adventure, and wondrous embellishment, embracing
beautiful and the grotesque. Witness the fantastic variety in the character and
appearance of the
prone to stormy
progeny of the sea.
violence and anger.
toundly wise, appear
as
ageless
as
Poseidon is, like his domain, relentless and
Yet gods such as Nereus and Proteus, pro-
the
impenetrable sea
itself. Still other deities
mirror the unpredictable beauty and fascinating lure of the mysterious deep: the
lovely mermaids,
who can
change shape and
mood at will; the
beguiling Sirens
with their bewitching, lethal song; and monstrous Scylla and Charybdis, who
bring
terror, destruction, and death.
Select Bibliography
Barringer, Judith M. Divine Escorts: Nereids in Archaic and Classical Art. Ann Arbor:
University of Michigan Press, 1995.
Pevnick, Seth D, curator and editor, Poseidon and the Sea: Myth, Cult, and Daily Lif.
London: Tampa Museum of Art, 2014.
Tataki, B. Sounion: The Temple of Poseidon. University Park: Museum of the
University of Pennsylvania, 1985. Good illustrations of the famous temple of
Poseidon at Sunium, at the tip of Attica.
Primary Sources
Sources in the
Homeric Hymn 22
Ovid
Chapter
To Poseidon
Metamorphoses 13.839-897
Additional Sources
Apollodorus
Pausanias
Library 3.134-3.13.6: Peleus and Thetis
Description of Greece 2.1.6-2.1.9: Poseidon's dispute with
Helius; depictions of sea deities
Theocritus
ldylls
9 In which Theocritus tells a lovesick friend the
song
the cyclops sang to his beloved Galatea
Notes
Pelias became king of lolcus (see
p. 608) while Neleus founded Pylos (in Messene),
which was sacked by Heracles. Neleus and all his
sons, save only Nestor, weree
killed. Homer (liad 11. 682-704)
says that Neleus survived into old age. 1yro later
married her uncle Cretheus, the founder and king of lolcus, and by him she became
the mother of
Aeson, Pheres, and
Amythaeon.
Aeson
was the father of
and
Jason,
Pheres, founder of Pherae, was the father of Admetus, husband
of Alcestis. In order
to
marry Alcestis, Admetus had to perform the task of harnessing a lion and a boar
together to a chariot. For the recovery of Alcestis from the Underworld
Heracles,
see p. 266.
2. Poseidon Heliconius was
worshiped by lonian
Minor. It is uncertain whether the reference
by
Greeks, especially
in the
hymn
at
to Helicon
Mycale
(from
in Asia
which
10:21
S
91%
chegg.com/reade
Notes
175
Heliconius is derived) means Mt. Helicon (in Boeotia) or the town of Helice; Helice
and Aegae were both on the Corinthian gulf.
The result is the birth both of a daughter and of the wonderful horse Arion, which
belonged to the Thcban Adrastus. Similarly, Poseidon united with Ge to produce
Antaeus, a giant encountered by Heracles.
4. The horrifying Harpies are not unlike the beautiful Sirens, who lure human beings to
destruction and death by the enticement of their song
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