Poseidons Loves and Their Children

Poseidon's Loves and Their Children The Greek god of the sea, Poseidon brother of the gods Zeus and Hades, and of the goddesses Hera, Demeter, and Hestia was associated not just with the sea but also with horses. Its difficult to even for historians to track the myriad lovers and children of the Greek gods. Some estimates put the count at well over a hundred, with the lovers being mostly but not exclusively female. In some cases, ancient authorities differ, so the exact lineage and relationships remain open to debate. Nevertheless, several of the gods various consorts and offspring remain mythologically significant in their own right. Amphitrite,  His Consort Placed somewhere between the Nereids  and the Oceanids, Amphitrite the daughter of Nereus and Doris never obtained the fame she might have earned as Poseidons consort. Vaguely personified as the sea or seawater, she became the mother of Triton (a merman) and possibly of a daughter, Rhodos.   Other Lovers Poseidon enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh, seeking romance with goddesses, humans, nymphs and other creatures. Not even physical form mattered to him: He could, and often did, transform himself or his lovers into animals so as to hide in plain sight. Aphrodite, goddess of love and beautyAmymone, the blameless Danaid who became an ancestor of the founders of MycenaePelops, king of Pelepponesia and a founder of the Olympic GamesLarissa, a nymph, whose three sons with Poseidon eventually ruled all of ThessalyCanace, a human woman who bore the god five childrenAlcyone, one of the Pleiades, who bore Poseidon  several children Sexual Violence Poseidon, like many of the Greek gods, did not behave with perfect moral rectitude. In fact, many of the stories of Poseidon focus on rape. In the myths, he raped Medusa in the temple of Athena and Athena was so angry she turned Medusa ugly and her hair into snakes. In another story, he raped Caenis and after he fell in love with her, he granted her wish of transforming her into a male warrior named Caeneus. In yet another story, Poseidon pursued the goddess, Demeter. To escape, she turned herself into a mare but he transformed into a stallion and cornered her. Significant  Offspring Some of Poseidons most notable children include: Charybdis, the sea monster who (with Scylla) threatened the Strait of MessinaTheseus, the hero who served as the mythological founder of AthensBellerophon, the hero who captured Pegasus and killed the Chimera  Polyphemus, the one-eyed giant from  The OdysseyProcrustes, the villain  who owned an iron bed to which he made his guests fit by means of his hammer Pegasus itself,  the famed winged horse, sprung from Medusas neck when Perseus delivered the fatal blow. Some legends suggest that Poseidon fathered Pegasus, which would have made the horse half-brothers with his captor, Bellerophon. Some legends even suggest  that Poseidon sired the ram that bore the Golden Fleece!