Editing Poseidon (section)

==Bronze Age Greece==
===Linear B (Mycenean Greek) inscriptions===
If surviving Linear B [[clay tablet]]s can be trusted, the 
names ''po-se-da-wo-ne'' and ''Po-se-da-o'' ("Poseidon")<ref name=Posedao/> occur 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]].{{original research inline|date=February 2025}}

Poseidon was the chief god at [[Pylos]]. The title ''wa-na-ka'' appears in the inscriptions. Poseidon was identified with ''wanax'' from the [[Homer]]ic era to classical Greece. ([[anax]]). The title didn't mean only king, but also protector. ''Wanax'' had chthonic aspects, and he was closely associated with Poseidon, who had the title "Lord of the Underworld". The chthonic nature of Poseidon is also indicated by his title ''E-ne-si-da-o-ne'' (Earth-shaker) in Mycenean [[Knossos]] and [[Pylos]]. Through [[Homer]] the epithet was also used in classical Greece. (ennosigaios, ennosidas).{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=180-185}}

''[[Potnia|Po-tini-ja]]'' ([[potnia]]: lady or mistress) was the chief goddess at [[Pylos]] and she was closely associated with Poseidon. She was the Mycenean goddess of nature and Poseidon—''Wanax'' is one from the gods who may be considered her "male paredros". The ''earth shaker'' received offerings in the cave of the goddess of childbirth [[Eileithyia]] at [[Amnisos]] in [[Crete]]. Poseidon is allied with ''Potnia'' and the divine child.{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=175–180, 220}}

''Wa-na-ssa'' ([[anassa]]:queen or lady) appears in the inscriptions usually in plural. (Wa-na-ssoi). The dual number is common in [[Indo-European studies|Indoeuropean]] grammar (usually for chthonic deities like the [[Erinyes]]) and the duality was used for [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]] in classical Greece (the double named goddesses).<ref name=Stallmith>A.B. Stallmith in GRBS 18(2008) p.117,119, "The name of Demeter Thesmophoros".[https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228370663_The_Name_of_Demeter_Thesmophoros/fulltext/0000835a0cf23f86393d507b/The-Name-of-Demeter-Thesmophoros.pdf p.116]</ref><ref name=Mylonas1>Mylonas, "Mycenean age", p.159: "Wa-na-ssoi, wa-na-ka-te, (to the two queens and the king). Wanax is best suited to Poseidon, the special divinity of Pylos. The identity of the two divinities addressed as wanassoi, is uncertain"</ref> ''Potnia'' and ''wanassa'' refer to identical deities or two aspects of the same deity.{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=180-185}}

''E-ri-nu'' ([[Erinys]]) is attested in the inscriptions.<ref>Chadwick, [https://archive.org/details/mycenaeanworld00chad/page/98 p. 98].</ref> In some ancient cults ''Erinys'' is related to Poseidon and her name is an epithet of [[Demeter]].<ref name =Farnell/>

It is possible that Demeter appears as ''Da-ma-te'' in a Linear B inscription (PN EN 609), however the interpretation is still under dispute.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ventris |first1=Michael |last2=Chadwick |first2=John |title=Documents in Mycenean Greek |date=21 May 2015 |page=242 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-50341-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AkgPCAAAQBAJ}}</ref>{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|page=172 n. 218}} ''Si-to [[Potnia|Po-tini-ja]]'' is probably related with Demeter as goddess of grain.<ref name= Mylonas2>Mylonas, "Mycenean age", p. 159-161.</ref>

Tablets from Pylos record sacrificial goods destined for "the Two ladies and the Lord" (or "to the Two Queens and the King": ''wa-na-soi'', ''wa-na-ka-te''). ''Wa-na-ssoi'' may be related with [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]], or their precursors, goddesses who were not associated with Poseidon in later periods.<ref name=Potniai>"In Greek popular religion, the chthonic ''Potniai'' (''Wanassoi'') and the ''Erinyes'' are closely related to the Eleusinian Demeter":Dietrich, p.179-180 [https://books.google.com/books?id=TZVsDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA189 The origins of Greek religion 189-190]</ref><ref name=Mylonas1/>

===Mycenean cult===
During the [[Mycenean Greece|Mycenean]] period, the ancestral male gods of the Myceneans were probably not represented in human forms, and the information given by the tablets found at [[Pylos]] and [[Knossos]] is insufficient.<ref name=Mylonas2/> Poseidon was the chief deity at [[Pylos]] and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]]. He is identified with [[Anax]] and he carried the title "Master of the Underworld".{{cn|date=August 2024}} Anax had probably a cult associated with the protection of the palace.{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=180-185}} In [[Acrocorinth]] he was worshipped as ''Poseidon Anax'' during the Mycenean age.{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=175–180}} In the city there was the famous spring [[Peirene (fountain)|Peirene]] which in a myth is related to the winged horse [[Pegasus]].<ref name=Geschichte2>Nilsson, "Geschicte", p.449,450</ref> In [[Attica]] there was a cult of ''Anax heroes'' who was connected to Poseidon.{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=175–180}} A cult title of Poseidon was "earth-shaker" and in [[Knossos]] he was worshipped together with the goddess [[Eleithyia]] who was related to the annual birth of the divine child.{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=175–180}} [[Potnia]] was the Mycenean goddess of nature and she was the consort of Poseidon at Pylos. She is mentioned together with [[bucranium|bucrania]] in decorated jugs and he was associated with the animals and especially to the bull.{{sfn|Dietrich|2004|pages=180-185}} In Athens Poseidon was an inland god who created the salt-sea ''Erecthēιs'' ({{lang|grc|Ερεχθηίς}}), "sea of Erechtheus". In Acropolis his cult was superimposed on the cult of the local ancestral figure [[Erechtheus]].<ref name=Burkert1985Poseidon /> In Athens and [[Asine]] he was worshipped in the house of the king during the Mycenean period.<ref name=Geschichte2/> The bull was the favourite animal for sacrifices and it seems that horses were rarely used during the burial of the Mycenean leaders.<ref name=Mylonas2/>

===Arcadian myths===
[[File:Poseidon pursuing Met 41.162.139.jpg|thumb|left|220px|Poseidon pursuing a woman, probably by [[Achilles Painter|Achilleus painter]], 480-450BC. [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], Manhattan NY]]
In the [[Arcadia (region)|Arcadian]] myths, Poseidon is related to [[Demeter]] and [[Despoina]] (another name of ''Kore- Persephone'') and he was worshipped with the surname ''Hippios'' in many Arcadian cities.<ref name=Hard/> At [[Thelpusa]] and [[Phigalia]] there were sister worships which are very important for the study of primitive religions. In these cults Demeter and Poseidon were chthonic divinities of the underworld.<ref name=Farnell>[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56574/page/49/mode/2up Farnell Cults III, 50-55]</ref>

Near [[Thelpusa]] the river [[Ladon (river)|Ladon]] descended to the sunctuary of Demeter ''[[Erinys]]'' (Demeter-Fury). During her wandering in search of her daughter Demeter changed into a mare to avoid Poseidon. Poseidon took the form of a stallion and after their mating she gave birth to a daughter whose name was not allowed to be told to the unitiated and a horse called [[Arion (horse)|Arion]] (very swift). Her daughter obviously had the shape of a mare too. At first Demeter became angry and she was given the surname [[Erinys]] (fury) by the Thelpusians.<ref name=Farnell/><ref name=Hard/> The [[Erinyes]] were deities of vangeance, and ''Erinys'' had a similar function with the goddess [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]] (Justice).<ref name=Bowra>Bowra,"The Greek experience", p.67-121</ref> In the very old myth of Thelpusa Demeter-Erinys and Poseidon are divinities of the underworld in a pre-mythic period. Poseidon appears as a horse. In [[Greeks|Greek]] folklore the horses had chthonic associations and it was believed that they could create springs.<ref name=Hard/> In [[Europe]]an folklore the water-creatures or water-spirits appear with the shape of a horse or a bull. In Greece the river god [[Achelous|Acheloos]] is represented like a bull or a man-bull.<ref name=Grimm>Nilsson, "Geschichte" Vol I, 450 and 450A4: J.Grimm, "Deutsche Mythology": Horse and springs, horse as a water-spirit</ref> Many people when sacrificed to Demeter should make a premilinary sacrifice to Acheloos <ref name=Farnell/>

At [[Phigalia]] Demeter had a sanctuary in a cavern and she was given the surname ''Melaina'' (black). The goddess was related to the black undeworld. In a similar myth Poseidon appears as horse and Demeter gives birth to a daughter whose name was not allowed to be told to the unitiated (At [[Lycosura]] her daughter was called [[Despoina]]). Demeter angry with Poseidon put on a black dressing and shut herself in the cavern. When the fruits of the earth were perished, [[Zeus]] sent the [[Moirai]] to Demeter who listened to them and led aside her wrath. In this cult we have traces of a very old cult of Demeter and Poseidon as deities of the underworld.<ref name=Farnell/>

[[File:Bayreuth Hofgarten Neues Schloss, Neptun-Poseidon (Original, Orangerie), 11.07.08.jpg|thumb|right|Statue of Poseidon in Germany by Johann David Räntz and Lorenz Wilhelm Räntz (1760).]]

In another Arcadian myth when [[Rhea (mythology)|Rhea]] had given birth to Poseidon, she told [[Cronus]] that she had given birth to a horse, and gave him a foal to swallow instead of the child.<ref name=Hard/><ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Paus.+8.8.2&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160 Pausanias 8.8.2]</ref> In the [[Homer]]ic Hymn Demeter puts a dark mourning robe around her shoulders as a sign of her sorrow.<ref name=Farnell/> Demeter's mare-form was worshipped into historical times. The [[xoanon]] of ''Melaina ''at Phigalia 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.<ref>L. H. Jeffery (1976). ''Archaic Greece: The Greek city states c.800-500 B.C'' (Ernest Benn Limited) p 23 {{ISBN|0-510-03271-0}}</ref>

===Boeotian myths===
The myth of Poseidon appearing as a horse and mating with Demeter was not localized in Arcadia. At [[Haliartos]] in [[Boeotia]] near [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] Poseidon appears as stallion. He mates with [[Erinys]] near the spring of ''Tilpousa'' and she gives birth to the faboulous horse [[Arion (horse)|Arion]].<ref name=Hard/> At Tilpusa we have a very old cult of the chthonic deities ''Erinys'' and Poseidon. The water-god Poseidon<ref name=Farnellwatergod >Farnell CultsIII,53 [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.56574/page/53/mode/2up Farnell CultsIII, 53]</ref> appears as a horse which seems to represent the water-spirit <ref name=Grimm/> and ''Erinys'' is probably the personification of a revenging earth-spirit.<ref name=Erinys>Nilsson "Geschichte", Vol I, p.100-101</ref><ref name=Bowra/> From earlier times at [[Delphi]] Poseidon was joined in a religious union with the earth-goddess [[Gaia|Ge]]. She is represented as a snake which is a form of the earth-spirit.<ref name=Farnellwatergod/>

In the [[Theogony]] of [[Hesiod]] Poseidon once slept with the monstrous [[Medousa]] near the mountain [[Mount Helicon|Helikon]]. She conceived the winged horse [[Pegasus]] who sprang out of her body when Perseus cut off her head. Pegasus stuck the ground with his hoof and created the famous spring [[Hippocrene]] near Helikon.<ref name=Hard/> 
 
[[Praxidice|Praxidicai]] were female deities of judicial punishment worshipped in the region of Haliartos in the historical times. Ttheir origin is probably the same with ''Erinys''. Their images depicted only the heads of the goddesses probably a representation of the earth goddess emerging from the ground.<ref name=Farnell/> [[Praxidice]] is and epithet of [[Persephone]] in the [[Orphism (religion)|Orphic Hymn]]. Persephone is sometimes depicted with her head emerging from the ground.<ref>Burkert, "Greek religion", p.42</ref><ref>Nilsson, "Geschichte" Vol I, p.472: "Anodos of Pherephata", Tables 39,1 and 39,2</ref>