They were not only brothers, but they came from the same general archetype of god kings. The stories of their sons tie Zeus and Poseidon together as gods of a similar type. Theseus and Heracles both undertook similar labors to prove their worth, journeyed to the underworld, and were known for sharing their fathers’ love of women.
Their heroic sons, too, share many common traits. Both fathered many minor gods but, from several affairs, were also the fathers of kings and heroes. It is easy even at a casual glance to see the similarities between the sons of Zeus and Poseidon. He took his mortal father’s place as king and was remembered in Athenian history as a great reformer. Theseus had many other myths, including his trip to the underworld in an attempt to abduct Persephone, but was often remembered as one of the great founding kings of Athens. Theseus volunteered to take one of the places and, with the help of Minos’s daughter Ariadne, killed the Minotaur and found his way back out of the maze-like dungeon. The Cretan king had demanded that young Athenians be sent to his city as sacrifices to the Minotaur that was locked in the Labyrinth below Knossos. When he arrived in Athens, the city was under the control of King Minos of Crete. He encountered six underworld guardians on his journey but proved his heroism by slaying them each.
Theseus was raised by his mother but traveled to his human father’s lands as a teenager. This dual parentage gave Theseus his heroic nature but also provided the childless King Aegeus with an heir. Theseus was said to have miraculously been born to Aethra with both Poseidon and her human paramore, the king of Athens, as his fathers. In fact, many of Theseus’s legends involve him proving his divine origin to those who doubted his claim. Less in doubt was that Poseidon was the son of Theseus. There was some dispute over whether he was truly the son of a god, though, as some sources claimed that Eurynome’s human husband King Glaucus was actually his father. His mother was the Corinthian queen Eurynome. When he attempted to fly to Olympus to join the gods, he was struck down for his arrogance and presumption. While most of Greece’s legendary heroes were his nephews, Bellerophon and Theseus claimed Poseidon as their father.īellerophon was famous for using Pegasus, his half-brother, to kill the Chimera. Poseidon’s most well-known sons, however, were great hero. The Cyclopes of the Odyssey were sons of Poseidon, and the hero earned the god’s enmity by blinding Polyphemus early in his travels. The god of the sea was even the father to a few giants. He also had the immortal horse Areion with his sister Demeter when they both took equine forms. The most famous example is the winged horse Pegasus, who was his child with the monster Medusa. Often associated with horses, his sons sometimes took the form of his sacred animal. Poseidon was even the father of some non-human children. Often there was no specific myth connected to this claim, only family genealogies or local legends that claimed their forefathers were born to the great sea god. Many of the sons of Poseidon were legendary kings who were regarded as the founders of their respective states. Altogether, dozens of names are listed among his supposed children. Many sources identify different figures as children of Poseidon and his various mistresses. Like Zeus, Poseidon was the father of many heroes and kings of the Greek world. Much more famous, for both brothers, were those children born from their many affairs. Triton was a merman who served as his father’s herald and assistant. In Poseidon’s case he had only one son within his marriage. Poseidon however, was like his brother in that most of the children he had with his wife Amphitrite were minor gods who had little significance in mythology. Of course, both were married and had several children with their wives. By seduction or by force, they each had relationships with many nymphs, princesses, and even Olympian goddesses. Poseidon was the brother of Zeus, and beyond their famous tempers and ability to conjure storms the two seemed to share a very particular trait.īoth gods were famous, or infamous, for their many affairs.
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