Poseidon
by CTCWeb Editors
Associated Rituals
An important part of the nature of a god or goddess may be discerned from the rituals performed for the favor of that god or goddess. Students should look at the rituals performed in favor of Poseidon. Students will also want to look at where the rituals are performed, who performs the rituals and whether the societies that include these rituals in their religious practices worship only Poseidon or Poseidon along with other gods and goddesses.
Below are some archaeological and textual examples of ritual sacrifices to Poseidon and rituals that are part of the festivals for Poseidon.
Textual
Delos, Koinon of the Poseidoniasts - The Poseidoniast was built by Syrian merchants and ship owners from Beirut to be used as a “guild hall or club house.” The Syrian merchants and ship owners worshipped Baal, who was identified with Poseidon so this hall or club house was known as a Poseidoniast.
Apollodorus 1.9.16 - This passage describes a sacrifice at the sea to Poseidon.
Apollodorus 2.5.7, 3.1.3 - Poseidon sent a bull from the sea when Minos promised to sacrifice to Poseidon what appeared from the sea. When Minos saw how beautiful the bull was, he kept the bull and sacrificed another in its place. This angered Poseidon who drove the bull to act savagely.
Aristophanes, Birds line 567 - Suppliants immolate sheep to Poseidon.
Diodorus Siculus, Book 12, 48.1 - The Athenians dedicated a captured ship to Poseidon, god of the isthmus.
Diodorus Siculus, Book 13, 86.3 - Hamilcar sacrificed many cattle to Poseidon by drowning them in the sea according to his customs.
Diodorus Siculus, Book 15, 49.1 - “In Ionia nine cities were in the habit of holding a common assemblage of all the Ionians and of offering sacrifices of great antiquity on a large scale to Poseidon.”
Herodotus 4.59.1- The Scythians performed rituals for many of the Greek gods and leaders, sacrificed to Poseidon. They called Poseidon “Thagimasadas.”
Herodotus 4.118.1 - The nomads had a special way of sacrificing to Poseidon. First they would cut a piece from a victim’s ear and toss it over the house. After this they would strangle the victim. The nomads who dwelled by the Tritonian lake sacrificed to Athena, Triton and Poseidon unlike the others who sacrificed only to the moon and sun.
Homer, Odyssey 1.23 - The Ethiopians sacrifice a hecatomb of bulls and rams to Poseidon and Poseidon himself attends the feast.
Homer, Odyssey 3.40-48, 179 - Nestor and Athena, disguised as a stranger, pour libations of honeyed wine and burn the thighs of many bulls in honor of Poseidon.
Homer, Odyssey 9.525 - The Cyclopes stretched his hands to the sky as he prayer that his father, Poseidon, should not allow Odysseus to return home. Odysseus had just blinded the Cyclopes.
Homer, Odyssey 11.130, 23.278 - Tiereisias tells Odysseus to make “goodly offerings to lord Poseidon” of a ram, a bull and a boar “that mates with sows.” Odysseus is to do this to gain the favor of Poseidon who at this time refuses to allow Odysseus to return home. Homer, Odyssey 13.180 - In an effort to prevent an oracle from coming true, the Phaeacians will sacrifice twelve of the best bulls to Poseidon so that he might take pity on them. The oracle told that Poseidon would throw a mountain on the city of the Phaeacians if they conveyed safe passage to all men.
Pausanias 8.5.5 - Aepytus, the son of Hippothous, dared to enter the sanctuary of Poseidon at Mantineia, into which no mortal was allowed. After he entered the sanctuary he was stuck blind and eventually died. Pausanias 8.7.2 - “In olden times the Argives cast horses adorned with bridles down into Dine as an offering to Poseidon.” Pausanias 10.5.6 - Pausanias quotes a poet who says that Poseidon and Earth shared an oracle. Poseidon used Pyrcon as a mouth piece to give his oracular responses.
Plutarch, Theseus 6.1 - The people of Troezen honored Poseidon as the patron god of their city. They offer him the first fruits of the harvest and their coinage displays his trident. Plutarch, Theseus 36.4 - The Troezens honored Poseidon on the eighth day of each month. Plutarch explains that the number eight is an appropriate number for Poseidon since the “first cube of an even number and the double of the first square, fitly represents the . . . Securer and Earth-stayer.”
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1495 - An ox is sacrificed to the sea-god Poseidon.
Strabo, The Geography 8.7.2 - The Ionians offered Pan-Ionian sacrifices to Heliconian Poseidon. The Ionians believed that omens were presented when the bull they sacrificed bellowed upon being sacrificed.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 2.84.4 - The Athenians captured twelve ships and dedicated a ship to Poseidon for their victory.
