How did Poseidon, of all gods, end up as the patron god of HORSES?!

[Bucky]

He's the SEA god, for gosh sakes; I mean, it's not like we're talking about sea horses. It's just regular ol' hoof horses, right? It seems like Olympus needs some serious reorganization.

This is Poseidon


But this makes no sense
[center] [/center]

[blogslut]

1. Because he really liked horses...

really. really. liked. horses.

[Bucky]

2. l'gasp!!

I'm not sure what you're implying, young lady

[blogslut]

3. neigh, but I am

eek

[raccoon]

4. Because of sea horses? nt

[Bucky]

7. I thought about that, but I'm not sure how well obscure life forms were known at that time

In looking up more about it, I found that Poseidon seems to be an ancient adaptation of pre-migration protoGreek tribes (descendents of the Achaeans who moved from the central steppes into today's Greece & Anatolia) and was probably originally a god of thunder and horses (not a tough association if you think about what being in the middle of stampeded might feel like). His worship is probably older than that of Zeus--note how he is the central player, alongside Athena & Hera, in the Illiad & Odyssey--and at one time was probably the central god of the Achaean pantheon. Giving him domain over the oceans, they theorize, was part of a compromise as the tribes of the region blended pantheons and oral traditions with the Mycenaeans and other Mediterranean tribes before the development of writing.

[pinboy3niner]

5. "Oarses! I said I wanted to be the patron god of OARSES, dammit!"

[Bucky]

6. !!

well played

[frogmarch]

8. Because

At one point he desired Demeter. To deter him, Demeter asked him to make the most beautiful animal that the world had ever seen. So, in an effort to impress her, Poseidon created the first horse. In some accounts, his first attempts were unsuccessful and created a variety of other animals in his quest; thus, by the time the horse was created, his passion for Demeter had diminished.

http://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Poseidon/poseidon.html

And there we have it.

[Bucky]

9. very interesting

although I was looking for a more anthropological (and not so mythological) answer, this is a charming story. And what a contrast to the way Zeus did his courting by deception and date-raping

[cemaphonic]

10. He was also the earthquake god

When that would have been a more sensible role for Hades, or perhaps Hephaestus.

Maybe he was just greedy. Even by Greek God standards, he always comes across as a giant asshole with a chip on his shoulder.

[yuiyoshida]

11. HE REALLY HATES horses...

Now, Sea Horses, I am sure he had a stable full !

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. That's not Poseidon.

That's Aquaman after two months at deer camp.

[Recursion]

12. The comparison between breakers and horses the second portrait alludes to is the reason

Proto-Indo-Europeans knew about horses but not oceans. So when they saw oceans (like, say in Greece, but also in India and Iran) they compared them to the only other really really powerful thing they knew: horses.

[UTUSN]

13. *Never* question the ancient Greeks!1 K?!1 n/t

[denbot]

14. Because as a Sea God there was NEVER any chance of him having to shovel out a stable.

Clever, very clever!

[aidbo]

15. Here's how I see it.

Last edited Wed Dec 2, 2015, 03:56 PM - Edit history (1)

According to Wikipedia (which I'll use as an ok source for this) He's the God of the sea, earthquakes, storms, and horses. So.... All of those things can be said to shake the earth.

Earth quakes - obviously.

The pounding waves of the sea can be felt on the shore. The storms that roar, crack and thunder the islands shake the earth.

And a herd of horses galloping could shake the earth as well.

[white_wolf]

16. Why is he god of storms?

Did he just steal Zeus's job? Actually, he'd probably do better than Zeus. Zeus always came across as the most petty of the Greek Gods.

[aidbo]

20. Hey I don't make the ancient myth rules,

I just poorly interpret them.

[malthaussen]

24. Thunder. He stole Zeus's thunder. n/t

[annabanana]

17. He was Captain Jinks of the Horse Marines!. .

?sequence=7

[Angry Dragon]

19. SEAHORSES

[FSogol]

21. Duuno, but it is a common theme. The Celtic sea god, Manannán mac Lir

also had a horse named Enbarr that pulled his boat.

[Generic Brad]

22. Because you can lead a horse to water

So there's always that!

[kentauros]

23. His birth has a connection to horses:

[font size="3"]Poseidon[/font]

According to others, he was concealed by Rhea, after his birth, among a flock of lambs, and his mother pretended to have given birth to a young horse, which she gave to Cronos to devour.

And then there's the fact that he's the creator of the horse:

He was further regarded as the creator of the horse, and was accordingly believed to have taught men the art of managing horses by the bridle, and to have been the originator and protector of horse races. (Hom. Il. xxiii. 307, 584; Pind. Pyth. vi.50 ; Soph. Oed. Col. 712, &c.) Hence he was also represented on horseback, or riding in a chariot drawn by two or four horses, and is designated by the epithets hippios, hippeios, or hippios anax. (Paus. i. 30. § 4, viii. 25. § 5, vi. 20. § 8, viii. 37. § 7 ; Eurip. Phoen. 1707; comp. Liv. i. 9, where he is called equester.) In consequence of his connection with the horse, he was regarded as the friend of charioteers (Pind. Ol. i. 63, &c.; Tzetz. ad Lyc. 156), and he even metamorphosed himself into a horse, for the purpose of deceiving Demeter.

The common tradition about Poseidon creating the horse is as follows:-- when Poseidon and Athena disputed as to which of them should give the name to the capital of Attica, the gods decided, that it should receive its name from him who should bestow upon man the most useful gift. Poseidon their created the horse, and Athena called forth the olive tree, for which the honour was conferred upon her. (Serv. ad Virg. Georg. i. 12.) According to others, however, Poseidon did not create the horse in Attica, but in Thessaly, where he also gave the famous horses to Peleus. (Lucan, Phars. vi. 396, &c.; Hom. Il. xxiii. 277; Apollod. iii. 13. § 5.)