Poseidon | Ποσειδών | Neptune

Poseidon is the God of the seas oceans and rivers. While minor gods and goddesses rule individual bodies, Poseidon is the ruler of them. In an essence he is like the Zeus of the waters. He is often called the Earth-Shaker, because among storms of the sea and the sea's movement itself, he is the god of earthqukes.

6. Poseithohn (Poseidon; Gr. Ποσειδῶν, ΠΟΣΕΙΔΩΝ.) Pronounced: poh-see-THOHN', accent on the last syllable; the d (delta) at the beginning of the last syllable is pronounced like a soft th as in this, not like the th in theory.) [Roman: Neptune. Etruscan: Nethuns]

Poseithohn is one of the most important deities of Hellenismos and one of the Twelve Olympian Gods. He is the son of Kronos (Cronus; Gr. Κρόνος) and Ræa (Rhea; Gr. Ῥέα), brother of Zefs (Zeus; Gr. Ζεύς) and Ploutohn (Pluto; Gr. Πλούτων) as well as Æstia (Hestia; Gr. Ἑστία) and Dimitir (Demeter; Gr. Δημήτηρ).

In the common mythology, Poseithohn has a particular interest in horses and, naturally, sailors. He is the great shaker of the earth who produce is said to produce earthquakes.

Poseithohn has dominion over the Natural Law of Progress or Evolution.

Poseithohn is Zefs (Zeus) of the Sea and the Middle Sky. His dominion begins from just above the surface of the Earth and just above the sea-floor. Ploutohn has dominion of the sea-floor and the Earth (and just a little above), but beyond this is the domain of Poseithohn. The area which includes the Sea and extending above the Sea and above the Earth up to the Yposælinia (Hyposelenia; Gr. Υποσελήνια), the area just below the moon, is the domain of Poseithohn.

The area from the Earth up to the moon is called the Middle Sky. This realm, the Middle Sky, is where the souls are said to float between lives [1]; it is here where also dwell the Gods and Goddesses of the Middle Sky, such as Ækati. According to Diogænis Laærtios (Diogenes Laërtius; Gr. Διογένης Λαέρτιος) in his biography of the ancient philosopher Pythagoras (Gr. Πυθαγόρας):

"When cast out upon the earth, it (ed. the soul) wanders in the air like the body. Hermes is the steward of souls, and for that reason is called Hermes the Escorter, Hermes the Keeper of the Gate, and Hermes of the Underworld, since it is he who brings in the souls from their bodies both by land and sea ; and the pure are taken into the uppermost region, but the impure are not permitted to approach the pure or each other, but are bound by the Furies in bonds unbreakable. The whole air is full of souls which are called Genii or Heroes; these are they who send men dreams and signs of future disease and health, and not to men alone, but to sheep also and cattle as well; and it is to them that purifications and lustrations, all divination, omens and the like, have reference. The most momentous thing in human life is the art of winning the soul to good or to evil. Blest are the men who acquire a good soul; [if it be bad] they can never be at rest, nor ever keep the same course two days together." [2]

Since he is the lord of the Sea and the Middle Sky, Poseithohn has dominion over all the souls in the Sea. Poseithohn also has dominion over all the souls of those who are between lives who dwell in the Middle Sky, while Ploutohn rules the souls of those between lives who dwell in the lower sky next to the earth, they who are called the landed daimons because they are tied to the earth because of crimes they have committed. Above the Middle Sky is the dominion of Olympian Zefs. Therefore, these are the three Gods we call Zefs: Olympian Zefs, Poseithohn (Zefs of the Sea and the Middle Sky), and Ploutohn (Terrestrial Zefs, Zefs of the Earth), as explained by Proklos:

"He (ed. Olympian Zefs) is also the summit of the three, has the same name with the fontal Jupiter, is united to him, and is monadically called Jupiter. But the second is called dyadically, marine Jupiter, and Neptune (ed. Poseidon). And the third is triadically denominated, terrestrial Jupiter, Pluto, and Hades. The first of these also preserves, fabricates, and vivifies summits, but the second, things of a second rank, and the third those of a third order. Hence this last is said to have ravished Proserpine, that together with her he might animate the extremities of the universe." [3]

In the symbolism of the Orphic egg, Ploutohn is the yolk, Zefs is the cortex (the outer layer), Poseithohn is the middle section (the liquid or "white"); these are the three Zefs.
In iconography, Poseithohn is depicted as fully mature and bearded, powerful and severe, wielding the trident and often accompanied by horses or sea-creatures.

In Orphic Cosmology:
Poseithohn rules the sixth Orphic House, the month of Pisces (Gr. Ιχθείς) from February 21 through March 20, and his dominion is the Natural Law of Progress or Evolution. The Divine Consort of Poseithohn is the Goddess Dimitir (Demeter). The Orphic Hymns suggest an offering of myrrh to Poseithohn. Labdanum is another traditional offering.

POSEITHOHN, ZEFS, AND PLOUTO from Proklos [4]

That the name Neptune (ed. Poseithon) is now triply analysed. For Neptune is the trident-bearer, and the Tritons, and Amphitrite are the familiars of this God. And the first analyzation of his name is from the allotment over which he presides, and from souls coming into generation, in whom the circle of sameness is fettered; since the sea is analogous to generation. But the second is from communion with the first.

αλλα Ζευς προτερος γεγονει, και πλειονα ηδει.
But Jove (ed. Zefs) was born first, and more he knew.

For a Jupiter (ed. Zefs) of this kind, is the proximate intelligible of Neptune (ed. Poseithohn). But the third analysis of his name is from his energy in externals. For he is motive of nature, and vivific (ed. life-generating) of things last. He is also the guardian of the earth, and excites it to generation.

That Neptune (ed. Poseithohn) is an intellectual demiurgic God, who receives souls descending into generation; but Hades (ed. Aithis) is an intellectual demiurgic God, who frees souls from generation. For as our whole period receives a triple division, into a life prior to generation, which is Jovian, into a life in generation which is Neptunian, and into a life posterior to generation which is Plutonian; Pluto, who is characterised by intellect, very properly converts ends to beginnings, effecting a circle without a beginning, and without an end, not only in souls, but also in every fabrication of bodies, and in short, of all periods; - which circle also, he perpetually convolves. Thus for instance, he converts the ends to the beginnings of the souls of the stars, and the convolutions of souls about generation, and the like. And hence Jupiter (ed. Zefs) is the guardian of the life of souls prior to generation.



EPITHETS OF POSEITHOHN

Æmpylios - (Empylios; Gr. Ἐμπύλιος, ΕΜΠΥΛΙΟΣ) at the gate, epith. of Artemis Hecate, Orphic Argonaftika 902: Boeot. ἐμπύληος ( = -λαιος), epith. of Poseidon at Thebes, IG 7.2465 (iv/iii B. C.). (L&S p. 549, left column)

Chamaizelos - See Khamaizilos.

Khamaizilos - (Chamaizelos; Gr. Χαμαίζηλος, ΧΑΜΑΙΖΗΛΟΣ. Etym. Χᾰμαί means on the ground, on the earth; ζῆλος means jealousy or envy, so he likes to be on the Earth) Khamaizilos is Khthonic Zefs = Ploutohn, or Khthonic Poseithohn.
- Ζεὺς χ., = χθόνιος, Orph.A.931; Ποσειδῶν χ. IG22.1367. (L&S p. 1975, right column, within the entries beginning with χᾰμαι-γενής, sub-heading χᾰμαί-ζηλος)

Nymphagætis - (Gr. Νυμϕᾱγέτης, ΝΥΜΦΑΓΕΤΗΣ) leader of the Nymphs.
- Lexicon entry: νυμφᾱ-γέτς, ου, ὁ, leader of the Nymphs, epith. of Poseidon, Corn.ND 22; of Pan, IG42(1).130.15 (Epid.) ; cf. νυμφηγέτης. (L&S p. 1184, left column, within the entries beginning with νυμφᾱ-γενής)

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NOTES:

[1] "All soul, whether without mind or with it, when it has issued from the body is destined to wander <in> the region between earth and moon..." (Plutarch's Moralia, Concerning the Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon, Chap. 28, 943C; trans. Harold Cherniss and William C. Helmbold, 1957, Plutarch's Moralia Vol. XII; found here in the 1967 Loeb edition, Harvard Univ. Press (Cambridge MA USA)-William Heinemann (London England), p. 201)

[2] Diogænis Laærtios The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, Book 8.31, trans. by C. D. Yonge, 1828; Henry G. Bohn Publ. (London, England).

[3] Extract from the Manuscript Scolia of Proclus On the Cratylus of Plato, found in The Theology of Plato/Proclus, trans. Thomas Taylor, Prometheus Trust (Somerset UK), Vol. VIII of The Thomas Taylor Series, p. 683. See more of this in the brief essay entitled Kronos and His Three Sons on this page: KRONOS - ΚΡΌΝΟΣ

[4] Ibid. Thomas Taylor, pp. 685-686.
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