Why is Poseidon's sense of existence so embarrassing as a Poseidon?

Although linguistically correct? Poseidon? There are still differences on the analysis of the word Mycenae, but what is certain is that it appeared as early as Mycenae. In addition, in Mycenae's time, his position in the Peloponnesus may be more important than Zeus. His original priesthood may not be Poseidon, but the evolutionary order of his priesthood should be: horse god/water god (before Mycenae)? Land God/Horse God (Mycenae era)? Poseidon/Ma Shen (from Mycenae). Besides, he is the only god who shakes the earth.

First, the decline of Poseidon's status began in Homer's time, and Zeus became the highest god. Poseidon, as the younger brother of Zeus and the highest sea god, has always had a high reputation and theoretical status. But in fact, the areas he worships are often in the isthmus of Corinth and coastal areas. In fact, Poseidon's decline in status can be said to be inevitable.

First of all, after the demise of Mycenae, the residents of Greece were no longer Mycenae, and their religious beliefs were inevitably linked with the residents. Therefore, when the residents change, Poseidon's position will inevitably be affected.

Secondly, Greece has always been a society that attaches importance to agriculture. When Poseidon's clergy changed, it was not surprising that his position declined.

In the early days of ancient times, the influence of Homer and hesiod's works and the rise of immigration led to the spread of religion. Some colonies were named after Poseidon, in other words, the worship area of Poseidon was increased to some extent. The East Moss Games became a pan-Greek sport, which enhanced Poseidon's reputation.

In classical times, Poseidon's position was greatly improved because of the victory of the Persian War. He is a good example in Athens: before the war, he was an indispensable but not very high-ranking god, and his celebrations were only small-scale; After the war, his status was greatly improved, and his celebration festival became a city-state festival.

Generally speaking, in the classical era, Poseidon's actual position still lags far behind his theoretical position.

First of all, his worship field is not extensive; Secondly, because of the clergy and the undeveloped fishery, he was not valued in the ancient Greek society, which emphasized agriculture. Thirdly, judging from the image in Greek mythology, Poseidon is more savage, that is to say, he represents a kind of natural force more, so in the increasingly civilized ancient Greek society, he naturally can't stand more worship.

Of course, Poseidon is still concerned about his priesthood, such as earthquakes, going out to sea for business or fishing, and people still pray or sacrifice to Poseidon.

Generally speaking, in the Mycenae era, Poseidon was a god with high theoretical and practical status. After Mycenae, his theoretical position has been very high, but his actual position lags far behind his theoretical position.

What would the Greek world be like without Poseidon? To analyze whether a god is indispensable, then we can try to see the influence of his absence. So, what would the Greek world look like if Poseidon disappeared?

Before making such a hypothesis, we must reconfirm Poseidon's priestly status: Poseidon, Horse God and Earthquake God.

1. If Poseidon does not exist, Poseidon is not the only Poseidon, but the tallest and most powerful Poseidon. In mythology, there are many other Poseidon, such as Nereus and his fifty daughters, namely Nereidis, Prut Aus, Glaucus and so on.

From this point of view, even if Poseidon does not exist, then the Greeks are expected to turn to worship other sea gods, that is to say, Poseidon is not essential.

When sailing, the merchants in Athens often prayed to Poseidon, and the merchant ships moored at Cape Sunion also donated money to the local temple of poseidon. From the point of view of the Greek world, businessmen who return successfully have to pay tithes to the gods, but not necessarily to Poseidon, because they may pay taxes to other gods (depending on the gods worshipped in their cities). In other words, Poseidon is not a monopoly in navigation. For example, in Samos, where Hera is the main god, you have to pay taxes to Hera when you return from sailing. So Poseidon is not essential.

2. If Poseidon, the god of horses, does not exist, though it is said in myth that Poseidon invented horses, or that Poseidon was the father of arion, a god horse. However, in fact, Poseidon is far more than a horse god in ancient Greece!

For example, in Mycenae's time, behind Poseidon, there was an older horse god, hippo; Athena also has the title of horse god.

Of course, it is also a horse god, but there are still differences. For example, compared with Athena, Poseidon focused on the breeding and riding of horses; Athena, the god of horses, focused on carriages and horse-drawn chariots. In addition, Hera and Ares both have the title of horse god.

Therefore, since Poseidon is not the only horse god, Poseidon is also indispensable as a horse god.

It would be ironic if Poseidon, the god of earthquake, didn't exist at this time.

On the one hand, Poseidon, as the god of earthquakes, is really unique. Except for him, there seems to be no second god in Greek religion who can make earthquakes.

On the other hand, earthquakes, as a relatively frequent disaster, are definitely unwelcome. So it can be said that if the god of earthquake exists because of the existence of earthquake, then I believe that the Greeks would rather not have this god of earthquake, that is, they would rather live in an environment without earthquake. It can be seen that Poseidon, the only god of the earthquake, is in a rather awkward position.

Actually, get rid of it? Ma Shen? And then what? Savior? In addition to these two titles, Poseidon has a third title:? The god of stability (AsPhaleios)? . This title is relative to his function as the god of earthquakes.

Since Poseidon can make earthquakes, he can also calm them. Poseidon, the god of stability, was mainly worshipped in Tyrol, because Tyrol was the only place in ancient Greece where there was no earthquake. Tyres built a temple of Poseidon, the god of stability, and prayed that Poseidon would not create an earthquake on the island. In addition, Burket also mentioned that after the great earthquake in 373 BC in Hlik and Bula, two cities in the Gulf of Corinth, a view that the earthquake was caused by the fact that these two towns wrapped up Poseidon's altar spread rapidly. When earthquakes occur in the future, everyone will sing the hymn of Poseidon as the god of stability.

Therefore, Poseidon is the only god who can control earthquakes (make or calm them). However, to be sure, his Ministry is not very popular. Use an inaccurate idiom to describe it, right? What else? Yes

To sum up, Poseidon's position is actually awkward: as a sea god or a horse god, he is not indispensable, because there are other sea gods and horse gods. As the god of earthquakes, he is the only one. Earthquakes can be very severe, so it can be inferred that Greeks believe that Poseidon is actually very severe. But there is no denying that earthquakes are unwelcome.

References: Homer's Iliad

Kuhn's Ancient Greek Legends and Myths

Wu's Study of Sacrificial Rites in Ancient Greece

Zhang Qiang's "One Hundred Years of Trojan Archaeology"