Who He Is
Poseidon is the god of the sea and of earthquakes, father of the Cyclops Polyphemus and ancestor of the Phaeacians. He is the divine enemy of Odysseus: the poem explains in the first book that he does not kill him, but makes him wander far from his homeland, because Odysseus blinded his son. He is almost always away, at a feast among the Ethiopians, and the hero's return is decided in heaven while he is absent. When he does appear, it is to vent his anger on the sea.
Trajectory
In Book I, Poseidon is far away, at a feast among the Ethiopians, and he is the only god who shows no compassion for Odysseus. Zeus explains to Athena that the god does not kill him, but makes him wander, and the motive is a father's.
ἐκ τοῦ δὴ Ὀδυσῆα Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων / οὔ τι κατακτείνει, πλάζει δʼ ἀπὸ πατρίδος αἴης.(1.74-75), since then Poseidon, shaker of the earth, does not kill Odysseus, but makes him wander far from his native land.
In Book III, the Pylians sacrifice black bulls to him on the shore, and Athena, disguised as Mentor, prays to the god for Nestor and his sons, and asks that she and Telemachus return having fulfilled their mission.
In Book V, he returns from the Ethiopians, sees Odysseus's raft from the Solymi mountains, and grows angry, because the gods have changed their minds about the hero. He gathers clouds, stirs the sea with his trident, and releases all the winds. When Odysseus swims toward the coast, he says that he should wander until he mingles with men nurtured by Zeus, but that even so he will not suffer little, and he withdraws. It is Athena who comes to his aid afterward.
οὕτω νῦν κακὰ πολλὰ παθὼν ἀλόω κατὰ πόντον, / εἰς ὅ κεν ἀνθρώποισι διοτρεφέεσσι μιγήῃς. / ἀλλʼ οὐδʼ ὥς σε ἔολπα ὀνόσσεσθαι κακότητος(5.377-379), so now, having suffered many evils, you will wander over the sea until you mingle with men nurtured by Zeus; but even so I do not expect that you will have your suffering lightened.
In Book VI, Athena does not appear to Odysseus out of respect for her uncle, who rages against him until he reaches his homeland. In Book VII, Athena says that Nausithous, founder of the Phaeacians, is a son of Poseidon, and that the people trust the swift ships the god gave them. In Book VIII, in the song of Demodocus, he is the only god who does not laugh at the adultery of Ares and Aphrodite, and he asks Hephaestus to release Ares, promising to pay the debt. Alcinous tells the guest his father's prophecy: Poseidon is indignant because the Phaeacians escort everyone without harm, and one day he will shatter one of their ships and cover the city with a mountain.
ἀλλὰ τόδʼ ὥς ποτε πατρὸς ἐγὼν εἰπόντος ἄκουσα / Ναυσιθόου, ὃς ἔφασκε Ποσειδάωνʼ ἀγάσασθαι / ἡμῖν, οὕνεκα πομποὶ ἀπήμονές εἰμεν ἁπάντων. / φῆ ποτὲ Φαιήκων ἀνδρῶν ἐυεργέα νῆα / ἐκ πομπῆς ἀνιοῦσαν ἐν ἠεροειδέι πόντῳ / ῥαισέμεναι, μέγα δʼ ἧμιν ὄρος πόλει ἀμφικαλύψειν.(8.564-569), but this I once heard from my father Nausithous, who said that Poseidon was indignant with us because we are unharmed escorts for all. He said that one day he would shatter, in the dark sea, a well-built ship of the Phaeacian men returning from an escort, and would cover our city with a great mountain.
In Book IX, Odysseus lies to Polyphemus that it was Poseidon who broke his ship against the rocks. After the blinding, Polyphemus prays to Poseidon, his father, that Odysseus not reach home, or reach it late and wretched, without companions, and Poseidon hears him.
νέα μέν μοι κατέαξε Ποσειδάων ἐνοσίχθων / πρὸς πέτρῃσι βαλὼν ὑμῆς ἐπὶ πείρασι γαίης, / ἄκρῃ προσπελάσας· ἄνεμος δʼ ἐκ πόντου ἔνεικεν· / αὐτὰρ ἐγὼ σὺν τοῖσδε ὑπέκφυγον αἰπὺν ὄλεθρον.(9.283-286), my ship Poseidon, shaker of the earth, broke, hurling it against the rocks at the edge of your land, bringing it near a headland; the wind drove it from the sea; but I, with these men, escaped the steep ruin.
εἰ ἐτεόν γε σός εἰμι, πατὴρ δʼ ἐμὸς εὔχεαι εἶναι, / δὸς μὴ Ὀδυσσῆα πτολιπόρθιον οἴκαδʼ ἱκέσθαι / υἱὸν Λαέρτεω, Ἰθάκῃ ἔνι οἰκίʼ ἔχοντα.(9.529-531), if I am truly yours, and you claim to be my father, grant that Odysseus, sacker of cities, son of Laertes, who has his house in Ithaca, not reach his home.
ἀλλʼ εἴ οἱ μοῖρʼ ἐστὶ φίλους τʼ ἰδέειν καὶ ἱκέσθαι / οἶκον ἐυκτίμενον καὶ ἑὴν ἐς πατρίδα γαῖαν, / ὀψὲ κακῶς ἔλθοι, ὀλέσας ἄπο πάντας ἑταίρους, / νηὸς ἐπʼ ἀλλοτρίης, εὕροι δʼ ἐν πήματα οἴκῳ.(9.532-535), but if it is his fate to see his own people and reach his well-built house and his native land, let him come late and wretched, having lost all his companions, in another's ship, and find misfortunes in his house.
In Book XI, Tiresias tells Odysseus that Poseidon's rancor, on account of the blinded son, will make the return hard, and that, after killing the suitors, he must carry an oar to men who know nothing of the sea and sacrifice to the god a ram, a bull, and a boar. In Book XII, Circe tells Odysseus that not even Poseidon would save him from Charybdis.
In Book XIII, the god goes to complain to Zeus that the Phaeacians, who are of his blood, dishonored him by bringing Odysseus back to Ithaca asleep and loaded with gifts. He admits that he never denied him a complete return, because Zeus had promised it. He turns the Phaeacian ship to stone in sight of the city, and Alcinous recognizes his father's prophecy and puts an end to the escorts.
Ζεῦ πάτερ, οὐκέτʼ ἐγώ γε μετʼ ἀθανάτοισι θεοῖσι / τιμήεις ἔσομαι, ὅτε με βροτοὶ οὔ τι τίουσιν, / Φαίηκες, τοί πέρ τοι ἐμῆς ἔξ εἰσι γενέθλης. / καὶ γὰρ νῦν Ὀδυσῆʼ ἐφάμην κακὰ πολλὰ παθόντα / οἴκαδʼ ἐλεύσεσθαι· νόστον δέ οἱ οὔ ποτʼ ἀπηύρων / πάγχυ, ἐπεὶ σὺ πρῶτον ὑπέσχεο καὶ κατένευσας.(13.128-133), Father Zeus, I shall no longer be honored among the immortal gods, since mortals do not honor me at all, the Phaeacians, who are of my own blood. For I thought that Odysseus, after suffering many evils, would get home; I never denied him his return altogether, because you first promised it and nodded assent.
πομπῆς μὲν παύσασθε βροτῶν, ὅτε κέν τις ἵκηται / ἡμέτερον προτὶ ἄστυ· Ποσειδάωνι δὲ ταύρους / δώδεκα κεκριμένους ἱερεύσομεν, αἴ κʼ ἐλεήσῃ,(13.180-182), stop escorting mortals whenever anyone comes to our city; and to Poseidon we will sacrifice twelve chosen bulls, in case he takes pity.
In Book XXIII, Odysseus repeats to Penelope what Tiresias prophesied: he will set out with an oar, until a wayfarer calls it a winnowing shovel, and then he will plant the oar in the earth and sacrifice to Poseidon. The comparison of Penelope's relief to that of a shipwrecked man reminds us that the god shatters ships.
Themes Embodied
Poseidon embodies a father's Revenge, and with it Home, exile, and return as punishment: what he imposes on Odysseus is not death but wandering. He is tied to Family through the cause of his anger, a blinded son.
The text shows Poseidon as a god of limits. He does not prevent the return altogether, and he confesses as much to Zeus; he discharges his anger on the Phaeacians, who helped Odysseus. One can read this as the end of an anger appeased in stages, or as the will of a god who, having lost the main cause, takes it out on whatever remains. The poem does not decide.
Relationships
- Odysseus: the man he makes wander, and who owes him a sacrifice at the end.
- Polyphemus: the blinded son, whose prayer he hears.
- Zeus: the god whose nod he cannot deny.
- Athena: the niece who keeps herself hidden from him until Odysseus sets foot on his homeland.
- Alcinous: the grandson whose city he threatens to cover with a mountain.