ury.
On the other hand, his alone was the power of stilling the angry {102}
waves, of soothing the troubled waters, and granting safe voyages to
mariners. For this reason, Poseidon was always invoked and propitiated by a
libation before a voyage was undertaken, and sacrifices and thanksgivings
were gratefully offered to him after a safe and prosperous journey by sea.

The symbol of his power was the fisherman's fork or trident,[37] by means
of which he produced earthquakes, raised up islands from the bottom of the
sea, and caused wells to spring forth out of the earth.

Poseidon was essentially the presiding deity over fishermen, and was on
that account, more particularly worshipped and revered in countries
bordering on the sea-coast, where fish naturally formed a staple commodity
of trade. He was supposed to vent his displeasure by sending disastrous
inundations, which completely destroyed whole countries, and were usually
accompanied by terrible marine monsters, who swallowed up and devoured
those whom the floods had spared. It is probable that these sea-monsters
are the poetical figures which represent the demons of hunger and famine,
necessarily accompanying a general inundation.

Poseidon is generally represented as resembling his brother Zeus in
features, height, and general aspect; but we miss in the countenance of the
sea-god the kindness and benignity which so pleasingly distinguish his
mighty brother. The eyes are bright and piercing, and the contour of the
face somewhat sharper in its outline than that of Zeus, thus corresponding,
as it were, with his more angry and violent nature. His hair waves in dark,
disorderly masses over his shoulders; his chest is broad, and his frame
powerful and stalwart; he wears a short, curling beard, and a band round
his head. He usually appears standing erect in a graceful shell-chariot,
drawn by hippocamps, or sea-horses, with golden manes and brazen hoofs, who
bound over the dancing waves with such wonderful swiftness, that the
chariot scarcely touches {103} the water. The monsters of the deep,
acknowledging their mighty lord, gambol playfully around him, whilst the
sea joyfully smooths a path for the passage of its all-powerful ruler.

[Illustration]

He inhabited a beautiful palace at the bottom of the sea at AEgea in Euboea,
and also possessed a royal residence on Mount Olympus, which, however, he
only visited when his presence was required at the council of the gods.