Some uncertainty surrounds the second linguistic element of Poseidon’s name. Both words mean “husband,” “lord,” or “master.” The first of these is the Greek word posis, itself derived from the Proto-Indo-European root * pótis. The name “Poseidon” likely has roots in two distinct words. Originally written in a script called Linear B, which predates the Greek alphabet, the name appears in Mycenaean texts as Po-se-da-o or Po-se-da-wo-ne. Poseidon was present in Greek religion from the earliest times: he was already well attested in the Mycenaean period (ca. Stories of Poseidon provided the Greeks with some illusion of control over the one domain they could never fully master-the sea. He was also well known for his disruptive influence over human affairs in Homer’s the Iliad and the Odyssey. An instigator, a firebrand, and a rebel, Poseidon figured prominently in Greek mythology thanks to his resistance to Zeus’ control over the pantheon. Poseidon was as unruly as the seas he was thought to control. 1 Worshipped across the entirety of the Greek world, Poseidon had particularly strong followings in seafaring city-states such as Athens and Corinth. Although he was chiefly known as god of the sea and seafarers, his power extended to other domains, including earthquakes and horses/horsemanship. One of the chief Olympian deities, Poseidon was a defiant god whose power was second only to that of Zeus. Poseidon turned his anger on the Greek hero after Odysseus and his crew blinded the cyclops Polyphemus, who was Poseidon’s son.

Zeus poseidon hades family tree