Introduction
Poseidon, who was referred to as the god of the sea, earth shaker and tamer of horse has several love interests. One of them was Demeter, who was a fair-haired goddess of agriculture, and was depicted as a blond goddess that has the ability to grow the crops. According to the Greek mythology, Demeter was one among the most generous goddess among the Olympian goddess. She who often showed empathy towards humans, and for that she was most revered. Demeter has a lovely daughter, named Persephone, whom she fiercely protects. However, was later abducted into the underworld by Hanes who was captivated by her beauty.
Despite having heard her daughter, Demeter was not able to help her as Hanes dragged her into his Kingdom. The mother goddess rushed to the aid of her daughter, but Hades was successful in dragging her away. The loss of her daughter resulted in an overwhelming sadness in Detemeter who did never eat and rest in a futile search for her daughter (Keller, 40). It was during this state that Poseidon saw Demeter, as she continuously seek her daughter. Sensing his amorous intent, Demeter tried to evade Poseidon and changed herself into a hare and hid among the King Onkios herd of horses, however, Posedion knew of her plan and disguised himself into a stallion and took over her. Demeter considered this as an assault and was very angry, and in her fury she became Demeter Erinys. At this instance, Demeter cannot contain her anger and was fully furious at Posedion for raping her (Keller, 44) She also grieved at the abduction of her daughter, thus she shut herself up for a long period of time. With the goddess of harvest hurting and hiding, the fruits of the earth perished and the humans were suffering due to famine, but would later set aside her anger and clean herself in the Ladon. She eventually got two surnames which are the erynis that symbolized anger, and Lousie or the bath Demeter because she took the time to wash in Ladon which was a form of purification ritual. In analyzing this story where Posedion forced himself into Demeter, the reader realizes that even the gods and goddess followed a patriarchal system of society. The sea god’s unrelenting pursuit exemplified a “flagrant disregard and disrespect for all things feminine and all things that fall under the feminine sphere” (Agha-Jaffar, 146). The persistent pursuit of Poseidon bore them a daughter named Despoina, whose name according to this myth must not be pronounced outside Arcadia, and a son named Arion. It was through her son that Demeter came to be worshipped in Arcadia in her mare-form.
In another tale, Poseidon pursued the captivating goddess and demanded that she love him, but Demeter would have none of it because he disliked the god of the sea who “was huge, so implacable, so persistent” (Evslin, n.p). The goddess thought that she was able to escape the persistent Poseidon, because as far as she knows, his ability was confined to creating monsters. To her amazement, Posedion was able to make her a horse that delighted her. On the other hand, Posedion admired his handiwork that he decided to make a herd of horses. His herd started to happily gallop in the meadows, and the scene captivated Poseidon, who eventually forgot about Demeter (Evlsin et al 17). He would later make another heir for his stables under the sea, and “Demeter kept the first herd; from that all the horses in the world have descended” (Evlsin et al 17).
In another story, it took very long for Posedion to make the horse, and during that time, many of his works were imperfect that he cast many of them aside. Those that did not come out in the right form were not killed, but were left to wander the earth. According to this myth, these creatures turned out to be the camel, the hippopotamus, the giraffe, the donkey and the zebra (Evlsin, n.p).
The relationship between Poseidon and Demeter showed the imperfections of the gods of Olympus. For one, Posedion has some other love interest, yet he pursued Demeter despite the fact that the goddess did not like him. In one of the myths, Demeter was mourning the loss of her daughter, yet the god of the sea disregarded her feelings, and instead, proceeded to consummate his sexual desires. The encounter between these two Olympian gods indicated their limitations, for they do not have the ability to control their emotions. While they were depicted as gods, they have human tendencies and characteristics that made them succumb to failure despite their given power.
Poseidon and Demeter showed that the Olympian gods have many similarities with people except that they have extraordinary powers. They are prone to experience emotions that are common to humans, such as sexual desires, anger, sadness and revenge among others. In the case of Demeter, she had difficulty dealing with Posedion’s sexual assault, though, she decided to forgive in the end.
Works Cited
Agha-Jaffar, Tamara. Demeter and Persephone: Lessons from a Myth. McFarland, 2002. Print.
Evslin, Bernard. Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths. Open Road Media, 2012. Print.
Evslin, Bernard, Dorothy Evslin, and Ned Hoopes. The Greek Gods. Scholastic Inc.,, 1966. Print.
Keller, Mara Lyngg. "The Eleusinian Mysteries of Demeter and Persephone: Fertility, Sexuality, and Rebirth." Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 4.1 (1988): 27-54. Web.
