One of the Olympians was Poseidon.  He was the god of the sea, earthquakes, and horses.  His roman name was Neptune and he was sometimes called the Earthshaker because when he struck the ground with his trident, the earth trembled and split open; when he struck the sea, waves rose mountain high and the winds howled, wrecking ships and drowning those who lived on the shores.  However, when Poseidon was in a good mood he'd stretch out his hand to still the sea and raise new lands out of the water. 

        Poseidon had sea-blue hair that streamed out behind him.  He was tall and muscular and he was known to be a moody and violent god.  The brothers of Poseidon were Zeus, Hades and Persephone was his sister-in-law.  Cronus was his father and his mother was Rhea.  At first when Cronus ruled the universe he swallowed all but Zeus, as thought then, the only child saved from being swallowed by Cronus.  Meanwhile, young Zeus chose Metis as his first wife.  Metis went to Cronus and tricked him into eating a magical herb.  It made him vomit up not only the fake Zeus, but also Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera all of whom joined forces with Zeus.  When Cronus saw the six mighty gods gods rising against him he knew that his hour had come and he fled and surrendered his powers as well.

        At the time, the old sea god, Nereus was ruling.  He had a long, grey beard and was the father of 50 sea-nymphs, called the lovely Nereids.  When Poseidon came to take over his job Nereus gladly gave him one of his daughters, Amphitrite to be his wife.  He also gave the new king and queen his palace at the bottom of the sea.  It was made of the palest gold and lay in a garden of coral and shimmering pearls.  Amphitrite had an only son named Triton , who like his grandfather had a fish tail.

        Delos was one of the islands that Poseidon raised out of the sea.  "It was so newly created that it was still floating about on the water."  This was the only island that accepted Leto to have her twins Apollo and Artemis.  Artemis came first and was Leto's first child who was a girl as beautiful as the moon with hair as dark as the night.  Apollo came next into the world and he was fair as the sun and was to be the god of music, light, and reason. 

By: Rachel C.

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