The Role Of Poseidon In Homer's Odyssey

In The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles, one of the roles of the antagonists is given to Poseidon, the god of the sea. Within the ten years that Odysseus, a war hero, journeys home from Troy, Poseidon purposely threw Odysseus’ crew off course with his perilous waters. Due to this power and status as a god, Poseidon is not only honored by the Phaeacians, but also feared by them as well, notably with their plentiful offerings to him out of fear that Poseidon might be angered. Moreover, Poseidon appears to carry out the majority of his days in isolation, seldomly being in the company of other gods. Consequently, Poseidon, who holds power over the seas and gives birth to monsters, is depicted by ancient Greek culture as mysterious,

isolated, dangerous, and perhaps even troublesome. Similarly, in contemporary Chinese culture, a protection deity, known as Nezha, is shown as an unpopular figure around his family and others in the Legend of Nezha, a modern Chinese cartoon interpretation of the deity’s story. After his birth, Nezha wields godly abilities and was bestowed deity tools by Nuwa, the Chinese supreme god figure, and it is these factors that drives a wedge between the other citizens in his hometown and his own family as well, because they have never witnessed such abilities. That Poseidon and Nezha have both been isolated and feared by their people may come to show that in both ancient Greek and modern Chinese culture, these two deities represent people’s fears towards the unknown and their reluctance to adapt to change.
In The Odyssey, Poseidon is best known for hindering Odysseus’ journey home.

While many other gods took pity upon Odysseus’ hardships and tried to aid him, Poseidon alone was unyielding, “forever fuming against him for the Cyclops whose giant eye he blinded…” (1. line #?), manipulating the seas in order to throw Odysseus off course. In addition to having power over the seas, he also fathers many monsters such as Polyphemus (the Cyclops), Triton (half-fish, half-human), and Pegasus (a flying horse). In a world where humans, gods, and monsters clash in conflict, Poseidon acts as a bridge between gods and monsters, being a god himself, but fathering monsters as well. This sets him apart from other gods, making him seem unpredictable, easily angered, and distant to others. As a result, the uncertainty that humans have towards Poseidon’s temper makes him the god whom the humans sacrifice the most feverously to. This is especially the case with King Nestor, one of Odysseus’ only war comrade that makes it safely back home to the land of Pylos. Suffering from the trauma of the war and journey home, King Nestor became extremely fearful of the gods, and namely Poseidon, “Many thighs of bulls we offered Poseidon there--thank god we’d crossed that endless reach of sea” (3. ???). He understands that without Poseidon’s will, he would not have made it home, and is thus cautious in dealing with sacrifices to avoid ever angering the god. This can also be seen with the Phaeacians; being that they are isolated from the rest of the world, they must rely on the ocean in order to interact with others, and to them, Poseidon gifted flying ships that could permit them to travel across the ocean. Without those ships, they would truly be isolated from society to become a kingdom with a name but no honor. However, when they agree to help Odysseus, Poseidon turns their indispensable ships into stone, and like King Nestor, they came to understand that they live and thrive under the will and

temper of Poseidon, immediately carrying out prayers, “So all of Phaeacia’s island lords and captains, milling round the altar, lifted prayers to Poseidon, master of the sea” (8. ???). While Poseidon is undeniably a god, he casts a murky fog of fear above the head of his worshippers, each understanding that the sea god must not be upsetted or neglected at all costs. Since Poseidon is mysterious, rules over the unknown as well as dangerous monsters, he is the embodiment of the ocean to the ancient Greeks. Few knew of what would lie beyond the seas, and hence Poseidon, a god created by the ancient Greeks, represents the mysteries, dangers, and uncertainty of the sea.
Fast forwarding to contemporary culture, in the Chinese cartoon, The Legend of Nezha, which aired in 2004, the child deity, Nezha, closely mirrors Poseidon from ancient Greek culture. Just as Poseidon is known for wreaking havoc through earthquakes and tsunamis, Nezha is infamous in his hometown for picking fights and engaging in other activities that would get him in trouble. For example, in the cartoon, he fights with his brothers and in episode 4 of the cartoon, his brothers dare him, as a proof of courage, to climb over the locked gates of a forbidden part of the manor, and despite knowing that it is wrong to do so, Nezha climbs the wall anyway, and is caught red-handed by his father, Li Jing. Additionally, later that night, his mother tells him of the legendary bow, Xuan Yuan Jian, that lies within the building on the other side of the gate that he tried to climb, and says that nobody has been able to string it for years. In spite of this being an attempt to get Nezha to understand why Li Jing wanted to keep people away from the building, Nezha sneaks out after his mother tucks him into bed, and successfully infiltrates the building, as well as stringing the bow, but ill-fatedly struck the arrow into the emperor’s chamber. In this case, Nezha’s naughty nature put his family at risk of treason for attempted murder. That, however, was not the last of Nezha’s deeds. After visiting the East Ocean, he gets into a fight with the underwater kingdom’s second crown prince, a dragon, and using his godly abilities and deity devices granted by Nuwa, Nezha plucks out all of the dragon’s scales. Enraged, the Dragon King threatened to flood his hometown, Chentang Guan. Nezha’s exceptional ability and nature causes a rift between him and his family, “his mother loves him but does not understand him...his servant...adores him but is unable to understand his mind” (Sheng), and an even greater rift between him and his father. As the emperor’s general, Nezha’s father is a very upright man that places heavy emphasis on right or wrong, and in his eyes, Nezha’s actions are always wrong, first threatening the emperor, then wreaking havoc upon the Dragon King’s son and kingdom, in Li Jing’s heart deeming Nezha as unfilial and dangerous. Just like Poseidon, Nezha’s extraordinary abilities isolate him from everyone around him as they all fear his abilities and are unable to understand his nature. Therefore, Nezha reveals the hesitance of Chinese culture today to adapt to changes, just like how Chentang Guan is unable to adapt to who Nezha is and the abilities that he wields.
Though Poseidon and Nezha are depicted by their cultures as mercurius, dangerous, and unreasonable, they may be anything but. For instance, in The Odyssey, Poseidon does hinder Odysseus’ journey home, but he had a justified reason. His Cyclops son, Polyphemus, was blinded by Odysseus, and even though Odysseus’ action may seem less severe compared to Polyphemus’ original intentions of eating Odysseus’ crew, the mental pain that Odysseus inflicted is far worse. As humans, Odysseus’ crew would no longer feel pain or suffering if Polyphemus ate them, but as a monster, Polyphemus never dies. In other words, by blinding the Cyclops, Odysseus condemned him to an eternity of suffering and disability, making it only natural that Poseidon may want to get revenge. Moreover, in the case of the Phaeacians, Poseidon provided nearly everything for them, including the flying ships, and as a result must have felt betrayed by his people when they decided to help Odysseus, his enemy, return home. In the Legend of Nezha, Nezha is also wronged by his family and friends. Though he strung the Xuan Yuan Jian, he had not intentionally aimed for the emperor, and in episode 5, “Punishing the Scholar,” when Li Jing asked him to string it a second time as proof, and Nezha once again almost hit the emperor unintentionally. Even though he was specifically asked by Li Jing the second time to string the bow, Li Jing grounds him for stringing it and Nezha protests, “I obviously didn’t lie, so why did they lock me in here?” In addition, Nezha only got into a fight with the Dragon King’s second crown prince because he was wrongly accused by the crown prince of having stolen the Dragon Pearl, and had to defend himself against the attacking prince. This goes to show that in the seemingly incomprehensible hearts of Nezha and Poseidon, there is compassion and righteousness to be found underneath.
Themes in history are constantly being recycled, and this is the case for the prevalent themes behind the characters Nezha and Poseidon. These two characters were created to personify the unknown, and the course of their existence depicts how people in ancient times and even people today react to uncertainty and change in the world. In both Poseidon and Nezha’s case, they possess extraordinary powers and are representations of things unknown to mankind, such as what lies beyond the depths of the sea and a young boy who follows all the codes of conduct, but does so in his own way, making it abstract to everyone else. Nonetheless, Poseidon and Nezha are not characters without a heart and conscience, as displayed by their ways of conveying affection, respect, and care. Therefore, behind the intimidating face of the unknown and uncertainties with change lies a deeper, more intricate web of truth and discovery.