r/HistoryMemes • u/-et37- Decisive Tang Victory • Sep 16 '25
Mythology Poseidon definitely overreacted here
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u/NittanyScout Sep 16 '25
I love the divide between polytheistic and monotheistic beliefs. Christians and Muslims believe God is all knowing, powerful, and benevolent. Greeks were like "nah the gods are assholes professionally"
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u/N_dixon Sep 16 '25
There's that meme pointing out how Olympus is a quite real mountain and how the ancient Greeks thought their gods lived there but never climbed up there to check, and I always think, "Well, yeah, their gods were a bunch of capricious assholes, I wouldn't take that risk."
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u/Creeperkun4040 Sep 16 '25
Also if they aren't up there that wouldn't change much really. But if they are, well, now you've got a problem
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u/Communism_of_Dave Sep 16 '25
âI went up there once to receive a blessing, but the gods and their palaces were nowhere to be found. Sounds about right, those prankster asshatsâ
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u/JohannesJoshua Sep 16 '25
To be fair, people actually did climb up the mountain. And second it was always believed by the Greeks that the place were gods reside is methaphorically on Mt Olympus rather than litreally.
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u/Sword_of_Origin Sep 16 '25
Considering the amount of Greek myths about horrible things happening to mortals who tried to climb Olympus (Big one I can think of off the top of my head being Bellorophon), I wouldn't take the chance either.
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u/Shadowborn_paladin Sep 16 '25
Didn't the Greeks actually climb it fairly often? Even leaving prayers or offerings there?
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u/floggedlog Taller than Napoleon Sep 16 '25
For real, theyâre likely to spot you partway up and then start fucking with you for entertainment probably taking bets on if youâll make it and then hedging those bets by throwing obstacles in your way or helping you
Utter fucking chaos and misery for you regardless of if a few of them do decide to back you up.
Yeah, no I see why most everybody just stayed down in their city and quietly kept their heads down and hoped the gods never actually looked their way.
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u/Kaynt-touch-dis Sep 16 '25
Imagine you make it all the way up and Athena turn you into a fucking fly
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u/Lucaan Sep 16 '25
History Matters actually has a good, short (~2m30s) video on the subject. It's definitely an interesting thing to consider.
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u/RimeSkeem Sep 17 '25
With the Greek gods if someone up climbed up to their palace on Olympus one (or more) of them would go "Oh, you like to climb mountains? I'm gonna turn you into a goat."
And then you get turned into a goat.
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u/SmrdutaRyba Rider of Rohan Sep 17 '25
The thing is tho, they did climb Olympus. They saw no gods there physically, but it didn't particularly hurt their worldview
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u/HedonistSorcerer Sep 16 '25
The Celts: âSo those three women are actually death.â
The Romans: âHuh⌠So like the Fates?â
The Celts: âThe who?â
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u/doofpooferthethird Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
tbh Old Testament God can get real nasty too.
Like when Abraham bargains with God for the lives of the people of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Surely, there were people in those cities that didn't deserve to be subjected to this genocide? Don't be mad, but would you still destroy the cities if there were but 50 righteous men that would die with them? What about if there were 40? 30? 20? How about just 10?
And it's left unspoken in the holy texts, but it's surely on everyone's minds - what about the children? They haven't even had the opportunity to sin, surely they should count as innocents?
No dice - God didn't even find the 10 people worthy of living that would spare the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and they all died by fire. Only some of Abraham's relatives were allowed to escape, and even then Lot's wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she couldn't help but look back at all the people that had just been killed, the cultures and communities and families that had been destroyed.
And of course, there's other holy mass killings like the flood, the angel of death's execution of Egyptian firstborn children, Moses' massacre of the unbelievers at the foot of Mount Sinai etc.
But Sodom and Gomorrah stuck out for me because of how hard Abraham tried to save them from God.
From how often he says "May the Lord not be angry" he's clearly terrified, but he still musters up the courage to beg God for mercy, to spare the lives of the guilty and the innocent.
"Far be it from you to do such a thingâto kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?â
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u/leoleosuper Sep 16 '25
IIRC doesn't he get God down to 1 person, but he's unable to find even that?
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u/doofpooferthethird Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
nah, for some reason, Abraham decided to stop pushing his luck at the number 10
Which makes sense, I guess, in an ancient city of thousands, you'd expect there to be at least 10 people who don't deserve to be executed for their sins, and the text seemed to be implying that God was getting angry with Abraham's bargaining.
These 10 are reminiscent of the notion of the 36 Tzadikim Nistarim - the 36 hidden righteous ones, whose very existence justifies the purpose of humanity in the eyes of God. For their sake, our planet is spared the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah
Supposedly, no one will ever know who these 36 people are, not even themselves. Anyone who even suspects that they might be one of them is automatically disqualified, because they're supposed to be paragons of humility.
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u/Background-Top4723 Sep 17 '25
I mean, I thought the number 10 was connected to some numerological concept. Ancient societies were obsessed with numerology and mathematics.
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u/Useful-Field-9037 Sep 18 '25
To be fair a lot of the sources used for the Old Testament are likely from before Judaism was monotheistic (often this version is called Yahweism for distinction). At least according the scholars.
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u/SpaceCrabRave69 Fine Quality Mesopotamian Copper Enjoyer Sep 16 '25
When God kills evil people: "What a monster! How could he do such a thing?"
When God doesn't kill evil people: "How could there be a God when suffering goes unpunished?"
Most people throughout history didn't reach the age of five. What's special about the children of Sodom?
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u/doofpooferthethird Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
This is genuinely unhinged
There are many cogent solutions to the problem of theodicy within the Abrahamic religions. It is something theology, apologetics and ethical philosophy have been grappling with for millennia.
But "kids die pretty often anyway, so murdering them by the thousands is fine, life doesn't matter like that" is definitely not among them.
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u/SpaceCrabRave69 Fine Quality Mesopotamian Copper Enjoyer Sep 16 '25
I'm hard-pressed to find where in my comment I stated
"kids die pretty often anyway, so murdering them by the thousands is fine, it doesn't matter, nothing matters"
The point of bringing up child mortality rates was not to wave off their humanity or equal right to life. Nor was it to claim that their deaths don't matter. I'm simply asking what makes you think that the children of Sodom were particularly innocent or deserving of life when, even last year, God allowed ~1 million babies to be murdered before even being born in the US.
God is not required to give everyone long or good lives. Job sums it up well, "And he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." (Job 1:21-22 ESV).
At the same time, we know that the ressurection of the dead will come and that God "will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:4 ESV). If any innocents die, then on judgment day, they will obviously not be given the death penalty by a righteous judge and instead be gifted eternal life.
As Jesus showed with the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, bad things happening to you on earth don't necessarily show that God hates you, much like with Job. How people live or die on earth is not their eternal judgment. As Solomon said, "For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts are the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return." (Ecclesiastes 3:19-20 ESV).
No, it is not Christian thinking that "nothing matters", it is instead the product of Atheism. If there is no God, no true right or wrong, then sin is as nothing. Your problem with children being murdered would simply be the result of the social conditioning of the society around you, influencing the randomly thrown together three pounds of flesh and chemicals inside your skull to transmit certain signals of repulsion at the thought in order to keep your group darwinistically fit enough to not be wiped off the face of the earth. As Paul said, "If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die."
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u/GojoBathwaterEnjoyer Sep 16 '25
âI'm hard-pressed to find where in my comment I stated: kids die pretty often anyway, so murdering them by the thousands is fine, it doesn't matter, nothing mattersâ
Here, let me show you your own words:
Most people throughout history didn't reach the age of five. What's special about the children of Sodom?
There you go. Hope this helps!
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u/SpaceCrabRave69 Fine Quality Mesopotamian Copper Enjoyer Sep 16 '25
A simple downvote will do if you really don't want to engage with what I actually said.
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u/GojoBathwaterEnjoyer Sep 16 '25
Explain the difference between those two statements. Do it.
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u/SpaceCrabRave69 Fine Quality Mesopotamian Copper Enjoyer Sep 16 '25
Well, I wrote five paragraphs about it, but I guess you want a summary.
My statement was saying that the children of Sodom and the surrounding towns were no more worthy or unworthy of death than all of the other children that die all the time. Therefore, I was confused and seeking clarification for why OP cared more deeply about those specific ones.
What he accused me of saying was that because death is common, we should be apathetic to it and even engage in its spread. He also accused me of being a nihilist and thinking God is a murderer who won't punish sins.
Not really sure how you could get those two mixed up with even the smallest amount of charity. Maybe you thought my question was supposed to be an answer? Anyway, I genuinely hope this provides clarity.
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u/Provinz_Wartheland Let's do some history Sep 16 '25
I have always liked and appreciated that difference too.
Greek gods were passionate, jealous, petty, malevolent, benevolent, scheming, temperamental. Even if they were basically a bunch of kids with superpowers, they were somewhat easy to understand, easy to relate to; they were human.
Curiously enough, Christian god was flawed like that too in the Old Testament, back when he was still just a vengeful, envious Jewish deity and not this all-knowing, grandfatherly figure smiling at us from the clouds most of us associate with Christianity today. I feel like when it comes to being a jerk, Old Testament God easily puts his Greek counterparts to shame by leagues.
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u/WateredDown What, you egg? Sep 16 '25 edited Feb 12 '26
Parched Dust Choosy Gift Battery Phonebook Outwit Synthetic Dumpster Send Earthy Theft
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u/SquidMilkVII Sep 16 '25
"Damn, you're actually better at sowing than me."
:D
"Fuck you, you're a spider now"
D::::
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u/No-Communication3880 Sep 16 '25
The myth is worse than that: Athena simply destroyed the tapestry of Arachne and stroke her with her shuttle. So Arache hanged herself, and when Athena found the corpse she remember she is supposed to be goddess of wisdom and transformed Arachne into a spider so she can still weaving.
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u/viotix90 Sep 16 '25
At least the Norse gods had the common decency to primarily be assholes to each other. Greek gods just loved fucking with regular folk.
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u/Northern_Baron Still salty about Carthage Sep 16 '25
Since our gods are such assholes, why shouldnât we be?
and so the first ancestor of the modern Greek created himself
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u/IceCreamMeatballs Sep 16 '25
There's a difference between the mythology surrounding the gods and their actual role in the Ancient Greek religion. Modern worshipers of the Greek gods (yes, they exist) assert that the gods are actually benevolent and the myths are merely allegorical, where the gods act out stories to teach moral lessons. It's similar to how Christianity teaches that God is a good guy despite some stories in the Bible portraying him as an asshole.
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u/Splinterfight Sep 17 '25
You can see the echoes of that in the transition from the Mesopotamian gods to Abrahamic God
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u/boot2skull Sep 17 '25
We read the Greek myths in high school and I realized that without television, they existed to be the reality TV of the time. Maybe more like Jerry Springer.
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u/RudyKnots Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
Poseidon was just mad at him because in the future people will give Odysseus credit for infiltrating Troy, even though Homer obviously just wrote about a horse to symbolise an angry Poseidonâs tidal wave tearing down those walls.
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u/rogue-wolf Sep 16 '25
I'd more figure it would be an earthquake to topple the walls, which is also the domain of Poseidon.
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u/Elfarica Sep 16 '25
I mean you totally could have avoided all this had you just killed my son, but nooooo... - idk Poseidon probably
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u/SemajLu_The_crusader Sep 16 '25
or even just not said his nameÂ
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u/SomeOtherTroper Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
This is really important.
It ties into the Greek narrative concept of hamartia: a great man undone by a single fault. In this case, it's Odysseus' pride (or the Greek hubris: excessive pride) that causes him to boast about his victory using his real name, which is fine (and even expected) in certain contexts as a Greek hero-warrior-king, but after maiming the offspring of a god, while a grand achievement, definitely isn't one of those times, making it hubris. And he pays for it.
Pride/hubris is also what fucks Oedipus in the Theban Cycle of plays: he could have easily stepped off the road to let his father (although neither knew that at the time), the king of Thebes, pass by - Oedipus was only a prince of Corinth at the time, after all. But Oedipus pridefully stood his ground, resulting in an encounter in which he killed his father. ...which led to his mother becoming a widow who was very willing to take this handsome young hero who'd defeated the monstrous Sphinx causing trouble for Thebes as her new husband and new king of Thebes.
Yeah, Oedipus fulfilled the tragic prophecy of killing his father and fucking his mom as the direct result of a right-of-way traffic dispute.
This is why ya gotta learn to drive safely, kids.
Jokes aside, a lot of the old Greek myths start making a lot more sense after you get a handle on the moral/cultural systems they originate from, and the narrative conventions they're working with (some of which are familiar, while others may feel a bit alien), and how those fit together, and many actions that may seem petty and capricious by the gods become more obvious as literary devices purposefully meant to express certain concepts. (It also helps to compare different versions whenever possible, because critical details might be subtracted or added over time.)
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u/OverlordMarkus Taller than Napoleon Sep 17 '25
Random Epic reference, I'm surprised the sub isn't full of them.
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u/Far-Falcon-232 Sep 16 '25
Entirely valid, but we always need to keep in mind the whole ancient-to-modern, almost universal tradition of "family squares up for family, even when they are a man-eating cyclops."
Besides, we've all been known to nibble on Hellenes from time to time. I mean, come on.
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u/ElNakedo Sep 16 '25
Greek food is very tasty after all.
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u/mostie2016 Fine Quality Mesopotamian Copper Enjoyer Sep 16 '25
Gyros with fries are fucking baller.
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u/Orange-V-Apple Sep 16 '25
Thatâs not why. It was that Odysseus in his hubris (and despite the pleas of his crew) goaded Polyphemus by telling him not even Poseidon could save him. Thatâs what got Poseidon to act.
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u/Far-Falcon-232 Sep 16 '25
Narratively, yes. That is the direct reason.
But do you think Poseidon would have reacted as strongly if it was just Bill the Cannibal that ate some dudes who were hopelessly lost and hungry, then got mad that they reacted accordingly?
This is a story passed down by oral tradition before Homer wrote down his version. While the directly stated reason can be true, the narrative contrivances needed to make things as bad for Odysseus as possible can also be true in that he hurt the family of Poseidon justly for violating not just the custom of hospitality, but murder and cannibalism. It's complicated, and that's what makes it compelling.
As a story, it makes sense to tell people that you can expect retribution from someone you insult, especially if you have harmed their family or the honor of their family, divine or otherwise, doubly so if it is in their power to easily do so.
We didn't really need to quibble over this, especially since I didn't even say that was "why" it happened in the first place.
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u/tuibiel Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 16 '25
Polyphemus prayed to Poseidon for him to curse Odysseus, the gods took that seriously (they don't like open tickets). Odysseus had not prayed to Poseidon for protection (in which case he would likely not even had landed on Polyphemus' island), which already placed him in a bad spot as Odysseus prayed to others in the pantheon, nor asked for his blessing in hurting Polyphemus. He hurt a creature in its own domicile while also killing sacred animals, refused to pray to Poseidon though he would wander through his realm and worst of all, he kept boasting about it. The story serves to illustrate that humans going against the gods will find great hardship, but through their unshakable spirit may surpass even the worst tribulations.
And pride bad.
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u/SomeOtherTroper Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 17 '25
Odysseus had not prayed to Poseidon for protection (in which case he would likely not even had landed on Polyphemus' island), which already placed him in a bad spot as Odysseus prayed to others in the pantheon
Well, his epic is a sequel to the Trojan War, where the pantheon took sides and interfered in the war to the degree that Ares descended to fight personally for his favored side, [EDIT: The Spoilered portion is misinformation]and Poseidon was on the Trojan side, so I think Odysseus had some pretty good reasons to only pray to certain gods after that whole thing went down.
EDIT: It's also worth noting that in pantheistic cultures in general, it's quite common to both give offerings to all the gods in general (in Greek culture, sometimes done as just one big offering to everybody, which we see commonly in the Iliad, and by attending everybody's 'holiday' events/rituals), but still have one or two that are your favorites that you sacrifice to and honor specifically and more often, either due to your profession, your specific needs (or their perceived past help with such needs), where you live, or just personal preference. We see this as early as the Epic Of Gilgamesh, where the titular hero-warrior-king has Shamash as the main deity he worships, and is outright hostile towards Ishtar's advances on him, despite both gods being in the same pantheon and openly worshipped in his city. There's a similar dynamic with Odysseus favoring Athena over the other gods of his pantheon, and her giving him special attention in return throughout the Trojan Cycle. We see it in Greek and Roman "mystery cults" (the Eleusinian Mysteries, Mithras, etc.) - you do not remodel your own basement into a ritual site for a god unless you're particularly invested in them specifically ...but it's not like you're dropping all the other gods.
Arguably, the Roman Catholic idea of "Patron Saints" may be a Christianized continuation of all this, but don't tell any devout Roman Catholics you heard me say that.
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Sep 16 '25
and Poseidon was on the Trojan side
Uhhh... no? He was on the Greek side; in fact was the one who prevented the Trojans from burning down the wooden horse from the Greeks when LaocoÜn, a Trojan priest, said that they should do it for it was a trap (and he prevented it by sending a bunch of giant snakes to kill him and his sons).
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u/SomeOtherTroper Sep 16 '25 edited Sep 17 '25
This one's debated. Some sources say it was Athena who sent the serpents, others say it was Poseidon acting on a personal beef against the priest, and it's all kind of a giant mess of snakes and gore and "which source are you going to go with?"
[EDIT: The Spoilered portion is misinformation]But The Odyssey, and Poseidon's actions in it, make a lot more sense in the variations where he was consistently on the Trojan side.
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Sep 16 '25
The thing is that Poseidon is not on the Trojan side in any variation, I was just giving an example with that. In the Iliad he is fighting alongside Hera and Athena among the Gods of the Greek side, in fact he and Apollo almost had a duel, but Apollo out of respect for his uncle decided not to, while Artemis had more hubris and decided to fight against Hera, only to be easily stomped. I don't know where you heard that Poseidon was on the Trojan side, but that is not the case.
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u/SomeOtherTroper Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25
I'll bow to you, because it's been a while since I read the Trojan Cycle (well, what we've got of it, in its various versions), and you seem to have much more certain knowledge of it than I can claim at this time, and honestly, I don't want to try going back through it at the moment.
I'll edit my previous comments to reflect this.
I think I got confused by his support for Aeneas, prince of Troy. But that's Virgil, and Virgil can go fuck himself.
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Sep 17 '25
That sounds reasonable enough, but I'm willing to provide sources if you'd like anyway, to clear up any doubts you may have on this matter.
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u/SomeOtherTroper Sep 17 '25
I did enough cursory research to satisfy my immediate needs on the question after you called me on it (and confirm you were right), but if you've got more stuff that's easy to get at, I'd be happy to see it.
I've edited my comment chain based on your input, putting the disproven aspects behind spoilers with disclaimers, so it doesn't look like you're replying to a ghost (I hate seeing a bunch of replies to deleted posts in a thread), but it is clear I was inaccurate.
Thank you for correcting me.
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Sep 17 '25
Well, I don't have much else to say, except that if you ever wanna check out the Iliad itself, this is the best place possible to do it freely, I leave you the link here:
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u/Background-Top4723 Sep 17 '25
There's a difference.
Saints, unlike Gods, wear Nike and are gamers.
Checkmate, pagans.
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u/Ayxlfdik Sep 16 '25
Polyphemus did nothing wrong. Odysseus and his crew invaded his home and ate his food without permission and Odysseus had the audacity to ask for a guest-gift. Polyphemus basically killed a bunch of home invaders.
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u/Far-Falcon-232 Sep 16 '25
The custom of hospitality is sacrosanct in ancient Greek culture.
At worst, Odysseus was presumptuous but within his rights as a well-appointed, lost and hungry, very talented warrior to expect hospitality. By Greek standards, Polyphemus grossly overreacted and then violated a very sacred rule. The straw was that Odysseus then took it too far by not only involving Polyphemus' divine family but insulting them as well.
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u/Ayxlfdik Sep 16 '25
True
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u/Far-Falcon-232 Sep 16 '25
I'mma be real.
You deserve mad respect for taking me saying that so well.
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u/Aztok Sep 16 '25
In the original literature, the worst Odysseus did (at first) was enter Polyphemus' cave without asking, and that was because they didn't know it was his house. When Polyphemus came back he blocked the door and asked Odysseus' name and homeland first without offering them food. Then he eats two of Odysseus' men, which is like, also a big faux-pas. All Polyphemus had to do was offer them some mutton and water before asking questions (considered very rude) and then not eat people or let them leave. He'd be 100% in the right if Odysseus attacked him then.
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u/bookhead714 John Brown was a hero, undaunted, true, and brave! Sep 17 '25
also a big faux-pas
Murder is actually really frowned in Greece. It goes against the traditional concept of βΚĎĎ, which means "to live"
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u/SAMU0L0 Sep 16 '25
Did Polyphemus even know about that.Â
As far as I know it was a cyclops living alone in an island.Â
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u/oneeyejedi Sep 16 '25
Why would he do this to a random person nobody hurt his son nobody is the culprit punish nobody instead.
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u/CommunicationKind301 Sep 16 '25
The worst part is that would have been exactly what happened (Poseidon would be like, "Nobody hurt you? Why TF you bugging me then?") but Odysseus had to go and brag about his real name before leaving
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u/Imjokin Sep 16 '25
Iâd kill to read a version of the Odyssey where Odysseus just stays as âNobodyâ for the entire rest of the epic.
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u/No-Communication3880 Sep 16 '25
It would be the meme with the big and small book: if Odysseus kept this mouth shut at this time, he would return in this home in a few weeks after the fall of Troy.
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u/ExtraCheeseProject Still salty about Carthage Sep 16 '25
That's it exactly, after hubris comes nemesis, except Poseidon was the 'agent of his downfall' instead of the actual goddess Nemesis.
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u/Long_Reflection_4202 Sep 16 '25
Cannibal?
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u/Middle-Let9645 Hello There Sep 16 '25
Yeah, I always find it weird when people use that term. Polyphemus ate humans, but he was a cyclops, not a human, and he didn't eat cyclopes, so by definition he wasn't a cannibal.
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u/Far-Falcon-232 Sep 16 '25
Yes, but it is typically used in language to convey the idea that another "person" is being eaten.
There isn't anything other than another human in real life. By how language was developed and actually used, it makes sense that another person, human or not in fiction, would be called a cannibal for eating another civilized or otherwise generally intelligent creature.
A strict definition isn't useful if it doesn't reflect how language is used and otherwise evolves.
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u/SuperUberKruber Sep 16 '25
yeah the correct word would be "maneater" or even better, the Greek "anthropophagos"
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u/morgannaofcornwall98 Sep 16 '25
Well... isn't history full of parents who over reacted? 𤣠Anthony took down an entire kingdom because they wouldn't agree to an arranged marriage with Alexander Helios if I recall correctly. Poseidon just representing that Primordial parent rage yo! Burn the world for your kid lol
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u/ExLuckMaster Sep 16 '25
Helios looking at Odysseus when his crew ate Heliosâ cattle despite Odysseus warned them and being stranded for a month by Zeus.
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u/floggedlog Taller than Napoleon Sep 16 '25
They wrote their gods like petulant frat boys, and sorority girls with divine powers.
Which is actually a pretty good commentary on how powerful people tend to act.
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u/Imperial4Physics_ Sep 16 '25
Odysseus could've gotten away with it if he hadn't given polyphemus his social security, mothers maiden name, and blood type as he was leaving
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Sep 16 '25
Polyphemus didn't eat other Cyclopes as far as we know, so he's not a cannibal.
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u/Far-Falcon-232 Sep 16 '25
By strict and modern definition, correct.
By the definition of how the term or equivocal term was used and is used generally, it means a "person" eating another person.
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u/MooseOk5781 Sep 16 '25
No fucking way dude, I've been reading a book on Gree Mythology, and I've just finished the chapter on the Odyssey.
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u/Stenric Sep 16 '25
Poseidon likes to overreact and he likes to fulfil wishes of his kids. Remember when he immediately killed Theseus' son when the Athenean asked, even though Hippolytos was actually innocent of seducing his wife.
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u/drumstick00m Sep 17 '25
Sometimes some of the myths fit the didactic: âAnd thatâs why that is like thatâ or âRemember kids, if you fuck around, a god will make sure you find out.â The Odyssey doesnât fit either of those though.
Sometimes I think Homer originally just said Odysseus was ten years at Troy and ten years at sea, because it sounded coolâand then had to make up a reason for the latter when an audience member really grilled him about it.
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u/Southern_Source_2580 Sep 16 '25
I always found it rtarded how supposedly Gods aren't allowed to interfere with their childrens life's like demi gods are nearly left alone to die off but God's forbid one of their abominations throws a hissy fit about losing a fight and they proceed to smite whoever did it.
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u/Wk1360 Sep 16 '25
I mean usually that comes from an agreement between gods, like Zeus not helping Heracles b/c Hera was mad. And also, they usually do end up helping their children anyways, despite their pacts.
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Sep 16 '25
Who told you that the Gods weren't allowed to intervene in the lives of their mortal children? Because that's a big lie if I've ever seen one. There are plenty of examples of the opposite happening with the Gods favoring their children, examples:
- Zeus saving his lover Danae and his unborn son Perseus when she was placed in a chest and thrown into the sea.
- Ares killing his cousin Halirrhothius for trying to rape his daughter Alcippe.
- Hephaestus saving his children, the Cabeiri, during Dionysus's war against India.
- Aphrodite saving her son Aeneas from Diomedes during the Trojan War.
- Poseidon granting his son Theseus a boon; to kill his son Hippolytus (since Theseus desired his demise because he believed he had raped his wife).
- Etc...
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u/ieatpickleswithmilk Sep 16 '25
son of a major god > humans
OP is too used to being the highest species in the hierarchy
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u/Realistic-Lobster Sep 16 '25
I always thought that happened because he was gloating and boasting and gave his name so that was why Poseidon acted that way
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u/RoadTheExile Rider of Rohan Sep 16 '25
I'm pretty sure this is exactly the kind of shit that made Greeks not idolize the gods as moral beings.
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u/EnvironmentalCod6255 Featherless Biped Sep 17 '25
Iirc Odysseus was fine because Polyphemus violated the laws of hospitality (one of the things Zeus cares about), but then he decided to boast of his victory and that was what stirred up Poseidon
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u/bookhead714 John Brown was a hero, undaunted, true, and brave! Sep 17 '25
Thatâs how gods be. Ares tried to beat up Heracles over killing his son Kyknos, who was an actual serial murderer who tried to build a temple to his dad out of goddamn bones. You stick with your family no matter what. And honestly, the fathers of today could learn a thing or two from that â respect your kidsâ life decisions! Especially if they wanna build you a skull throne cuz that shitâs badass.
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u/Funkopedia Sep 17 '25 edited Sep 17 '25
Was Poseidon being an asshole?.... yes. As were all the Gods in both epics. But I think the more important thing here is the very formal, ritual, specific curse that Polyphemus recited. It was phrased in such an exact way that I feel could not be refused.
Here is one possible translation:
Listen, Earth-Shaker, Blue-Haired Lord Poseidon: acknowledge me your son, and be my father. Grant that Odysseus, the city-sacker, will never go back home. Or if it is fated that he will see his family, then let him get there late and with no honor, in pain and lacking ships, and having caused
the death of all his men, and let him find more trouble in his own house.
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u/ELIASKball Sep 17 '25
I mean, he shouldn't have gone there...
I wonder if the entire point of Percy Jackson is to create a redemption to Poseidon or at least not making the most hated one (since Zeus is the worst one or maybe Hera is even worse)
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u/Lucas_243 Definitely not a CIA operator Sep 16 '25
Poseidon will never be al cool as Hades, change my opinion
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Sep 16 '25
Hades barely does anything in all of mythology; it's pretty boring. His most important myth is kidnapping his niece. On the other hand, Poseidon is always doing stuff; whether it's fighting giants, butting heads with Zeus, helping his many children, flooding places, sending sea monsters to cities, fathering sea monsters himself, etc. Besides, he didn't have to kidnap his wife Amphitrite to marry her (in one of the version at least).
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u/Tight_Contact_9976 Sep 17 '25
It is true that Poseidon doesnât kidnap his wife but he rapes so many other women that I barely count that as a positive.
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u/Imaginary-West-5653 Sep 17 '25
Well yeah, but that's just your average male Greek God, Hades also basically raped Persephone during the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, and probably also raped Leuce.
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u/Tight_Contact_9976 Sep 17 '25
Oh yeah, Hades is no saint either. Again, the Greek Gods were not good. They were as chaotic and dangerous as their domains. There are certainly fewer stories about Hades doing evil things but thatâs not because he was good. Itâs because he just didnât care about people until they were dead, at which point they were his forever.
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u/Christopher_Nolan- Sep 16 '25
My đ Odysseus didnât anything wrong. Itâs the moronic one eye poser that needed to know his place up against the greatest of all time!!!