Why do people pray to poseidon

Enter your search terms:. After the fall of the Titans , Poseidon was allotted the sea. He was worshiped especially in connection with navigation; but as the god of fresh waters he also was worshiped as a fertility god.

Water was a very interesting character in The Odyssey. Water had the capacity to kill, prevented people from getting somewhere, kept something alive, had what seemed like an endless span, was a method of transportation, the substance of life, and showed up in gas pg. Water was a dangerous force to be reckoned with in The Odyssey. Greek gods are extremely impactful in the voyage of his crew and himself. Without challenges, leadership skills are not able to be identified as clearly.

Not all of the gods cause challenges for Odysseus to face yet some do. Odysseus often acts intelligently to fulfill intentions of self-provided survival. Using his gift of persuasion, he manipulates others to get help when he is in difficult situations. One such instance occurs when he arrives at Crete, an unfamiliar island where he knows nothing of the people and their customs, and needs to get home.

Upon being washed up into the store, he comes across the princess Nausicaa, and immediately concocts a strategy to persuade her to give him help. In his speech to nausicaa he uses many clever tactics to get her to help him This barrier has restrained humans and empowered gods creating a relationship of ruler and subject.

Humans have been pious and humble towards the gods, believing they are perfect beings. The gods themselves are ignorant of their own flaws and very humane qualities. Ancient Greeks believed that they were and that all of the forces of nature were controlled by the gods.

Altogether, there were thousands of gods that the Greeks believed controlled the world in which they lived, and that they had to keep happy or suffer the consequences " Poseidon ," Ancient. Certain gods of the ancient Greek religion though, out of both fear and respect, were more important to the Greeks than others.

Poseidon, god of the seas, was the most important god to the ancient Greeks because he controlled the seas and Greeks relied on the water for survival; and as a result he was feared due to his temper, but the Greeks would pray to him and build …show more content… Being viewed as a very ill-tempered and violent old man, who could quickly go from calm to steaming with rage, it made sense that Poseidon would be the cause of these many disasters.

The Greeks prayed, worshipped, and devoted their lives to pleasing the gods. One of the main gods they worshipped was Poseidon.

They prayed to him on a daily basis; they prayed for fish in the sea, no storms, and safe sea travels. When they upset him, Poseidon had the power to create storms and drown people in the sea.

Although Poseidon was mythological, the people of the time still believed he was truly there and controlled many aspects of their lives. Closer to shore, fishermen also prayed to the god of the sea.

They hope the sea god would drive away dolphins and swordfish that could tear their homemade nets and release the fish they hoped to catch instead. The fact that Poseidon was worshipped in such a wide variety of circumstances points to his importance in the ancient Greek world. Modern Greece has over 13, km of coastline, and the ancient Greek would would have also contained many additional coastal colonies and islands.

Most cities were near the sea, and even most inland locations would have been under km from the Mediterannean. While Hermes protected the roads of Greece, the rugged terrain meant that travel by sea was often safer and more direct. Especially when moving large amounts of goods or people, ships were more efficient than carts or caravans. Thus, Greek culture revolved almost entirely around the sea. Greece was a naval civilization that used the Mediterannean to facilitate trade, move armies, and colonize new lands.

In such a sea-based culture, the god of the sea would be among the most important deities. It is almost surprising that he was below the sky god in the hierarchy of the pantheon. This may not have always been the case, however. There is significant evidence that Poseidon was once revered as a land-based god rather than a marine one.

The pre-Greek cultures of the region, including the powerful Minoan civilization, may have made their version of Poseidon the chief god of their religions. When the first Greek-speaking people arrived in the region, bringing their sky god with them, Poseidon was re-cast as the god of the sea and given a secondary role.

This theory is supported by the fact that Poseidon was worshipped in some ways that did not associate him with the sea. In some areas, for example, he was worshipped for promoting the growth of plants. His role as the Earth-Shaker, however, was not completely distinct from his role as the sea god.