| “ | Percy, lesser beings do many horrible things in the name of the gods. That does not mean we gods approve. The way our sons and daughters act in our names… well, it usually says more about them than it does about us. And you, Percy, are my favorite son. | „ |
| ~ Poseidon to Percy. |
| “ | I know I'm not the father you always wanted, but if you ever need me, I'll be there for you, in your thoughts and in your dreams. | „ |
| ~ Poseidon to Percy in The Lightning Thief film. |
Poseidon is a benevolent deity and a major character in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. He is the Greek god of seas, earthquakes and horses, and is the father of the titular character Percy Jackson, the cyclops Tyson, and other children. In addition, he is an ancestral relative to the legacy Frank Zhang and his family.
In The Lightning Thief film adaptation, he was portrayed by Kevin McKidd, who also voiced John "Soap" MacTavish in the Modern Warfare series and Fenn Rau in Star Wars Rebels. Jonathan Raviv played the character in the musical, who also played Hades off-Broadway.
Biography
Early Life
Poseidon was the second male and fifth child of Kronos and his sister and wife Rhea, and was born after his sisters Hera, Demeter, and Hestia, and Hades, his older brother. Kronos feared his children, as they were gods, beings who were a powerful race of immortals than the Titans. Kronos feared that his children would overthrow him, and decided to swallow them whole, but the Titan king strongly disliked Poseidon, and later stated that he was too unpredictable.
Poseidon spent his childhood inside his father's stomach alongside his siblings, causing Kronos to be known as "King Cannibal", and refusing Rhea's pleads to spare their children. When Rhea gave birth to their final child, Zeus, she secretly hid him from Kronos and raised on Crete. After becoming an adult, Zeus infiltrated Kronos' palace on Mount Othrys and released his siblings by tricking the Titans to participate in a drinking game, and poured a powerful emetic into Kronos' cup. In addition, Zeus used knockouts potions on the rest of the Titans so they couldn't awake when Kronos threw up Poseidon and the others.
Poseidon and the others were greeted by Zeus, and they all escaped from Mount Ohtrys to the cave where Rhea was. Afterward, Poseidon and the gods accepted Zeus as their leader, and they all agreed to declare war against Kronos and the Titans. Seeing that they weren't prepared to face the Titans, Poseidon agreed to help Zeus release the Elder Cyclops and the Hekatonkheire from Tartarus.
Hades was able to lead the gods into Tartarus, as he was very skilled in navigating under the Earth. When seeing Kampê, the guardian of the Elder Cyclopes and Hekatonkheires, the gods felt great fear, but overcame it to rescue the Cyclopes and the Hekatonkheries. Zeus managed to talk to the Cyclops and convinced them to forge powerful weapons for him and his siblings. The three Elder Cyclopes forged three weapons, the Master Bolt for Zeus, the Helm of Darkness for Hades, and the Trident for Poseidon. After gaining their new weapons, Zeus destroyed Kampê, and Poseidon freed the Elder Cyclopes and Heaktonkheires by shattering their chains. In return, the Cyclopes thanked the gods and agreed to help them fight against the Titans.
Titan War
Poseidon and his siblings declared war against the Titans, which resulted in the First Titanomachy that lasted for ten years. The gods were not strong at first, as they weren't experienced warriors, but became skilled after fighting the Titans through the ten years. Eventually, the gods managed to defeat the Titans, as Zeus sheered Kronos off his throne by using his master bolt, and the others overwhelmed Atlas, Hyperion and the rest of the Titans.
Afterward, the Elder Cyclopes chained up the defeated Titans, as Zeus used Kronos' scythe to slice his father into a thousand pieces. Zeus casted his father into Tartarus, along with the rest of his followers except for Atlas, as he was forced to hold the sky forever.
Ruling the Seas
After casting them into Tartarus, the gods decided to call themselves the Olympians, and Poseidon, Zeus and Hades became known as the Big Three. The three brothers decided to divide the world between themselves, despite Hades having been the firstborn of Kronos. Poseidon seized the seas, as Zeus claimed the heavens as his domain, and Hades received the Underworld. Despite all of the gods having defeated the Titans, Zeus' authority was recognized as superior to the others and his brothers, and became the king of Mount Olympus and the Olympians.
Tension between Poseidon and Zeus began to grow, as the former found his brother's orders to be annoying and irritating. The Olympians became wary whenever Poseidon and Zeus argued, as a fight wasn't far away, and a fight between them could be catastrophic to the world. Rhea suggested to Poseidon to take leave from Olympus, to explore his new domain of the seas, and learn from the Telekhines. Poseidon lived with the Telekhines, and they educated him on the ocean, and taught him how to achieve a greater skill with his Trident.
After learning all he could from the Telekhines, Poseidon decided to build his own palace, and had the Elder Cyclopes construct Atlantis. Atlantis was considered his official residence at the bottom of the Aegean Sea, and Poseidon became the king and ruler of Atlantis. The sea Titan Oceanus decided to move into the deep parts of the ocean, as he wished not to fight the Olympian. Early in his reign, Poseidon began searching for a wife, and he became attracted to the Nereid Amphitrite.
She rejected his proposal and fled, causing Poseidon to become depress and bellow within his palace. Poseidon's lieutenant and dolphin god Delphin, managed to persuade Amphitrite and the sea god married the Nereid. After their marriage, Poseidon was overjoyed and awarded Delphin by creating a constellation in his honor. Poseidon had children with the Nereid, including a son named Triton, but the sea god sired children from various goddesses and mortal women. Despite his infidelity's, Amphitrite (and Hades' wife, Persephone) towards their husbands and their step-children (unlike Poseidon's sister and Zeus' wife Hera).
The Oath
The Olympians moved to the west that held the seats of great power and influences, and during the Second World War, Zeus' and Poseidon's demigod children fought together against Hades' own demigod children. After Hades' side was defeated, the Oracle prophesied that a half-blood child of one of the Big Three would either cause the fall or salvation of Olympus.
The three brothers swore an oath to no longer sire any more demigod children, but Poseidon and Zeus would break their oaths. Hades didn't break his oath, as he sired demigod children before the oath was made, and his children, Bianca and Nico survived as Hazel Levesque later died but would become back to life post the events of Percy's series. Eventually, Poseidon fell in love with a mortal woman named Sally Jackson, and the two had a child named Perseus "Percy Jackson". To protect his child from the wrath of Olympus, Poseidon left Sally, who had to raise Percy on his own, and protect him from possible threats from monsters.
In the Books
The Lightning Thief
The Titan's Curse
The Battle of the Labyrinth
The Last Olympian
The Blood of Olympus
Gallery
Trivia
- Poseidon's Roman counterpart is Neptune, as his Norse counterparts would be Aegir and Njord.
- Though Poseidon has no Egyptian counterpart, he shares some attributes in common with Sobek.
- Poseidon's attributes are Dolphins, Horses, Rams, Bulls, Ash and White Pine trees, and Tridents.
- Poseidon is only one of the Big Three to not have two known demigod children born from the same mother, as Zeus's lover, Beryl Grace, had two children from him (Jason and Thalia), and Hades' lover, Maria di Angelo, had two children from him (Bianca and Nico).
- In addition, he has the least amount of demigod children out of his brothers, but has the most children.
- Poseidon and Dionysus are the only gods shown to have legacies, and the sea god is the only one to have a legacy of the Big Three.