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Poseidon is the Greek god of the sea. In Plato’s account he is also the founder of Atlantis and the father of its first kings. Later writers and channeled sources build on that role.
Names
Poseidon has many names. Some come from early Greek, some from other cultures and some from channeled sources.
- Poseidaon / Poseidon: older or dialectal spellings. In the Linear B tablets from Mycenaean Greece he appears as po-se-da-o. Poteidan is an early form of the name. In some local cults:
- Poseidon Erechtheus: merged with the Athenian hero-king Erechtheus.
- Nethuns: the Etruscan equivalent, later merged with Poseidon and Neptune.
- The high priest of the ocean (Stewart Pearce)
- High Priest of Atlantis and God of the Seas (Diana Cooper)
- Talyn or Stalin (Matias de Stefano)
- Neptune (or Neptunus): the direct Roman counterpart to Poseidon
Stewart Pearce: the seal keeper who named Atlantis
Stewart Pearce calls Poseidon the high priest of the ocean. In his account Poseidon gave Atlantis its name, and Plato was an incarnation of Thoth.
Where, you see, Poseidon was the high priest of the ocean, who was proclaimed as the seal keeper—the seal keeper who named Atlantis, a word that is a sonic glyph for the action of the land that rose from the water. Indeed, this has been written about by Plato, who, as you know, was an incarnation of Thoth, who referred to Atlas as the sovereign of Atlantis, appointed by his father Poseidon.
Characteristics
Poseidon holds a trident, a spear with three points. Plato uses it as a sign of the three continents in the empire of Atlantis. The trident also stands for Poseidon’s power over the sea and over earthquakes.
The Greeks called him Earth-shaker and Horse Lord, among many other titles.
10 Sons of Poseidon
Plato names ten sons of Poseidon and Cleito. They became the first kings of Atlantis.
- Atlas
- Eumelus (Gadeirus in some translations)
- Ampheres
- Evaemon
- Mneseus
- Autochthon
- Elasippus
- Mestor
- Azaes
- Diaprepes
- Triton?
Triton is not one of Plato’s ten. He is listed here with a question mark.
Plato’s Account of Poseidon in “Critias” and “Timaeus”
In Plato’s Critias and Timaeus, Poseidon receives the island of Atlantis. He marries a mortal woman named Cleito, and they have ten sons.
Poseidon shapes the island to protect her. He makes rings of water and land around the central hill where Cleito lives. The fertile land and the natural defenses are his work.
He then divides Atlantis into ten parts, one for each son. The eldest, Atlas, rules the central and most important part. Poseidon also gives his descendants laws to rule by.
Ignatius Donnelly’s “Atlantis: The Antediluvian World”
Ignatius Donnelly follows Plato. Poseidon is the divine founder of Atlantis, and his ten sons with Cleito rule it.
Donnelly goes further. He says the civilization Poseidon founded shaped other cultures around the world. He credits the Atlanteans under Poseidon with many advances of ancient peoples.
He also argues that the myths of Poseidon in Greece, Rome and elsewhere go back to a real Atlantis. In his view the gods were memories of its kings.
Bridgman-Metchum’s “1903 Bridgman-Metchum Atlantis”
Bridgman-Metchum also sees Poseidon as the founder and divine protector of Atlantis. Like Plato and Donnelly, he tells of the marriage to Cleito and the sons who became its rulers.
He stresses Poseidon’s role in shaping the island and its defenses. For him, Poseidon’s rule over the waters stands for the power and the isolation of Atlantis.
He describes the peak of Atlantean civilization under Poseidon as a time of great wealth and technology. He also follows Plato on the decline. A moral and spiritual decay set in that even Poseidon’s laws could not stop.
Gods similar to Poseidon
Many cultures have a god or goddess of the sea. Some also share Poseidon’s link with horses, earthquakes or new land.
| Deity | Culture | Attributes and Similarities |
|---|---|---|
| Thalan | Atlanteans | |
| Neptune | Roman | God of the sea, equivalent to Poseidon, associated with horses, earthquakes, and storms |
| Njord | Norse | God of the sea, wind, fishing, wealth, and crop fertility |
| Varuna | Hindu | God of the oceans, associated with law, cosmic order, and the celestial ocean |
| Enki (Ea) | Sumerian/Akkadian | God of water, knowledge, mischief, crafts, and creation, associated with the sea |
| Yam | Canaanite/Phoenician | God of the sea and rivers, represents primordial chaos and is often depicted as a dragon |
| Manannán mac Lir | Celtic | God of the sea and ruler of the Otherworld, associated with weather and fertility |
| Tangaroa | Polynesian | God of the sea, fish, and aquatic life, associated with creation |
| Agwe | Haitian Vodou | Loa of the sea, fish, and aquatic plants, protector of sailors and fishermen |
| Mazu | Chinese | Goddess of the sea, protector of sailors and fishermen |
| Suijin | Japanese | Shinto god of water, associated with rivers, lakes, and the sea |
| Sedna | Inuit | Goddess of the sea and marine animals, ruler of the underworld |
| Olokun | Yoruba (West Africa) | Orisha of the sea, associated with wealth, health, and deep knowledge |
| Pele | Hawaiian | Goddess of volcanoes and fire, also has connections to the sea and creation of new land through lava |
See: Channeling Poseidon
