Poseidon

=Poseidon=

= =

Never Defy the Waves
I am the lord of the sea. I am Poseidon! How could this ever happen to me? How could I allow the mortal Odysseus to affront me in such a manner? One day I was peacefully resting in my underwater palace when I heard my son plea to me. Odysseus had blinded my son and then challenged my abilities when shouting, "`No one will ever heal your eye, not even your earthquake god himself!'"

Evidently, my duties as a father were not influential enough because my son was tricked by a mortal. He did not take action as quickly as he should have. He should have eaten the campaigner in a timely matter. Polyphemus is usually much more ingenious than this. He had been my favorite son because I had foolishly believed that he was illustrious and witty. But now it is obvious that he is as empty-headed as his mother. He completely allowed Odysseus to exploit him by mutilating his eye while he was helpless, asleep, and drunk. Moreover, this was my son's only eye and he has now lost his sight forever. How is my son expected to raise his sheep now? How will he eat?

Therefore, I have made it my ultimate goal to see to it that Odysseus does not return to his homeland, Ithaca. Odysseus escaped once when I tried to drown him by shipwreck. However, the foolish nymph, Ino gave him a magical scarf! This was when I had just returned home from my Ethiopian friends, and found that the gods had changed their minds about Odysseus which boiled my fury! I tried to get rid of Odysseus when he was nearing Phaeacia's shores where he was about to escape from his planned misery when I thought to myself "He will //not// get away with this". With that, my anger took over and I clutched my trident, created disastrous waves, and created thunder. Darkness filled the ocean sky, winds clashing everywhere. Odysseus froze with fear and he thought it was King Zeus who was plotting against him.

"No wretched Odysseus, it was I Poseidon!"

Odysseus spat out "Is my death upon me? Oh I fear that nymph was right!"

With that, a huge wave crashed down on him and threw him completely off deck! He went under for a while, struggling all the way down. His clothing was dragging him down. He could not manage to save himself, of course he would need help. Ino, the daughter of Cadmus with lovely ankles pittied Odysseus struggling for breath in the depth of the sea.

She spoke to him "Poor Odysseus, why has Poseidon done this to you? No matter, he will not destroy you under my watch. Here take this scarf and put it around your waist. It is immortal-- for now you have nothing to fear."



Odysseus felt confident because he contained that "immortal" scarf around his wait. Oh please, why I could have launched a colossal wave to arch over him and pound him into the profundity of my ocean! Oh wait, that's exactly what I did. Many of Odysseus' planks from his ship were scattered and Odysseus lept onto one riding it against my wave. Now I began to pity that man, for all he was worth, he just wanted to make it home to Ithaca. I decided that I had better things to accomplish in my spare time, no need for me to pester some poor little oath. I actually have gained some respect for this mortal man, and how far he has come. I finally said, "Go, for you have suffered too long, go on now, head home for I think you bear a heavy enough burden awaiting you there." And with that, I took my team and rode to my palace.

Later on in his journey home, he audaciously solicited the help of the Phaeacians, people of //my// blessing who agreed to sail Odysseus home, violating my strongest desires. The will he must have to challenge me again! The Phaeacians are people of my sea, and now that they have betrayed me, I seek vengeance. To punish them, I will fulfill the age-old prophecy; I will sink the transport ship as it prepares to harbor at Phaeacia for all to see. Citizens will be terrified, interpret this as an omen, and learn to succumb to my wrath.