Daughter of Poseidon: Is She as Powerful as His Father?
Daughter of Poseidon, who is she? Eirene, Lamia, Herophile, and Despoena are some of the names of Poseidon’s daughters. However, as Poseidon is infamous for being an adulterer, he had many children, consisting of different origins and creatures.
Read on to continue learning more about them!
Who Is the Daughter of Poseidon?
Eirene, Lamia, Herophile, Rhode, Charybdis, Kymopoleia, Benthesikyme, Aithousa, Euadne, and Despoena are the daughter of Poseidon names, but they are not the god’s only offspring. They are the God of the Sea’s daughters from different women, who include goddesses, nymphs, and even mortals. Hence, they function differently.
List of the daughters of Poseidon
Below is the list of the daughters of Poseidon the sea god of the famous mythology, they are 10 daughters of different kinds, some were monsters because their mothers differed.
Eirene
Eirene was the daughter of Poseidon and Alpheus’ daughter, Melantheia. Her name, which is also spelled as “Irene,” is also the name of a small island close to Crete. This island was formerly known as Anthedonia and Hypereia before being given the name Calauria in honor of Calaurus, another son of Poseidon.
Eirene is one of the Horae, who serve as the goddesses of the natural world, the personifications of the seasons, and the gatekeepers of Olympus. Eirene embodies both the arrival of spring and peace. She is depicted as a lovely young woman with a scepter, a cornucopia, and a torch or rhyton.
Lamia
Lamia is the daughter of Poseidon and is regarded as the mother of Scylla. However, there is also a character with the same name as Lamia who is the Queen of Libya. The supreme god, Zeus, loved her, but Hera, Zeus’ wife, got very jealous and took away Lamia’s children.
Because of this, Lamia was driven insane by her grief. Zeus then changed her into a monster, giving her the power to avenge herself by consuming other people’s children. Lamia soon began to be identified as a “child devourer.”
Herophile
Herophile is a sea nymph, the daughter of Poseidon and Aphrodite. She is the sister of the sea goddess, Rhode, and is sometimes thought to be the same as the Delphic Sibyl Herophile, who is the daughter of Zeus and Lamia.
Rhode
Rhode, also known and spelled as Rhodos or Rhodus, was a Greek goddess who represented the island of Rhodes and became the spouse of Helios, the god of the sun. She was said to be the daughter of Poseidon by Aphrodite.
Charybdis
Charybdis is the daughter of Poseidon and Gaia. She is depicted as a sea monster, and together with Scylla, she appears to be a challenge to heroic figures like Jason, Odysseus, and Aeneas.
Charybdis caused a great deal of land to be submerged in water, which enraged Zeus, who transformed her into a monster that would perpetually ingest sea water and produce whirlpools.
Kymopoleia
Kymopoleia, also spelled as Cymopoleia, is the name of the sea nymph who caused earthquakes, strong waves, and sea storms. A daughter of Poseidon, Kymopoleia became the wife of Briareos, a storm giant with fifty heads and a hundred arms.
Benthesikyme
Benthesikyme, or Benthesicyme, is the daughter of Poseidon by his wife, Amphitrite. With the Greek words benthos for “depths” and kyma for “waves,” her name translates to “Lady of Deep-Swells.” She is a nymph of the African sea and the wife of Enalos, king of Ethiopia. Together, they had two daughters.
Aithousa
Aithousa, or Aethusa, is a Greek nymph princess. She was the daughter of Poseidon through the Pleaid Alcyone. She was the mother of the bard Eleuther, along with Apollo, the God of the arts and healing.
Euadne
Euadne, or Evadne, is the daughter of Poseidon by a Naiad nymph named Pitane. Euadne was raised in the home of the Arkadian King, Aipytos. She was seduced by the god Apollon and gave birth to a son. However, due to her fear of her guardian’s fury, she abandoned her son in the wilderness.
Despoena
Despoena, or Despoina, is the daughter of Poseidon and Demeter. She is the twin sister of Arion and half-sister of Persephone. She was the counterpart of Demeter in Arcadian cults, and together, they were known as the goddess of mysteries.
How Many Children Does Poseidon Have?
Even though it is common for Greek gods to have many children, there were so many in total that historians found it difficult to track them all down and correctly match the children to their parents. As a result, some individuals have varying names for their parents, but it is usually safe to believe that they are the offspring of either Zeus or Poseidon.
In Greek mythology, both Zeus and Poseidon are known for fathering many children. While some were born within their marriages, more were the result of their affairs. As Poseidon is infamous as a hot-tempered god, when he cannot win someone with his love, he resorts to violence.
Unlike Zeus, who had many minor gods and goddesses as children, Poseidon was regarded as having monsters as his offspring. However, not all of his children were horrible. There was at least one hero and one noble animal on the list of his children.
Like many Greek myths, the list of Poseidon’s mortal sons is extensive. Numerous kingdoms, towns, and islands claimed to be descended from the sea god.
FAQ
What Is the Family Background of Poseidon?
Poseidon was one of the Twelve Olympians who were the prime deities in the Greek pantheon. Among his siblings were Zeus, Hades, Hestia, Demeter, and Hera. He was the second son and third child overall of Cronus and Rhea.
Similar to his siblings, except for Zeus, Cronus swallowed Poseidon at birth after learning of a prophecy that he would be overthrown by one of his offspring. To avoid this, Poseidon father made sure to swallow all of his children as soon as they were born. However, Rhea, Poseidon mother, tricked Cronus and did not give Zeus to him. She gave Zeus to Gaia to raise in secret.
When Zeus was already grown up, he confronted his father and made him regurgitate all of his siblings, who all emerged unharmed. Cronus was imprisoned in Tartarus.
Who Was Poseidon’s Consort?
Amphitrite was Poseidon’s consort or Poseidon wife, but he has a lengthy list of partners as he indulges in sensual pleasure and seeks love with creatures. On some occasions, he would even transform himself or his lover into animals so they could hide. Hence, it can be assumed that physical appearance does not matter to him.
Some of the most notable mothers of his children were Aphrodite (the goddess of love and beauty), Amymone (the “blameless Danaid”), Pelops (creator of the Olympic games and monarch of Pelepponesia), Larissa (a nymph who governed Thessaly through her three sons with Poseidon), Canace (mother of five godly offspring), and Alcyone (a Pleiade who had multiple children with Poseidon).
Even as a Greek god, Poseidon was not always righteous in his actions, especially when it came to his love interests. Additionally, there are several cases in which he takes them by force, as seen in many rape stories that feature him.
In Medusa’s story, she was raped by Poseidon inside Athena’s temple, which enraged the goddess, who then transformed Medusa into a monster with snakes for her hair. Another story was that of Caenis, who was kidnapped and raped by Poseidon. After that, he granted Caenis’ wish to transform into a man so that she would never have to bear children. Poseidon even pursued his sister Demeter, who in an attempt to flee turned herself into a mare, but Poseidon changed himself into a stallion as well and was then able to corner her.
Conclusion
The Greek gods were frequently cited as the fathers of significant people in Greek history. It was believed that many of the rulers who provided the names of Greek cities and regions were the offspring of gods. In particular, Zeus and Poseidon were infamous for being adulterers and siring many children. To recap, below is a snapshot of Poseidon’s numerous consorts, lovers, and children.
Some of Poseidon’s known daughters are Eirene, Lamia, Herophile, Rhode, Charybdis, Kymopoleia, Benthesikyme, Aithousa, Euadne, and Despoena.- The nymphs, who are the most famous daughters of Poseidon Roman, include Benthesikyme, Aithousa, Rhode, Kymopoleia, and Herophile.
- Aphrodite, Demeter, Pelops, Larissa, Alcyone, and Medusa are just some of those whom Poseidon impregnated, whether with their consent or by force. Because Poseidon is well known for his hot temper, when he does not succeed in pursuing his love interest, he takes them by force.
- With Poseidon’s love for sensual pleasure, he had various creatures as children, ranging from demigods to monsters. Physical appearance does not matter to him. Often, he would transform himself into another creature in order to hide and corner his love interest.
- With Poseidon being the god of the sea, the majority of Poseidon’s daughters are closely related to bodies of water.
Even though we have tackled a comprehensive list of Poseidon’s daughters, those mentioned are not the only ones because his children are too numerous to identify. Even historians find it difficult to trace all of the gods’ children, especially those of known adulterers like Zeus and Poseidon.
