Temple of Poseidon

 God of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses, Poseidon was a powerful god and thus one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek mythology. 

As Greece is surrounded by the sea, Poseidon was an important god, and it was essential to keep him in good spirits. 

In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was even venerated as a chief deity at Pyios and Thebes. His Roman equivalent is Neptune. 

After having fought and defeated his father Cronos, the world was divided between Poseidon and his two brothers, Zeus and Hades. 

Zeus was given the sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon was made lord of the sea. 

The Earth and Mount Olympus was shared and belonged to all three. 

When in a bad mood, feeling ignored or disagreeing with human actions, Poseidon would strike the ground with his trident, thus punishing humans with earthquakes and terrible storms, often resulting in the loss of ships and lives. 

When feeling more benign, he would create new islands and keep the sea calm. Sailors prayed to Poseidon for a safe voyage and drowning horses as an offering. 

He was a major civic god of several cities – in Athens, he was second only to Athena in importance.

The Temple of Poseidon on Cape Sounion, was built around 700 BC, though there had been earlier sanctuaries on the same site as early as the 11th century BC. 

Destroyed in 480 BC during Xerxes I’s invasion of Greece, the Athenians later placed an entire warship at the site of the temple, to celebrate the defeat of Xerxes in the naval battle of Salamis, to give thanks to Poseidon for helping them win the war. 

A few decades later, between 444 and 440 BC, a new temple was constructed (at the same time the Parthenon was rebuilt in Athens). 

The placement of the temple, only thirteen kilometres south of Athens, may be due to military strategies, as it sits looming on the cliffs high over the waters, communicating to the ships below the presence of a strong army and forceful navy. 

It also had a more practical value, as it offered a place to keep lookout for foreign ships and malignant forces approaching the capital.   

The material and size of the offerings at the temple suggest that it was frequented by the elite and the aristocratic class. 

Excluding the corner blocks, each side of the temple was composed of twenty-three intermediate blocks. 

At the centre, there was a hall of worship, containing a six metres tall bronze statue of Poseidon. 

Temple of Poseidon

Cape Sounio, Greece