Poseidon/Neptune
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The Greek god Poseidon, known as Neptune to the Romans, was the god of the sea. Above, this statue in Athens may be Zeus, the king of the gods, or it may be Poseidon, who was often depicted holding a trident aloft.
A third century Roman mosaic of Neptune. Poseidon/Neptune was not only the god of the sea, he was the god of horses, often depicted driving a chariot, and he was also the god of earthquakes.
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A fourth century Roman mosaic showing Neptune and his wife Amphitrite. Again, he is driving a chariot.
In Greek mythology, Poseidon took Pelops, a king in southern Greece who initiated the ancient Olympic Games, as a lover. This 2012 painting Pelops and Poseidon by Carlos Barahona shows Poseidon, at left, getting it up for Pelops, while the octopus and fish suggest that somehow they're underwater.
A more conventional representation is the Neptune Fountain in Bologna by Giambologna, 1567, showing Neptune with his trident.
And here's the Poseidon Statue in Gothenburg, Sweden by Carl Milles, 1931.
Neptune is celebrated to this day. Neptune Day is an annual festival in Koktebel, Ukraine, in the Crimean peninsula. It's a naturist festival held on a nude beach, and we see Neptune with his trident, above, in 2015. The Crimean peninsula has been occupied by Russia since 2014, but the nude festival has continued.
5 comments:
So fortunate that the Greek gods had no money for clothes.
I believe that opening photo portrays Zeus, who would be hurling a lightning bolt.
What a fun holiday.
Could be either, no one knows.
4 is kinda interesting for how modern and un-Hellenic it is. The Greeks saw reason and the sex drive as opposed, hence the smaller genitals. But also, Greek lovers made love standing, face to face, the elder partner's penis placed between the younger's thighs.
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