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Poseidon, Oceanus, and Tethys
Poseidon,
chief of the water deities and second in power only to Zeus, carried a trident,
with which he could shake the earth, call forth or dissipate storms, and the
like. To impress Demeter, who urged him to create the world's most beautiful
animal, Poseidon invented the horse. Horses with brass hoofs and golden manes
drew his chariot across the seas, which became calm before him.
Homer claims Oceanus and Tethys, pictured in the lower half of this mosaic, were responsible for the birth of the gods, but
Hesiod's version of the origins is generally accepted (see Gypsy Girl). Gods of the sea,
Oceanus and his wife Tethys bore 3,000 daughters and 3,000 sons. Known as the
Oceanids, these children were spirits of rivers, waters, and springs.
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