Poseidon

Religion in NetHack
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In NetHack, Poseidon is the chaotic god of the Healer pantheon.

Origin

Poseidon is one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, and is a deity that presides over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses - the name "Poseidoon" appears to be an erroneous rendering of Ποσειδάων "Poseidaōn", which is the spelling of his name in Mycenean and Homeric Greek. Poseidon's Roman equivalent is Neptune. Poseidon was considered the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cities and colonies; in Plato's Timaeus and Critias, the legendary island of Atlantis was his domain.

Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea following the overthrow of his father Cronus, when the world was divided by lot among him and his brothers: Zeus was given the sky, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the sea, with the Earth and Mount Olympus belonging to all three. In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, Poseidon was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes, with the cult title "earth shaker"; in the myths of isolated Arcadia, he is related to Demeter and Persephone, and was venerated as a horse and a god of the waters. Poseidon maintains these associations among most Greeks: he was the tamer or father of horses who created springs and earthquakes with a strike of his trident (as the terms for "horse" and "spring" are related in the Greek language).

Poseidon is known for his wrathful and avenging nature: in the Odyssey, the Greek hero Odysseus provokes Poseidon's fury by blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, resulting in Poseidon punishing Odysseus with storms and delaying his return by ten years; in Homer's Iliad, Poseidon supports the Greeks against the Trojans during the Trojan War. According to another legend, Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens after besting Poseidon in a competition; Poseidon then sent a monstrous flood to the Attic plain to punish the Athenians for not choosing him, and was said to cause similar floods upon losing competitions with other deities in different cities. As such, he was often honored by cities he was not the explicit patron of.

Variants

dNetHack

In dNetHack and notdNetHack, Poseidon is a chaotic god of neutral holiness, and his minions consist of ford elementals, warhorses, Noviere Eladrin, marids, water elementals, ice paraelementals, lightning paraelementals, Uiscerre Eladrin, and titans. His crowning gift is Poseidon's Trident, a chaotic trident that has +1d3 to-hit and deals triple damage, and can be invoked to create a pool on an adjacent square.

Encyclopedia entry

Both "Poseidon" and the alternate spelling "Poseidoon" return this entry:

Poseido(o)n, lord of the seas and father of rivers and
fountains, was the son of Chronos and Rhea, brother of Zeus,
Hades, Hera, Hestia and Demeter. His rank of ruler of the
waves he received by lot at the Council Meeting of the Gods,
at which Zeus took the upper world for himself and gave
dominion over the lower world to Hades.
Poseidon is associated in many ways with horses and thus is
the god of horses. He taught men how to ride and manage the
animal he invented and is looked upon as the originator and
guardian deity of horse races.
His symbol is the familiar trident or three-pronged spear
with which he can split rocks, cause or quell storms, and
shake the earth, a power which makes him the god of
earthquakes as well. Physically, he is shown as a strong and
powerful ruler, every inch a king.

[ The Encyclopedia of Myths and Legends of All
          Nations, by Herbert Robinson and Knox Wilson ]