Children of Poseidon
The Sea God's Offspring
From the winged horse Pegasus to the cyclops Polyphemus, Poseidon's children were as wild and untamed as the ocean itself.
The Divine Offspring of Poseidon
Poseidon was one of the most prolific figures in Greek mythology when it came to producing offspring. His children — born of both divine and mortal unions — went on to become some of the most important figures in the mythological tradition. Each child inherited aspects of their father's divine nature, though often manifested in unexpected ways.
Divine Children
The children born of Poseidon's unions with other gods and goddesses were themselves powerful deities. These divine offspring often played crucial roles in the cosmic order of Greek mythology, serving as bridges between different aspects of the divine world. Their stories reveal the complex web of relationships that defined Olympian politics.
Mortal Children
Perhaps more famous than his divine children were Poseidon's mortal offspring — the demigods and heroes who walked among humanity with extraordinary gifts. These half-divine beings often faced tremendous challenges precisely because of their parentage, caught between the mortal and divine worlds.
Legacy and Influence
The children of Poseidon collectively shaped the mythological landscape of ancient Greece. Their stories were told and retold across centuries, each generation finding new meaning in the tales of divine parentage and mortal struggle. From founding cities to slaying monsters, these offspring left an indelible mark on Western storytelling.
Ancient Sources
The primary ancient sources for Poseidon's children include Hesiod's Theogony, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Apollodorus's Bibliotheca, and Ovid's Metamorphoses. Each source sometimes gives different accounts of parentage, reflecting the diversity of local mythological traditions across the Greek world.
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Children with Goddesses
Poseidon's legitimate wife is the Nereid Amphitrite, and Hesiod gives them one child, Triton, who lives with his parents in a golden palace in the depths. Apollodorus adds two daughters, Rhode (namesake of Rhodes, who married Helios) and Benthesikyme, who raised Poseidon's son Eumolpus after his mother Chione threw him into the sea, and later gave him one of her daughters as a wife. Other writers assign Rhodes' namesake to different mothers, such as the sea-goddess Halia, and Pindar calls the nymph Rhodos a daughter of Aphrodite instead. Genealogies like these were often local claims, made by island communities that wanted the sea god at the root of their history.
His most unusual divine children came from Demeter. In Arcadian legend, as Pausanias records, Demeter turned herself into a mare to escape him while searching for Persephone, and Poseidon became a stallion. Their offspring were the immortal horse Arion, later ridden by Adrastus in the war of the Seven against Thebes, and a daughter worshipped at Lycosura under the title Despoina, "the Mistress," whose true name was revealed only to initiates. Demeter was so angry that the Arcadians of Thelpusa worshipped her as Demeter Erinys.
Monstrous Sons
A striking proportion of Poseidon's sons are giants, monsters or killers. The Roman writer Aulus Gellius noticed this in the second century AD: in his Attic Nights he observes that the poets made the bravest and wisest men sons of Jupiter, but the fiercest and most savage sons of Neptune.
- Polyphemus, the Cyclops of the Odyssey, son of the nymph Thoosa. His blinding by Odysseus and his prayer to his father are what turn Poseidon against Odysseus for ten years. These Homeric Cyclopes differ from Hesiod's three thunderbolt-forging Cyclopes, who are sons of Ouranos.
- Pegasus and Chrysaor, by Medusa, who sprang from her neck when Perseus beheaded her. Chrysaor fathered the triple-bodied Geryon, killed by Heracles.
- Otus and Ephialtes, the Aloadae, sons of Iphimedeia. At nine years old they piled Ossa on Olympus and Pelion on Ossa to attack heaven, and imprisoned Ares in a bronze jar for thirteen months. Apollo killed them in the Odyssey; Apollodorus says Artemis tricked them into spearing each other.
- Antaeus, by Gaia, a Libyan giant who drew strength from contact with the earth until Heracles lifted him and crushed him.
- Amycus, king of the Bebryces, who forced strangers to box with him and was killed by Polydeuces in the Argonautica.
- Cercyon and Sciron, two of the roadside killers dispatched by Theseus, are called sons of Poseidon in some sources.
- Charybdis is named in later tradition as a daughter of Poseidon and Gaia.
Heroes and Founders
Poseidon also fathered great dynasties. Tyro, in love with the river Enipeus, was seduced by Poseidon disguised as the river; their twins Pelias and Neleus became kings of Iolcus and Pylos, which makes Poseidon grandfather of Nestor and the god behind Pelias' order that sent Jason after the Golden Fleece. By Amymone, one of the Danaids, he fathered Nauplius, whose son Palamedes was destroyed by Odysseus at Troy. Orion, in one version from Hesiod's lost works, was his son by Euryale and could walk on the sea.
Two major heroes had Poseidon as a second, or alternative, father. Theseus's mother Aethra slept with both Aegeus and Poseidon on the same night. In Bacchylides' seventeenth ode, Theseus proves his paternity by diving into the sea to fetch Minos's ring and returning with a gift from Amphitrite. Bellerophon was likewise called a son of Glaucus but also of Poseidon, which helps explain how he was able to tame Pegasus, his half-brother. In Plato's Critias, Poseidon fathers five pairs of twins by the mortal Cleito, the first kings of Atlantis, the eldest named Atlas.
Ancient sources
- Hesiod, Theogony 278–283, 930–933 — Pegasus and Chrysaor born from Medusa; Triton born to Poseidon and Amphitrite.
- Homer, Odyssey 1.68–75, 11.235–259, 11.305–320 — Polyphemus as son of Poseidon and Thoosa; Tyro and her sons Pelias and Neleus; the Aloadae.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.25 and 8.37 — Demeter, Poseidon, the horse Arion and the goddess Despoina in Arcadian cult.
- Bacchylides, Ode 17 — Theseus dives to Poseidon's palace to prove his divine parentage.
- Apollodorus, Library 1.4.3, 1.7.4, 3.15.4 — Orion as son of Poseidon and Euryale, the Aloadae, Benthesikyme and Eumolpus.
- Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 15.21 — the observation that poets made the most savage men sons of Neptune.
Frequently asked questions
Who are Poseidon's most famous children?
Triton, Polyphemus, Pegasus, Theseus (in one version of his birth), the horse Arion, and the twin kings Pelias and Neleus.
Is Pegasus Poseidon's son?
Yes. Pegasus and his brother Chrysaor are Poseidon's children by Medusa, born at the moment Perseus cut off her head.
Why are so many of Poseidon's children monsters?
As a god of the untamed sea, earthquakes and wild horses, Poseidon was associated with raw, destructive force, and myth-tellers gave him offspring to match. Even the Romans commented on the pattern.
Was Theseus the son of Poseidon or Aegeus?
Both claims were made. Athenian tradition kept Aegeus as his human father, while poets such as Bacchylides emphasised Poseidon. See Poseidon for more on the god himself.