In keeping with a theme, I thought I’d troll around the net and post some images of Poseidon that caught my fancy.
He always comes across as a dark character in mythology. Angry. Spiteful. Pretty much indifferent to human suffering.
This is a really cool sculpture of Poseidon at the Port of Copenhagen. He’s built and mean, with his trident spear. Not precisely how I’ve imagined him in my novel; the premise is Poseidon was a regular Neolithic guy who was idolized for political purposes. But my portrayal is influenced by his physicality, and an inference of sadness from the ancient Greek sources.
Here’s a younger, leaner Poseidon. It’s a famous bronze statue circa 5th century BCE Greece. I bought a copy of it in Mykonos. He looks more athletic, less musclebound, in these earlier renderings.
Kevin McKidd made a fine Poseidon in Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He didn’t have the long wavy hair and beard, but he definitely had the gravitas. And it wouldn’t seem right if Poseidon didn’t have a British accent.
Here’s Poseidon on a Greek postage stamp.
I like this illustration by artist Rhea Babla. Pretty much lays out the iconography, and he’s a handsome, kind of earthy-looking dude. You can check out Rhea’s blog, with samples of her artwork at Silver Platypus.
