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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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