Poseidon
In Greek mythology, he is the god of the sea. His name in Roman mythology is Neptune. Here are some representations in painting and sculpture from various centuries:
He has been borrowed and modified for inclusion in the Marvel Universe where he interacts with Namor, the Submariner…
… as well as the DC universe. Of the images I examined, I didn’t like the mean-spirited tone of most of them (Poseidon going rogue, hitting Wonder Woman, bloody noses, bloody mouths, etc.), so I included only one for this post. This is the best I found for my purposes, and it shows an angry Poseidon battling an angry Aquaman.
DC characters are so angry so much of the time. It strikes me as rather one-dimensional. This is definitely not the DC comics of my childhood.
More examples of shameless borrowing continue next week.
When I was a kid, Neptune (I preferred the Roman name. What the heck was a Poseidon, anyway?) was my favorite pagan god.
He just seemed more interesting and imaginable than the other gods.
I think it was because he was associated with the ocean and not some strange mythical place, like Olympus or the Valhalla of the Norsemen.
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There was always good imagery with this member of the pantheon in my own mind. In reading The Odyssey and The Iliad, I found these three the most resonant: Athena, Hermes, and Zeus.
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I love these posts
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Thank you so much. I hope I can keep it up. Nothing like a little positive pressure…
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I think it’s interesting how the traditional deities, like Poseidon, intersect with the modern superheroes, who often are godlike in some ways. It’s just so tempting to pit a superhero, like Aquaman, against a deity like Poseidon with all the weight of history behind him.
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I agree. I think also that it’s hard to pull off and requires careful development of plot, theme, and characters.
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Mythology is too interesting to not borrow from although, it’s quite interesting to see how different writers morph them to their needs
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You’re right. I see it as a two-edged sword. When done right, the results can be terrific.
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