Neptune

Apollo and Neptune took human form and came to Laomedon, king of Phrygia, while he began laying the foundations of Troy’s walls. The work moved slowly and cost him much. The two gods agreed to fortify the city in return for payment, and Laomedon accepted their terms. They completed the walls and finished the work for which he had hired them.

When the time came to pay, Laomedon refused them their wages. He denied that he had promised them any sum and bound his false refusal with oaths. Neptune answered that the king would not escape punishment. He drove the waves of the sea against covetous Troy. The water swept away the possessions of the farmers, covered their fields, and made the land resemble the deep sea.

Neptune judged this punishment too small for Laomedon’s deceit. He demanded the king’s daughter, Hesione, for a sea monster. Laomedon had Hesione bound to a rock, where the monster could take her. The danger fell upon Troy because its king had withheld the gods’ payment. Hercules later came to the city and delivered Hesione safely from the rock, while the punishment brought by Neptune followed Laomedon’s broken bargain.

Poseidon received the sea when Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades deposed Cronus and drew lots for their realms. He built an underwater palace off Aegae in Euboea, with spacious stables for white horses with brazen hooves and golden manes. Storms ceased whenever his golden chariot approached, and sea monsters rose and frisked around it. Needing a wife who belonged in the sea depths, he first courted Thetis, a Nereid. Themis warned that any son born to her would surpass his father, so Poseidon abandoned his suit and allowed Thetis to marry the mortal Peleus.

He then glimpsed Amphitrite dancing on Naxos and fell violently in love with her. She was another Nereid and a joyous daughter of Oceanus. She frisked among the blue waves and came ashore at low tide to dance on the shore. She feared Poseidon’s stormy wooing and fled into the depths of the sea.

Poseidon tried to win her with gifts. He fashioned ornaments from coral, pearl, and bullion taken from sunken treasure ships, but she spurned them all. At last he created something entirely new, a fish that talked and danced. He named it Dolphin and sent it to plead his cause. Dolphin spoke with such wit and eloquence that Amphitrite yielded. She returned from the sea’s depths, became Poseidon’s wife, and reigned as queen of the sea for many centuries. Dolphin remained her favourite creature of the deep, and a string of dolphins pulled her crystal chariot.

In another telling, Poseidon wooed Amphitrite in the form of a dolphin. She still became his wife and ruled beside him in the sea.

Poseidon, whom the Greeks called Neptune, struck the Acropolis with his trident. The blow opened a saltwater spring on the highest point of the city. He also offered a horse, and he claimed the land as his possession. He asked the people to name the place after him and promised to become their patron and protector. Then a great wave carried him back to the sea.

Athene, whom the Greeks called Minerva, came after him. She planted an olive tree on the dry, rocky hill beside the spring. The tree grew as her gift to the people. Poseidon was angered by her claim and challenged her to single combat. Athene would have accepted, but Zeus stopped them and ordered them to submit their dispute to judgement.

The gods and goddesses gathered as judges. They called on Cecrops to give evidence. The gods supported Poseidon, while the goddesses supported Athene. Zeus gave no opinion. The judges then considered the gifts that the two deities had given the land. They decided that Athene had offered the better gift, and they awarded her the city. The people chose her olive tree over Poseidon's saltwater spring and horse, and Athene became the city's patron.