Cox, George - Aryan Mythology Vol 2.pdf

\bZ MYTHOLOGY OF THE ARYAN NATIONS.
BOOK city. But she reaps no good from her treachery. In one
—,1—< story she is tied to the stern of the ship of Minos and
drowned in the Saronic gulf; in another she throws herself
into the water, as Minos sails away, and is turned into a
bird, while her father, who has been changed into an eagle,
swoops down after her into the sea.
Section II.—THE LORD OF THE WATERS.
Zens Po- Over all these beings of the world of waters Poseidon is in
the later mythology exalted as the supreme king. His
name, like that of Indra, exhibits him apparently as the god
of moisture, the rain-bringer, who makes the thirsty earth
drink and yield her fruits. 1 Hence in some myths he is the
friend and guardian of Dionysos, and the lover of Demeter,
who becomes the mother of Despoina and the horse Orion
and although he can descend to the depths of the sea and
there dwell, yet he can appear at will on Olympos, and his
power is exercised scarcely less in the heavens than in the
dej^ths beneath. Like Zeus, he is the gatherer of the clouds,
and he can let loose the winds from their prison-house. But
his empire was not well defined, and thus the myths relat-
ing to him turn chiefly on his contests with other deities,
even with some towards whom he is generally friendly. It
was not unnatural that the god of the waters which come
from the heaven as well as of those which feed and form the
sea, should wish to give his name to the lands and cities
which are refreshed by his showers or washed by his waves.
It was as natural that the dawn-goddess should wish the
rocky heights on which her first beams rest to bear her
name ; and thus a contest between the two became inevit-
able. In the dispute with Zeus for Aigina, the water-god
had been successful, and the island retained one of the many
names denoting spots where break the waves of Poseidon.
His power and his dwelling were in like manner seen at Aigai
1
' Sein Name driickt die flussige hin nocreiSoojj/, Tloo-eiSuv, dor. Tloriddv,
Natur im weitesten Umfange aus. Die noTei5c£j/, a?ol. Tlorioav, Uoreidau, gewnr-
alteren Formen sind das dorisehe den ist. Die "NVurzel ist dieselbe wie in
Huaidrjs und TloaeiSris (daher das Fest den Wortern kotos, itot^o), TroTa^tos.'
IlocretSeta und Tloatfrhiov), woraus weiter- Preller, Gr. Myth. i. 443.