Greek
Aegis
Aegis (Αἰγίς)
Shaken, it raises storms and sends enemy armies fleeing in terror.
ArmorFirst recorded c. 750 BCE
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Photograph: The reverse of a silver coin of King Demetrius of Macedon, about 300–295 BCE. A nude Poseidon with a cloak over his left arm strides forward aiming his trident, with Greek letters around him.
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3,000 × 2,900 PX3000×2900
ArchiveGreek · Weapon
Trident of Poseidon
Trident of Poseidon (Τρίαινα)
When struck, the sea boils, the earth shakes and springs rise.
- Owner
- Poseidon, god of the sea
- Maker
- The one-eyed Cyclopes
- First record
- Homer, Iliadc. 750 BCE
- Gallery
- Greek
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
In thanks for help in the war against the Titans, the one-eyed Cyclopes made weapons for three divine brothers. Zeus received the thunderbolt, Hades the helmet and Poseidon the trident.
In the Iliad Poseidon uses this trident to tear down and sweep away the Greek wall on the shore of Troy. As his epithet Earthshaker suggests, when he struck rock with it the ground shook and springs rose.
Competing with Athena to be patron of Athens, Poseidon struck the rock of the Acropolis with his trident and raised a saltwater spring. But the people chose the olive tree Athena offered.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Tetradrachm: Poseidon, Striding with Trident (reverse)(Greek, Macedonian, minted at Salamis (Cyprus), c. 300–295 BCE), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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