POSEIDON, the ancient Greek god of the sea and of water generally, was fabled to be the son of Cronus and Rhea, and brother of Zeus and Pluto. When the three brothers deposed their father Cronus the kingdom of the sea fell by lot to Poseidon. With his wife, Amphitrite, he dwelt in the depths of the sea; at Aegae he had a golden house beneath the waves. In his hand he bore a trident (a three-pronged fish-spear), wherewith he lashed the sea into fury. But, while he caused storms and shipwrecks, he could also send favouring winds. He was the god of navigation, adored by all who sailed the sea. His temples stood especially on headlands and isthmuses. As god of the sea he disputed with other deities for the possession of the land—with Athene for Athens and Troezen, with Helios for Corinth, with Hera for Argos, with Zeus for Aegina, àc. Earthquakes were thought to be produced by Poseidon shaking the earth,—hence his epithet of “Earth-shaker,” and hence he was worshipped even in inland places, like Apamea in Phrygia, which had suffered from earthquakes. Hence also may have arisen the custom in some places of sacrificing moles to him. The great seawave which often accompanies an earthquake was also his work · the destruction of Helice in Achaia by such a λvave (373 b.c. ) was attributed to his wrath. Once when an earthquake shook the ground where a Spartan army was encamped, the whole army sang a hymn to Poseidon. The island of Delos was thought to have been raised by him from the bottom of the sea, and in 237 B.c., when a new island appeared between Thera and Therasia, the Rhodians founded a temple of Poseidon on it. Thessaly was said to have been a lake until this god opened a way for the waters through the Vale of Tempe. Poseidon was also the god of springs, which ...he produced by striking the rock with his trident, as he did on the acropolis of Athens when he was disputing with Athene for the sovereignty of Athens. This dispute was represented on the western pediment of the Parthenon. As he gave, so he could withhold springs of water; thus the waterless neighbourhood of Argos was supposed to suffer from his anger. Black bulls were sacrificed to him; in Ionia and Thessaly bull-fights took place in his honour; at a festival of his at Ephesus the cupbearers were called “bulls,” and the god himself was surnamed “Bull Poseidon.” The herse was especially associated with his λvorship; he was said to have produced the first horse by striking the ground in Thessaly with his trident. At a fountain in Argolis horses bitted and bridled were sacrificed to him by being drowned in the water, and similarly Sextus Pompeius sought to propitiate him by throwing horses into the sea. He bore the surname of “Horse Neptune,” and was regarded as the tamer as well as the creator of the steed. His worship was thought by Herodotus to have been derived from the Libyans. It had special seats in Thessaly, Boeotia, and the Peloponnesus. He had a famous cave-like temple at Taenarum in Laconia. On the island of Tenos he was worshipped as the physician, and crowds gathered from the neighbouring islands to offer sacrifice. At Mycale in Asia Minor the Panionium, or place of general assembly of the Ionian Greeks, was sacred to him. In the Trojan War Poseidon sided with the Greeks because he had been cheated of his reward by Laomedon, the former king of Troy, for whom he had built the city walls. The offspring of his numerous amours λvere mostly wild and cruel like the sea; such were the Laestrygones, Polyphemus, Cycnus, Antaeus, Busiris, Procrustes, Sciron, and Orion. Alcinous, king of the seafaring Phaeacians in the Odyssey, traced his lineage to Poseidon. By far the most famous of the festivals of Poseidon was that celebrated every second year on the Isthmus of Corinth and hence called the “Isthmian festival” (see vol. x. p. 65). Pine trees were sacred to Poseidon; a row of them stood close to his temple on the isthmus. Amongst the Ionians the stormy month which precedes the winter solstice was called by the name of Poseidon. He was described as dark-haired, broad-breasted, and blueeyed. In works of art he appeared holding a trident and with a dolphin on his hand or under his feet; sometimes he was represented riding a bull, a horse, or a sea-horse, or in a chariot, often surrounded by the Tritons, Nereids, and other fabulous creatures of the sea. There were colossal statues of him at Helice in Achaia, on the Isthmus of Corinth (set up by the Greeks after the Persian Avars), and at Tenos. The derivation of his name is uncertain; some refer it to the same root as τroτos, ττοτα/χός, &c.; others compare ττότνια. In modern Greece St Nicholas has taken the place of Poseidon as patron of sailors. But the Zachyn thians have a special sea-god, half man, half fish, who dwells under the sea, rides on dolphins or in a car drawn by dolphins, and wields a trident. He seems to combine the attributes of Poseidon and Nereus. For the Roman sea-god, see Neptune.
POSEN, a province in the east of Prussia, with an area (11,180 square miles) nearly equal to that of Belgium, is bounded on the N. by the province of Prussia, on the E. by Russian Poland, on the S. by Silesia, and on the W. by Brandenburg. It belongs physically to the great north German plain, and consists of a low plateau intersected by the beds of the Netze, the Warthe, and the Obra. The three rivers just named drain into the Oder, but part of the province falls within the basin of the Vistula, which forms the frontier for a short distance on the north-east. The surface of the whole district is dotted with small lakes and ponds, and there are many broad fens and marshes. The soil on the whole is light and sandy, but much of the land reclaimed in the boggy districts is very fertile. Upwards of 61 per cent, of the area is under cultivation, while 13 per cent, is occupied by pasture and meadows and 20 per cent, by forests. The principal crops are wheat, rye, oats, barley, potatoes, and hops (compare Prussia); the vine is cultivated to some extent in the south-west corner, and tobacco is also grown. The marshy tracts often afford excellent pasture and support large numbers of cattle, sheep, and goats. The mineral resources of the province are practically restricted to brown coal and salt, about 26,000 tons of the formerand 75,000 tons of the latter being raised in 1882. The industry is confined to a few points, and is of comparatively little importance. Besides beer and brandy, the chief products are machinery, cloth, tobacco, and bricks. Trade, carried on briskly in timber and agricultural produce, is facilitated by the network of navigable rivers and canals. Both industry and trade are somewhat cramped by the duties imposed at the Russian frontier. The population of the ...province in 1880 was 1,703,397, including 1,112,962 Roman Catholics, 532,498 Protestants, and 56,609 Jews. The Roman Catholics are mainly Poles, of whom there are about 950,000 in Posen, while the great bulk of the 750,000 Germans are Protestants. About 65 per cent, of the population is returned as “rural” in spite of the large number of so-called “towns,” only seven of which, however, have more than 10,000 inhabitants. The largest are Posen and Bromberg. The province of Posen enjoys the unenviable distinction of being the worst educated corner of the German dominions, a fact illustrated by the high ratio of illiterate recruits (9 - 75 per cent, in 1882-83). It is represented in the German reichstag by fifteen and in the Prussian parliament by twenty-nine deputies.
History.— The history of the district of Posen, comprehending great part of the cradle of the old kingdom of Poland, including its most ancient capital (Gnesen), falls properly within the scope of the article Poland (?.».). Its political connexion with Prussia began in 1772, when the districts to the north of the Netze fell to the share of that power in the first partition of Poland. The rest followed in 1793, and was united with the Netze district to form the province of South Prussia. After the peace of Tilsit Posen was incorporated with the grand-duchy of Warsaw, but in 1815 it reverted to Prussia under the style of the “grand-duchy of Posen.” In 1848 the Polish inhabitants of the province revolted and had to be put down by force; and a thoroughly harmonious union of the two elements of the population is still unattained.
The tide of German immigration into Posen began at an early period and flowed very strongly in the 13th and following centuries. The industrious German settlers were heartily welcomed by the Polish nobles and were the founders of most of the towns, in which they lived after their own customs and were governed by their own laws. They established the few manufactures of which the district can boast, introduced the cultivation of hops, reclaimed the waste soil, and did much to improve agriculture generally. In the 16th century Protestantism was widely diffused by their means. À strong reaction, however, set in in the following century, and persecution of the Protestants went hand in hand with the ravages of war in hastening the political, intellectual, and agricultural decline of the territory. By the 18th century the burghers had sunk to the level of “städtische Bauern,” or peasants with municipal privileges, and poverty and misery were widely spread. The Prussian rule, in spite of many defects, proved so beneficial that even Napoleon was compelled to praise it.
Posen contains a numerous Polish noblesse, many of the members of which are very poor. A double transformation is going on in the ownership of the ground, the large estates passing into the hands of the peasants and Polish proprietors giving place to German. A few years ago between 60 and 70 per cent, of the soil was occupied by “latifundia,” while at present it is pretty equally divided between those and peasant holdings. In the four years 1878-81, inclusive, the land in the possession of Germans increased at the expense of Polish landowners by upwards of 100,000 acres. The peasantfarmers are generally deeply in debt, partly owing to the educational and communal burdens, but mainly owing to the pernicious custom of “Leibgedinge,” according to which an able-bodied man in the prime of life will give up his holding in return for an annuity from his successor. In some instances two annuitants of this kind are found living on the same small patch of ground iu addition to the actual cultivator.
POSEN (Polish, Poznan), capital of the above province, the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishop, and the headquarters of a corps of the German army, is situated at the confluence of the Cybina and Warthe, 150 miles to the east of Berlin and 90 miles to the north of Breslau. It is a fortress of the first rank and of great strategic importance; the works consist of a citadel and inner line of bastions, and an outer circle of twelve detached forts. The principal part of the town lies on the west bank of the Warthe, and comprises the so-called Altstadt and the well-built modern quarter that has sprung up under the Prussian régime. On the other bank is the Wallischei, a poor district inhabited by Poles. Among the older buildings none calls for remark except the town-house, a quaint specimen of the Slavonic adaptation of Romanesque forms. The chief modern buildings are the various military and public offices, the law courts, the theatre, the real school, and the Raczynski library. The churches are devoid of architectural interest, but the cathedral contains numerous interesting objects of art, including two bronze-gilt statues of the first Christian kings of Poland, by Rauch. The manufactures of Posen are multifarious enough, including machinery, carriages, tobacco, copper boilers and vats, military requisites, chemicals, <tc.; but there is nothing that can be called a staple industry. A lively trade is carried on in the agricultural products of Russia and Poland, and several well-attended fairs and markets are held. In 1880 Posen contained 65,713 inhabitants, including 35,725 Roman Catholics, 22,869 Protestants, and 7063 Jews. The German inhabitants are at present considerably more numerous than the Poles, though it would seem that the latter have increased in a greater ratio since 1875. The Jewish element is stronger here (10 ’ 7 per cent.) than in any other town in Germany. The garrison consists of 7000 men.
Posen, one of the oldest towns in Poland and the residence of some of the early Polish princes, became the seat of a Christian bishop towards the end of the 10th century. The original settlement was on the east bank of the Warthe, but the new or German town, established on the west bank about the year 1250, soon became the more important half of the doable city. Posen was a royal free town, and was directly represented in the Polish diet down to 1733. In the Middle Ages it became a great depot of the trade between Germany and the west of Europe on the one hand and Poland and Russia on the other. Numerous foreign merchants took up their abode here, including a strong colony of Scotsmen, who exported raw produce to Edinburgh. The town attained the climax of its prosperity in the 16th century, when its population is variously estimated at from 30,000 to 80,000. The intolerance shown to the Protestants, the troubles of the Thirty Years’ War, the visitation of the plague, and other causes, however, soon conspired to change the state of affairs, and in the 18th century the town had only 5000 inhabitants. New life was infused into it on its annexation by Prussia at the second partition of Poland, and since then its progress has been limited only by its position as a fortress. The relations of the German and Polish elements of the population continue to be somewhat strained.
