Old SymbolsWhere every symbol began

Plate 1 A bearded god holding a trident upright, a dolphin beside him

Poseidon

Poseidon’s symbol is the trident, a three-pronged spear. Greek artists also gave him the horse, which he was said to have created, and the dolphin, so that he is easy to pick out among the gods.

Greek gods and their symbols. Also called poseidon symbol, poseidon symbols, poseidon trident, symbol of poseidon, trident symbol.

Meaning

Poseidon was the Greek god of the sea, the “Shaker of the Earth”, and a brother of Zeus. The Homeric Hymn to Poseidon calls him “mover of the earth and fruitless sea” and gives him a twofold office, “to be a tamer of horses and a saviour of ships”. In Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1849) the trident, “a spear with three points”, is the symbol of his power, with which he shattered rocks, raised and calmed storms and shook the earth; in works of art he is easily recognised by the dolphin, the horse or the trident. The Metropolitan Museum of Art describes the trident as the three-pronged spear fishermen used to catch huge tuna. The Romans identified Poseidon with their own Neptunus, Neptune, and Latin poets gave Neptune his attributes. Poseidon is among the gods honoured in the Hellenic religion today, which the Greek state recognised as a known religion in 2017.

Origin and history

The trident came from the Cyclopes. Apollodorus tells how, in the war against the Titans, they gave Zeus the thunderbolt, Pluto a helmet and Poseidon a trident; after the victory the brothers cast lots, and Poseidon drew the sea. Homer shows him using it. In the Iliad “the Shaker of Earth, bearing his trident in his hands”, sweeps the foundations of the wall the Achaeans had built out into the waves. In the next book he goes to his golden palace in the depths at Aegae and harnesses his two bronze-hooved horses with flowing manes of gold.

His trident left a mark in Athens. Apollodorus records that when the gods chose cities to be worshipped in, Poseidon came first to Attica and with a blow of his trident on the Acropolis produced a sea, called Erechtheis; Athena came after him and planted an olive tree. The twelve gods judged the land to Athena, and Poseidon in anger flooded the Thriasian plain. Herodotus saw the tokens of the contest in the shrine of Erechtheus on the Acropolis: an olive tree and a pool of salt water. On the east frieze of the Parthenon, the Acropolis Museum notes, Poseidon is the first of four gods seated on stools at the left of block VI, beside Apollo, Artemis and Aphrodite. The Metropolitan Museum of Art points to his temple at Sounion, which overlooks the sea on three sides.

Horses and dolphins

Smith calls Poseidon the creator of the horse, who taught men to manage horses with the bridle and protected horse races, which is why he was also shown on horseback or driving a chariot. Pausanias saw one such image in Athens, near the temple of Demeter: Poseidon on horseback, hurling a spear at the giant Polybotes. The dolphin is the other mark. At Anticyra in Phocis, Pausanias describes a bronze Poseidon in a small harbour sanctuary standing with one foot on a dolphin, one hand on his thigh and a trident in the other.

Zeus or Poseidon?

A bearded god about to throw a weapon could be either brother, and the weapon is often lost. The Met has an early fifth-century BC bronze statuette that it catalogues as “Zeus or Poseidon”, because the identity “would have been clear from the attribute that was originally held in the right hand”. The bronze god from the sea off Cape Artemision, made about 460 BC and now in the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, is a life-size version of the puzzle: its raised right hand, the museum says, held a lightning bolt (Zeus) or a trident (Poseidon). See Zeus for the thunderbolt.

Often confused with Shiva’s trident

Poseidon’s is not the only trident in religious art. The Met’s essay on recognising the gods of South and Southeast Asia notes that the Hindu god Shiva carries a trident, the trishula. Shiva’s comes with other marks the essay lists, such as a serpent worn as a scarf and a crescent moon in his hair; a dolphin, a horse or the sea place a trident with Poseidon.

The Maserati trident

Maserati’s badge is a trident taken from Neptune. The company says Mario Maserati made the first drawing of its Trident in 1925, inspired by the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna, a few hundred metres from the brothers’ first workshop, and that it first appeared on the Tipo 26.

Where you’ll see it today

whatdoesthissymbolmean.comUSB symbolGizmodo says the USB trident was drawn to resemble Neptune's trident whatdoesthissymbolmean.comFlag of BarbadosBarbados’s flag has three equal vertical bands, ultramarine, gold and ultramarine, with a black trident head in the centre. The Parliament of Barbados says the blue is the sea and sky and the gold the sand of the beaches; the trident is the sea god Neptune’s, from the old colonial seal, and its shaft is broken for Barbados’s break with its ties as a former colony.

See also

Athena, Zeus, Trishula, Hades, Hera, Apollo.

Sources

  1. Homeric Hymn 22, To Poseidon 1–7 (tr. Evelyn-White), The Homeric Hymns, translated by Hugh G. Evelyn-White (1914), Homeric Hymn 22, To Poseidon, lines 1–7, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, lines 1–7
  2. Poseidon (William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology), William Smith (ed.), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1849), s.v. “Poseidon”, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, entry text
  3. Bronze statuette of Zeus or Poseidon (The Metropolitan Museum of Art), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, collection entry “Bronze statuette of Zeus or Poseidon”, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, object description
  4. Library 1.2.1 (Apollodorus, tr. J. G. Frazer), Apollodorus, The Library, translated by Sir James George Frazer (1921), 1.2.1, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, book 1, chapter 2, section 1
  5. Iliad 12.27–30 (Homer, tr. A. T. Murray), Homer, The Iliad, translated by A. T. Murray (1924), 12.27–30, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, book 12, lines 27–30
  6. Iliad 13.20–25 (Homer, tr. A. T. Murray), Homer, The Iliad, translated by A. T. Murray (1924), 13.20–25, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, book 13, lines 20–25
  7. Library 3.14.1 (Apollodorus, tr. J. G. Frazer), Apollodorus, The Library, translated by Sir James George Frazer (1921), 3.14.1, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, book 3, chapter 14, section 1
  8. Histories 8.55 (Herodotus, tr. A. D. Godley), Herodotus, The Histories, translated by A. D. Godley (1920), 8.55, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, book 8, chapter 55
  9. Parthenon. East frieze. Block 6 (VI) (Acropolis Museum), Acropolis Museum, collection entry “Parthenon. East frieze. Block 6 (VI)”, Akr. 856, Acropolis Museum, description
  10. Greek Gods and Religious Practices (Colette and Seán Hemingway, The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Colette Hemingway and Seán Hemingway, “Greek Gods and Religious Practices”, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2003), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, essay text
  11. Description of Greece 1.2.4 (Pausanias, tr. Jones and Ormerod), Pausanias, Description of Greece, translated by W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Ormerod (1918), 1.2.4, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, book 1, chapter 2, section 4
  12. Description of Greece 10.36.8 (Pausanias, tr. Jones and Ormerod), Pausanias, Description of Greece, translated by W. H. S. Jones and H. A. Ormerod (1918), 10.36.8, Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, book 10, chapter 36, section 8
  13. Zeus or Poseidon of Artemision (National Archaeological Museum, Hellenic Ministry of Culture), Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Odysseus portal, National Archaeological Museum, “Zeus or Poseidon of Artemision”, inv. X15161, Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, exhibit description
  14. Recognizing the Gods (Vidya Dehejia, The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Vidya Dehejia, “Recognizing the Gods”, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art (2007), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, essay text
  15. The Maserati Trident logo: a century of design and racing (Maserati), Maserati, “The Maserati Trident logo: a century of design and racing”, Maserati S.p.A., article text
  16. What is the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE)? (YSEE, frequently asked questions), Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE), “Frequently asked questions”, Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes (YSEE), first and second answers

The same shape elsewhere

Browse symbols formed from arrows or lines.

Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 8, 2026. How we research

Added .

Report a problem

Please don’t include personal details.