Asphaleius or Asphalius ( or ) was a cultic

epithet An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...

of the

Greek god In ancient Greece, deities were regarded as immortal, anthropomorphic, and powerful. They were conceived of as individual persons, rather than abstract concepts or notions, and were described as being similar to humans in appearance, albeit larg ...

Poseidon Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cit ...

, under which he was worshipped in several towns of Greece, such as at Taenarum,

Kalaureia Kalaureia () or Calauria or Kalavria () is an island close to the coast of Troezen in the Peloponnesus of mainland Greece, part of the modern island-pair Poros. Strabo describes the coastwise journey along the Ermioni, Hermionic Gulf: :The gulf b ...

, and

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, but also across the wider Greek world. His Greek name may also be transliterated as Asphaleus, Asphaleios, or Asphalios. In Greek, ''asphaleia'' means "safety", or an absence of instability. This epithet broadly describes him in a protector role, as the god who grants safety to ports and in sea navigation in general, a "guardian of the harbor". In this aspect he was also a "bringer of stability", both in the personal sense, as a cane or walking stick might make an old man more stable, as well as in a more concrete sense, as in the stability of war fortifications. The

Erythrae Erythrae or Erythrai () later Lythri(Λυθρί, turk. Ildırı) was one of the twelve Ionian cities of Asia Minor, situated 22 km north-east of the port of Cyssus (modern name: Çeşme), on a small peninsula stretching into the Bay of ...

ans regularly sacrificed to Poseidon Asphaleius to protect the city's walls, as did the Colophonians when in the 4th century BCE they built new fortifications for their town. We also have evidence of several ancient inscriptions that urge townspeople to sacrifice to Poseidon Asphaleius in the aftermath of an

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

, to bring stability back to their town. There are ruins of an altar to this aspect of the god on Aigai. The still extant Temple of Poseidon on Tainaron is dedicated to this aspect of the god.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Asphaleius Epithets of Poseidon