Varro posits that the name is derived from the word neptus, meaning covering, and nuptiae, as marriage of Heaven and Earth. Like Poseidon, the etymology for Neptune is unclear and there are multiple interpretations. And finally, there is also the possibility that the word has origins that pre-date the Greek culture. The second theory interprets the word root word dawon to mean water, and Posei-dawon to indicate master of the waters. The first speculates that it is derived from the Greek word meaning husband (posis) and the word for Earth (da). The origins of the name Poseidon are unclear and include two primary theories. It seems likely that the characteristics for Neptune were adopted from the Greek Poseidon, but combined with the Etruscan god, Nethuns, the god of the gall-bladder. The Latin population did not have access to a major sea initially, so the god Neptune was the god of fresh water in the beginning. Another speculated difference between the two gods lies in the geography of the regions in which they were worshipped. His mythology includes the story in which he creates horses through his affair with Medusa. Like Poseidon, Neptune was worshipped as a horse god as well as a god of the seas. However, it is still unclear whether Poseidon was first worshipped as a horse god or god of the seas. The origin story that results in Zeus exterminating Cronos and naming the gods to their corresponding realms is upheld by Homer and Hesiod in their writings. In the Mycenae region, there is thought that Poseidon was not originally connected to water or the seas. In a similar myth from Minoa, the goddess Pasiphae mates with a white bull (considered the pre-Olympian Poseidon) and gives birth to the Minotaur. This representation is common in norther-European folklore as well. There is some speculation that only a few gods were brought in by the Greeks, of which Poseidon was not one and initially he appears in the mythology as a horse representing the river spirit of the underworld. The emergence of Poseidon’s origin story is likely related to the first Greek speaking people who enter the Arcadian region during the Bronze Age, who mixed their religious beliefs with the local indigenous population. Cronus ate all of their children at birth until Rhea tricked him into eating a large rock rather than their sixth child, Zeus, which forced him to throw up all of the other children from which the Greek pantheon began to develop. Poseidon was born of the gods Cronus (Kronos) and Rhea. Much as with their roles as gods, the origin story of Poseidon and Neptune are quite similar. In Greece, it was Poseidon, Zeus and Hades. In Rome, this was Neptune, Jupiter and Pluto. Both structures had a god of the sea, a god of the sky and a god of the underworld. This would be an issue of semantics, and there are many commonalities in both the Greek god and the Roman god mythology to suggest their equivalence. Essentially, Poseidon is the Greek Neptune and Neptune is the Roman Poseidon. The primary reason that Poseidon and Neptune are considered the same god is because some think that they actually are. However, even if they are referencing the same god, their depictions are different in several key aspects (despite the fact that in art they frequently look very similar). Many believe that the Romans simply adopted the Greek god Poseidon and changed his name to Neptune. And indeed, they are both sea gods, however, whether or not they are the same god is up for debate. When hearing the names Neptune or Poseidon, many people conjure up the same image, that of a sea or water god and the horses, and always with a trident.
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