Why Free trade is more important than fair trade The WritePass Journal

Why Free trade is more important than fair trade Introduction Why Free trade is more important than fair trade Introduction1.0 Definition1.1 Free Trade1.2 Fair Trade2.0 The Importance of Free Trade2.1 Gainers2.2 Absolute advantage2.3 Effective use of raw materials2.4 Lesser living cost and more products choice3.2 Losers3.0 The Importance of Fair Trade4.0 Free Trade vs. Fair TradeConclusionReferencesRelated Introduction In a globalized world, very few people would question the benefits of international free trade. Different countries can produce their own products having a comparative advantage, and then exchange with the products produced by other countries. However, in the process of international trade, there will always produce gainers and losers, and thus will always be people complaining about unfair trade. In the global context of the economic crisis, there is a call for further promoting trade liberalization; on other hand some people advocate promotion of fair trade. So, is the pursuit of fair trade more important? Or, is the promotion of the free trade more important? This essay will critically discuss the statement â€Å"Free trade is more important than fair trade.† 1.0 Definition 1.1 Free Trade Free trade is a form of international policy, which local government cannot try to interfere on the operation of foreign import goods, or export goods. (Hill, 2009) This form of international trade policy has been widely spread over the free trade zones nowadays. Since opening the over sea market for the countrys domestic absolute advantages products, it benefits both the trade partners from the long-term economic vision. 1.2 Fair Trade Eisenberg states that â€Å"Fair trade refers to exchanges, the terms of which meet the demands of justice.† (2005) In fact, fair trade has not been defined universally ever. FINE is a charity association, which consists of four divisions. The divisions are international fair trade networks, European Fair Trade Association, World Fair Trade Organization, Fair-trade Labeling Organizations International and Network of European World shops. FINE indicates that fair trade partnership is based on dialogue, transparency and respect; member in this network looks for greater equity in international trade. (European Fair Trade Association, 2009) It contributes to help workers or producers in developing countries, especially in the southern hemisphere, provide a more equitable trading condition and promote sustainability. Fair trade organizations are supported by consumers for supporting producers in undeveloped countries, and making the rules of international trade campaign more equitable. Fair Trade system has many types of goods growing more, which are coffee, cocoa, dried fruit, fruit juice, nuts, vegetable oil, quinine, rice, spices, sugar, tea and Red wine, etc. In order to selling fair trade goods, companies need to apply for licenses to use the fair trade mark. 2.0 The Importance of Free Trade The free trade is a double sword. One side edge carries advantage; another edge carries disadvantage. Therefore, there will be always gainers and losers. 2.1 Gainers The free trade has many benefits, which produce many different gainers in the global market. It prevents interference efficiently of local government on import and export trade; cancel various privileges of the domestic trade. So the importers can gain many benefits from the free trade. Let’s take a look at other gainers. 2.2 Absolute advantage According to Adam Smiths theory, countries can specialize in the production of goods for which they have an absolute advantage that including highly skilled labour, sufficient raw materials and then trade these for goods they produced less-efficiently from other countries. (Hill, 2009) This is a win-win situation, two countries exchanging goods from each other are both gainers. 2.3 Effective use of raw materials Free trade also brings great opportunities for effectively using raw materials. Some countries in the Middle East have rich resources of oil, but there will not be much benefit without trade. For instance, Qatar can gain much benefit from exchanging many goods and technologies with oil. On other hand, some developed countries, such as Japan have very few raw materials. They can gain much oil they need with exchanging technologies; otherwise they would be very poor. 2.4 Lesser living cost and more products choice The citizens are also big gainers from free trade. Free trade system can effectively stop selling products at high prices from local protectionism, which lead lower living cost. Free trade also leads to more products being available in the market. Consumers have more choices on the products in market for different prices and types. Charles W.L. Hill mentioned in the book International business that if a national market is small, there may not be enough demand to enable producers to realize economics of scale for certain products. Accordingly, those products may not be produced, thereby limiting the variety of products available to consumers. (2009) 3.2 Losers Free trade brings great opportunities, also brings great competitions, especially for the developing countries. In the initial stage, many new industries in developing countries are not strong enough to survive from the competition of established industries in developed countries. The local government will introduce some measures in order to protecting local industry. Alexander Hamilton proposed it in 1972. According to the argument, there is a potential comparative advantage in manufacturing in many developing countries.for instance, China owns cheaper labour and raw material costs, and India has big population of highly skilled and knowledgeable employees who can communicate with frequent English. However, at the initial stage, most of their small to medium sized firms in industries are too weak to survive from  Ã‚   brutal competitions of established industries much earlier in international market. The reason is that they do not have strong background for financial subsidies and source which assist them get toehold in the start point. Moreover, it is common phenomenon that firms in those developing countries hardly reach the international standard for high-end products. The argument is if the new industries should necessarily be protected temporarily by incentives until they have become strong enough to competition in free international trade market.ï ¼Ë†Hillï ¼Å' 2009ï ¼â€°For example, if China lets the automobile industries from Germany, Japan and other countries enter the domestic market without trade protection, and then Chinas own auto industries would collapse. So China adopts the import tariffs on imported cars in order to protecting its automobile industry. When the local new industries become strong enough to global market competitiveness, the government should abolish the protective measures established before, otherwise the measures of protection would adversely affect global trade. In fact, canceling the original protection is not an easy; t he negative impact of such measures is to produce local monopoly. 3.0 The Importance of Fair Trade Fair trade is a strategy for sustainable development of economic and poverty reduction in the world. Its goal is to create opportunities for producers from economically disadvantaged countries. It does not only provide fair payments to the producers, but also consider the equal pay according to the principle of equality between the sexes. If the partners of fair traders need payment in advanced in order to surviving in the special situation, fair traders have to ensure matching their demands. Fair traders also need to take responsibilities for avoiding potential health and safety problems for producers. If children are involved in the working environment, fair trader will ensure matching safety and education requirements for them. In the 1960, the largest distribution of the fair trade is to help the countries banned from main global trade market by political issues, to find markets for their products. (Fair Trade Labeling Organizations International, 2009) Nicolas Eberhart in 2005 had the Bolivian case study concerning fair trade coffee as a member of the French non-governmental organizations Agronomes ET Và ©tà ©rinaires sans frontià ¨res. It proved that the fair trade did not only have a positive impact on the local price of coffee in Yungas, but also have the economic benefit to all coffee producers. Meanwhile, fair trade organization could enhance their production and their political influence. (Ebrehart, 2005) The econometric analysis led by Becchetti and Costantion verificated effects of fair trade on farmers of Kenya. The researchers observed a group of farmers with fair trade certification, and another group of farmers without fair trade certification for Comparison. After a period of time, Becchetti and Costantion found that fair trade could improve the living quality of famers, reduce child mortality, improve household food intake, and increase the price of their crops and so on, in either monetary or non-monetary value. Unfortunately, in the methodology, this research had errors for the sample of crops, the relative contribution of fair trade and the choice of the control group. (Becchetti, Costantino, 2006) 4.0 Free Trade vs. Fair Trade Jeffrey Eisenberg states that free trade refers to an international trading policy that aims at openness. (2005) Free trade is a form of international policy, which local government cannot try to interfere on the operation of foreign import goods, or export goods. (Hill, 2009) The Oxfam charity and some economists believe that the foreign suppliers in trade should be paid a fair price, such as the cocoa beans for making chocolate should be bought by higher than market price. This may be the most influential demand for fair trade today. (BHAGWATI, 2010) However, â€Å"fair price (wage)† has been questioned by Jeffrey Eisenberg. Would the price be fair if it was higher? The price can get higher for few workers capturing the jobs; or the price can get lower in order to providing more job opportunities for more workers get paid. Which way is fairer? (Eisenberg, 2005) Ngaire Woods recommends using the protectionism as a part of the preferential system properly in order to helping backward industries in undeveloped countries. In personal opinion, there is possibility that the preferential system or protectionism can make negative impacts on the trade, if they cannot be implemented well. Fair trade is the expression of justice with human emotion. Free trade regard voluntariness as the chief component of justice. (Eisenberg, 2005) Although fair trade is positive activity on many respects, solely advocating fair trade and ignoring the benefit of free trade is really not necessary. Most believe that both free trade and fair trade at least have one thing in common. Worldwide they are concerning justice, poverty alleviation and prosperity. Free trade and fair trade should stopping opposing each other. Fair trade can be an efficient measure of supervision in order to improving free trade system. Because of there are still many gaps and loopholes in free trade system. For instance, the international rules are generated by trade negotiations, primarily for the rich countries, while the market is closed for the main export products in poorer countries, such as agriculture. (Woods, 2005) So, is the pursuit of fair trade more important? Or, is the promotion of the free trade more important? Answer is free trade is more important than fair trade for global economic development. Conclusion Free trade is a form of international policy, which local government cannot try to interfere on the operation of foreign import goods, or export goods. (Hill, 2009) The free trade has many benefits, such as producing lesser living cost and more products choice; bringing opportunity for exchanging with absolute advantage and effective use of raw materials. Fair trade is a strategy for sustainable development of economic and poverty reduction in the world. Its goal is to create opportunities for producers from economically disadvantaged countries. For global economic development, free trade is more important. However, fair trade and free trade have one thing in common, which concern with global justice, poverty alleviation and global prosperity. Moreover, fair trade can be an efficient measure of supervision in order to improving free trade system. References Charles W.L. Hill, (2009), International Business, 7th Edition, Chapter 5, 6, McGraw-Hill Irwin Charles W.L. Hill, (2009), International Business Competing in the Global Marketplace, 6th Edition, Chapter 5, 6, McGraw-Hill Irwin Eberhart, N. (2005). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade L. Becchetti, M. Costantino (2006). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade European Fair Trade Association. (2009). Fair Trade Labelling Organizations International (2009). Global Fairtrade sales increase yearly by 22%. economist.com/debate/days/view/508 globalenvision.org/library/15/834

Leadership and nursing care management Assignment

Leadership and nursing care management - Assignment Example Scheduling and staffing in nursing care management is an aspect of management that poses a lot of challenges to managers. Formulating strategies to achieve the goal of bringing new nurses to the nursing profession and scheduling already recruited nurses is quite important to the profession. Employing forceful and well-researched scheduling tactics will tap the skills and competencies of qualified workers to the profession and on the right jobs (Seifert, 2000). After employing a new workforce, efforts must be taken to properly schedule the current nurses on the basis of their wealth of knowledge and expertise which are vital for assisting and developing trainee nurses into experts and sustaining qualified service delivery. The reason this topic is chosen is the negative physical and mental health consequences of poor scheduling on overworked health care employees. In addition, poor scheduling results in domestic problems as employees have little or no time for families and friends. Fi nally, low morale in employees due to overwork and lack of understanding and consideration from managers and administrators results in reduced productivity (Chin, 2008). This essay discusses the modern trends in staff and scheduling strategies as well as the challenges that these process pose to the management. Finally, it provides research based recommendations on how to solve problems of staff and scheduling in nursing care management. Implications of Staff Shortage on Scheduling Staffing plays a rather critical role in the operation budget of health care facilities. In fact, for many health care facilities, it has been established that up to between 50% and 70% of operation budget goes to staffing issues. It is thus a counterproductive trend or practice to ignore or underestimate the necessity of effective and efficient staff management strategies and nurse scheduling processes (Buchanan, 2002). In general, staffing and scheduling strategies and practices should not result in unc alled for overtime, lopsided caseloads and even staff suffering exhaustion. As is generally understood, unhappy or discontented staff implies unproductive and unprofitable business (Buchanan, 2002). For optimal staff scheduling practices that would yield happy and contended nurses, it is of the essence that a balance is struck between resident perceptions and the skill levels of the nurses in question (Buchanan, 2002). Importantly, health care managers should ensure that staff schedules are tightly connected to the needs and populations of the clients to be attended. Managers should be consistent in their scheduling, considering that no single nurse would want to work on holidays and every other weekend. Thus, there should not be any indications of favoritism in staff scheduling. This fairness would ensure no employee grumbles given that employees are the greatest asset that a health care facility may have. In addition, it pays for health care managers who ensure their nurses and ot her staffs are happy as this happiness would translate to better care and improved client outcomes (Buchanan, 2002). Numerous challenges are often encountered in staff scheduling, staff shortage being a key challenge. There is a wide spread shortage of registered nurses (RNs) in many countries including The United States of

Socrates Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Socrates - Essay Example listening to both sides of the argument rejects the study of language altogether declaring it shallow and shoddier than the study of things themselves. If we go into the details of this argument, Plato’s seems to argue that nothing significant can be known about a particular thing by examining its name Keller(2000,pp. 285-305) . The actual worth of a thing lies in itself which seems convincing to some extent. However, at the same time, it seems a bit irrational to assume that the words or names have an intrinsic relation to the things they signify .A same thing can be viewed differently by different individuals depending on his mind set. It certainly will not be wrong to say that it is all a matter of perception. For instance, the word ugly sounds ugly but it certainly does not signify the essence of the thing it is referring to and it sounds ugly only because it has been inculcated in our minds from the beginning of our lives thereby making Hermogenes’ argument stronge r Robinson(1956,pp. 325). Even the educational psychology reveals that it is not the verbal utterances but the behavioral patterns that have a deep impact on a person’s mind. Socrates argument, on one hand, sounds convincing but on the other hand, the importance of language cannot be denied altogether and I firmly believe that the two of them go hand in hand. It is indeed more important to go into the depth of the thing itself in order to study it extensively, however, language is an essential medium to give one’s thoughts a voice with interesting corollary which basically is the most significant attribute of mankind and giving them equal importance sounds a lot better than the Socrates’ argument of rejecting the language altogether. Hence, it can be said that the name of a thing may not be as important as the thing itself but a thing without any apparent identity of its own makes it hard to describe. In fact, the plot of the argument shows a contrast between wh at Socrates is defending in

Victorian women Essay Example for Free

Victorian women Essay How does Thomas Hardy portray Bathsheba Everdene And Fanny Robin as typical representatives of Victorian women? Hardy uses this novel to express his prolific writing style, which involves introducing his characters slowly as the play goes on. He explores the characters and their influences and participation in the plot with intense detail. Far from the madding crowd is written in a Victorian pastoral setting, hence the way he portrays the characters as typically Victorian with powerful detail especially the women in particularly Bathsheba Everdene and Fanny Robin. Hardy can be seen in this novel to be recreating a local, ageless atmosphere often of a period before his birth or his early years and this sensitive, detailed, vivid breathing of life into a rural setting seems to be an essential factor in his thoughts and feelings when writing. Bathsheba Everdene is a beautiful woman who seems to control and dominate large parts of the play but at times being particularly arrogant and impetuous towards other characters and as the central role in the play, Hardy has manipulated her around the other characters very well. Bathshebas interaction with the other characters seems to have an effect on Fanny Robins participation in the play because of Hardys attempt to portray them both as typical representatives of Victorian women. She quickly becomes the central character by inheriting and learning to run a farm in Weatherbury where the play is situated. Hardy early on begins to introduce Bathshebas awareness and possibly fear of marriage and what that could do to affect Bathshebas status and profile within the village. Gabriel Oaks conversation with Bathsheba shows her to be perhaps an unpredictable, spirted young woman who has never been in love. The two discuss marriage with remarkable frankness. Bathshebas egocentric personality is exposed when she admits that she would delight in the prospect of having all the trappings of marriage such as a piano, pets and her own carriage and a spectacular ceremony however, she objects to having a long life husband and losing her freedom. Gabriels proposal to her of marriage is an emotionally intense conversation, which is why Hardys attempt to portray Bathsheba as typically Victorian was directed away exposing a different side to Bathshebas character. Gabriel: I can make you happy. You shall have a piano in a year or two, farmers wives are getting to have pianos now, Ill practice my flute right well to play with you in the evenings. Bathsheba: Yes, I should like that Gabriels hopes are built up as Bathsheba unveils her excitement at the prospect of marriage however; the realisation that this will never happen sets in. No, tis no use, I dont want to marry you. For a marriage would be very nice in one sense. People would talk about me and think I had won my battle and I should feel triumphant and all that. Her battle is one that she feels she needs to win to maintain her high profile status and leading female role within the village. She feels that to win her battle against society she needs to get married and therefore she can be triumphant once again. She explains that since a woman cannot win her battle by showing off the delights of a marriage and a wedding without having a husband then she cannot be triumphant by getting married, except not yet. While Bathsheba seems a bit shallow, her self-determination and powerful quest for success are commendable, and she remains a sympathetic yet surreal character. Hardy has manipulated Bathsheba so much that she has unusually selective characteristics whilst simultaneously attempting to convincingly portray her as typically Victorian without hindering Fanny Robins character so much as to effectively ruin it. Fanny Robin is a young orphaned servant girl at the farm who runs away the night Gabriel arrives in the village. With Fannys character, Hardy has chosen to use her to such an extent that she has become what is perhaps the most emotionally unstable character in the entire story and by doing this, he has attempted to manipulate her along with Bathsheba to portray them as typical Victorian representatives. She has an interesting but bleak role in the story but has a surprisingly significant effect on some of the major scenes without exposing her self as a particularly dominant or socially intractable character. She attempts to marry sergeant troy early on in the play and then ends her participation in the play by tragically dying whilst giving birth to his child. She is a foil to Bathsheba, showing the fate of women who are not well cared for in this society. Fanny robin is linked instantly with troy, has been helped kindly farmer Boldwood and has been the youngest maid in Bathsheba newly taken household, yet has a surprisingly unconvincing character compared with Bathshebas powerful dominance throughout the story. Fannys initial radiant excitement, her recent dejection, her memorable conversation with troy and her fatal error of mistaking the church for her marriage with troy all form a pathetic, wretched background to her unmistakably emotional and fragile character.

How Nadine Gordimer Ends Her Stories Essay -- Nadine Gordimer An Intru

How Nadine Gordimer Ends Her Stories Nadine Gordimers stories make enormous demands upon the reader. Mostly on the first reading it’s even hard to know what’s actually going on. But gradually a densely concentrated image or an idea will develop after reading over the story again and concentrating on some particular parts, like for example the endings. Indeed you should pay much attention to them. Even through nearly every of them are slightly different, they indicate what you should think about and leave you with a curious eagerness to find out more, to get to know what happens next. In fact I am sure that Nadine Gordimer just wants us to make our mind work and mull over the main meaning of the story, to uncover what she wants to express with it. In many cases, the conclusion of the story is what impresses you most. Some writers don’t realise this fact and they destroy the whole piece of work by an unsuitable ending. But Nadine Gordimer’s conclusions are marvelous. If you would miss it you won’t be able to get the point of the story because it encompasses much very important information. For example in the story â€Å"An Intruder† one of the main characters goes through a drastic change in last four lines. â€Å"She stood there wan, almost ugly, really like some wretched pet monkey shivering in a cold climate† (p. 374) This is a big contrary because throughout the whole story she was the described like a â€Å"frail little marmoset† (p. 367) and as â€Å"beautiful† (p.369). However she changes in the end â€Å"... she was grown-up, now, suddenly, as some people are said to turn white-haired overnight.† If the reader would miss this significant change in her life, he probably would not find out what the story is actually about... ... try to argue that the story ends in a fortunate way for Ella because she goes to Europe, and that’s what she was dreaming about for so long. But we have to become aware of what preceded the trip – a cruel murder, and we even don’t know if Ella is truly happy or if she enjoys the trip at all. A good way of making people think and wake their interests is to irritate them, exactly in that way how Gordimer irritates her readers with the endings. How could be Marie so blind and immature for ages and than grow up â€Å"in a second†? How is it possible that a system is SO unfair and unjustly like in case of Ella and Lena? And how does the narrator of â€Å"Africa Emergent† even dare to make him innocent for Elias’ death? Simply said, Nadine Gordimer is that kind of writer that can give a true picture of what’s going on, and can make it very interesting to the reader.

Poetry Project Essay

Introduction These poems are all written based off of my, Miciah’s, opinions. I have a distinct perspective on religion, therefore I chose to write a poem describing hate and love and how I thing religion is a dumb idea. My poem is titled â€Å"Hate and Love†, based off of the poem â€Å"Fire and Ice† by Robert Frost. In it I concur to what religion claims, symbolically saying that religion is wrong and not serious. I used the same exact syllables and rhyme scheme as â€Å"Fire and Ice† by Robert Frost. â€Å"Pie† is simply an original poem by me. It has no significant meaning what-so-ever. I also have a sense of humor therefore I wrote poems that are humorous yet meaningful if the reader decides to read deeper into the meaning of â€Å"Clothes†. In this poem I humanized clothes to the point where clothes are smart and can do actions. Again, if the reader reads deep into this poem, he/she can see that family is symbolized as the clothes. In the first two lines, the reader can read that â€Å"Family† (the clothes) keeps you from being embarrassed. I also wrote a short haiku titled â€Å"My Name Is†. I titled this after one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite rappers, â€Å"My Name Is† by Eminem. In this Haiku, based off of the original poem â€Å"After Basho† by Carolyn Kizer, I describe myself as a person that people who don’t know me well just see me as a kid by the name of Miciah. But for those who know me can call me â€Å"friend† whether or not they really are a good friend. This is based off of my first few weeks of high school here at Sacred Heart, a lot of people didn’t know me as a person but they knew of me/ just knew my name. I used the three unrhymed lines of five, seven and five syllables found in the haiku â€Å"After Basho† by Carolyn Kizer. â€Å"Once Called Home† is a meaningful poem that I related with my really years about my life before and during fostercare before I got adopted. This poem that I wrote is based off of â€Å"Tyger† by William Blake. I chose this poem as the model for my poem because it is a powerful poem with a rhyme and rhyme scheme that would work with the meaning of the poem. I used the imagery, pattern and rhyming in a similar manor to William Blake’s poem â€Å"Tyger†. â€Å"Poetry† is simply about how I am not meant to be a poet. It has a similar subject as â€Å"How Poetry Comes to Me† by Gary Snyder in the sense that they both are relating poetry and themselves to create a poem. Under my bed is another haiku that doesn’t have a deep meaning but is based off of Matsuo Basho’s â€Å"Under Cherry Trees†. Basho’s haiku talks about under a cherry tree whereas my poem is more humorous, and is about the underside of my bed. Clothes Clothes are debatably the smartest things ever made They keep your junk from being displayed. But not only that, They are good resting grounds for your domestic cat Clothes are clothes and will never change Unless you and a friend decide to exchange My Name Is Who am I, you ask? I am known as Miciah But to most, just â€Å"Friend† (Based on After Basho by Carolyn Kizer) Hate and Love People say the world will end in hate Some say in love But, please, let us not discriminate I think we could live without the hate For those thinking of an above Have another thing coming their way Was land in fact spotted by that dove? But neigh I say. Not the right glove (Based on Fire and Ice by Robert Frost) Pie I like pie, And you like pie. Boy! Aren’t we cool!? Once Called Home Home is to live in a place you love Home feels like a place sent from above It’s free from the hatred and disgust It clears you a nice path from the dust The dust is still in the air for me Hatred and disgust roams just freely Formerly, home was a place I cherished But, out of the blue, my home perished Everything I treasured and cared for Left me and isn’t here anymore The pain rubbed so much it left blisters. But at least I got my two sisters Being forced to leave someone named â€Å"mom† Feels like a kiloton blast from a bomb I despise what home has made of me But what I shall make of home, we’ll see (Based on Tyger by William Blake) Poetry Although fun at times, I am not much of a poet. Take this â€Å"poem† for example, It doesn’t even make sense Bananas. (Based on How Poetry Comes to Me by Gary Snyder) Under My Bed There is something there Dust bunnies, mold and all†¦ It kind of scares me (Based on Under Cherry Trees by Matsuo Basho).

The Greek God Poseidon, Lord of the Sea, Neptune

The mighty Earthshaker, Poseidon ruled the waves that the ancient seafaring Greeks depended upon. Fisherman and sea captains swore fealty to him and avoided his wrath; the sea gods persecution of the hero Odysseus was well known, and few wished to wander so far and so long before finding their home port. In addition to his influence over the seas, Poseidon was responsible for earthquakes, striking the ground with his trident, a three-pronged spear, to awesomely devastating effect. Birth of Poseidon Poseidon was the son of the titan Cronos and brother to the Olympian gods Zeus and Hades. Cronos, fearful of a son who would overthrow him as he vanquished his own father Ouranos, swallowed each of his children as they were born. Like his brother Hades, he grew up inside the bowels of Cronos, until the day when Zeus tricked the titan into vomiting up his siblings. Emerging victorious after the ensuing battle, Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades drew lots to divide up the world they had gained. Poseidon won dominion over the waters and all its creatures. Alternate Greek myths suggest that Poseidons mother, Rhea, transformed him into a stallion to stymie Cronos appetite. It was in the form of a stallion that Poseidon pursued Demeter and fathered a foal, the horse Areion. Poseidon and the Horse Oddly for the god of the sea, Poseidon is deeply associated with horses. He created the first horse, introduced riding and chariot racing to mankind, and rides above the waves in a chariot drawn by horses with golden hooves. In addition, some of his many children are horses: the immortal Areion and the winged horse Pegasus, which was the son of Poseidon and the gorgon Medusa. Myths of Poseidon The brother of Zeus and Greek god of the sea figures in many myths. Perhaps the most notable are those related by Homer in the Iliad and Odyssey, where Poseidon emerges as a foe of the Trojans, champion of the Greeks and dire enemy of the hero Odysseus. The Greek gods antipathy toward the wily Odysseus is kindled by the mortal wound that the hero deals to Polyphemus the Cyclops, a son of Poseidon. Again and again, the sea god conjures winds that keep Odysseus away from his home in Ithaca. A second notable story involves the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the patronage of Athens. The goddess of wisdom made a more compelling case to the Athenians, giving them the gift of the olive tree while Poseidon created the horse. Finally, Poseidon figures prominently in the story of the Minotaur. Poseidon gave to King Minos of Crete a fantastic bull, intended for sacrifice. The king couldnt part with the beast, and in anger, Poseidon caused the princess Pasiphae to fall in love with the bull, and to birth the legendary half-bull, half-man called the Minotaur. Poseidon Fact File Occupation: God of the Sea Attributes of Poseidon: The symbol for which Poseidon is best known is the trident. Poseidon is often shown alongside his wife Amphitrite in a sea chariot drawn by sea creatures. The Inferiority of Poseidon: Poseidon asserts equality with Zeus in the Iliad, but then defers to Zeus as king. By some accounts, Poseidon is older than Zeus and the one sibling Zeus didnt have to rescue from his father (the power leverage Zeus usually used with his siblings). Even with Odysseus, who had ruined his son Polyphemus life, Poseidon behaved in a less fearsome manner than might be expected of an enraged Sturm und Drang kind of god. In the challenge for the patronage of the polis of Athens, Poseidon lost to his niece Athena but then worked cooperatively with her as in the Trojan War where they try to thwart Zeus with Heras help. Poseidon and Zeus: Poseidon may have had an equal claim to the title of King of the Gods, but Zeus is the one who took it. When the Titans made the thunderbolt for Zeus, they made the trident for Poseidon.