In the country of Greece, there lived a celebrity swimmer called Tidalus. He was known worldwide for his impressive skill in swimming the most dangerous waters of the world. He lived in Oceana, a city at the edge of the dazzling, yellow seaside of Greece. Studded with gleaming white houses and pastures of lush grass, Oceana was the perfect home for celebrities like Tidalus.
On Mount Olympus, Poseidon admired Tidalus and watched him whenever he could. However, Tidalus became boastful about his skill whenever he beat another star swimmer, and Poseidon was concerned about that.
“He is so professional and I am fond of watching him swim, but he cannot just go around bragging like that,” sighed Poseidon.
Two days later, Tidalus was scheduled to compete against Brocherous, the best swimmer in the Greek province Macedonia. Even before the race began, Tidalus pumped his fists into the air, confident that he was going to win, but what happened next shocked everybody. Brocherous defeated Tidalus! Even more surprising, Brocherous had reached the end nearly five minutes before Tidalus had.
That night, Brocherous was having the time of his life, partying the night away. On the other hand, Tidalus sulked back home, unwilling to believe that he had been defeated. However, what nobody knew was that Poseidon had purposely made Tidalus lose by making the water Tidalus was swimming in more choppy and rough than it normally was, giving Brocherous a massive advantage.
“Finally Tidalus has learned his lesson,” Poseidon snickered.
Although it seemed like Tidalus had changed, the fact that he lost only incited stronger feelings of self-pride. He blamed his loss on the water, the weather, and everything but himself.
When it was time for a rematch between the two men, Tidalus was quiet, which the audience found very unusual. The race started normally, but the ending was shocking. Tidalus had beat Brocherous by nearly ten minutes! The audience went berserk when the results were announced while Poseidon remained calm and hopeful. He cared about Tidalus’ attitude, not the results of the race.
Tidalus, seeing how enthusiastic the audience was for him, started beating his chest and let gifts from his supporters rain down on him. It was quite obvious that he had not changed.
“I have given Tidalus a chance and I have tried teaching him a lesson, but now I will have to give him a warning!” shouted Poseidon furiously, banging his trident on the ground.
Poseidon morphed into an elderly woman, entered the mortal world, and walked over to Tidalus’ house. Poseidon then knocked on his door.
When Tidalus saw Poseidon, he asked arrogantly,
“Who are you to knock on my door?
Disgusted by the rude introduction, Poseidon explained why he came,
“I am a seer, Tidalus. I have come not to congratulate you, but to warn you that I have been receiving messages from Poseidon saying that he will curse you if you do not stop being such a braggart.”
Tidalus laughed wickedly in response, “How can Poseidon kill me? After all, I am the best swimmer in the history of the world! A showdown like that will make history!”
Seeing that Tidalus refused to follow his advice, Poseidon sternly replied, “I have warned you and I have tried teaching you young man, that the past determines the future. Anything that will happen to you later, remember, will have been the result of your decision.”
Tidalus continued to laugh and shut the door with a loud BANG! Meanwhile, Poseidon, knowing that Tidalus was unwilling to change, could only fly back to Mount Olympus and plot his revenge.
Zeus saw Poseidon the moment Poseidon entered the heavenly gates of Mount Olympus. Zeus saw the pain and fury in Poseidon’s face and asked him,
“Brother, what is it that is concerning you so much? I have noticed that you have been keeping to yourself lately. Perhaps you need some ambrosia to feel better?”
Poseidon sat down and then began to pour out his tale of woe and exasperation,
“Oh dear brother, the famous, handsome Tidalus has been acting so exultant! I just tried to tell him to stop acting the way he is, but do you know what he did? He starts mocking me! We have created humans to be diligent, humble creatures, but look at them now! So pretentious! So selfish!”
By then, Poseidon had started to monologue, and Zeus had to stop him.
“Poseidon, we have been through this before. You have already cursed plenty of people. How different can it be? What makes you think you could not punish Tidalus right now?”
Poseidon protested, “But Zeus, he is the best swimmer I have ever seen! He is the one human I care about. I adore watching him swim, and I do not dare punish him. My problem brother, is that I have been thinking about whether I should leave him as he is or punish him. I cannot make up my mind, so please! Please give me some advice on what I should do!”
Zeus, after thinking for a while, replied, “You are right when you said that we have created man to not be this way. Therefore, you must punish him. Putting a curse on Tidalus, or even killing him, will teach the whole race of man a lesson. It is our duty to make sure people live by the proper decorum and that no one falls out of line. So go! Do what is right!”
Before Poseidon left Mount Olympus, he jokingly remarked, “I may have lost my temper Zeus, but you certainly have not lost your wisdom!”
On Earth, Tidalus was being lectured by Metis, his wife.
“You should not have insulted that seer! Insulting seers is the same as insulting the gods themselves! Frightening as the idea is!” shouted Metis.
“I am the king of swimming if you did not know that! Poseidon may be the god of water, but I am the god of swimming! He could not have killed me even if he tried!” retorted Tidalus.
“And that is the exact type of attitude that gets you killed!” countered Metis.
“I thought you were supposed to be my supporter, my cheerleader. But now you are telling me I cannot do what is best for me!” yelled Tidalus.
“I am trying to save your life here Tidalus! Just because you are privileged does not mean you have the right to behave this way! Plus, bragging will not do anything but hurt you!” shouted Metis.
“Bragging helps me feel confident about myself,” said Tidalus, yawning, “Anyways, I have a big race tomorrow from Hydra to Patmos. If I don’t get some sleep, I’ll lose.”
And with that, he excused himself, entered his bedroom, and locked the door. Metis, defeated, retreated toward her own room.
On the day of the race, Tidalus did not believe anything would happen. He was too obsessed with the fact that he was going to beat another rival and could finally deem himself world champion. On Mount Olympus, Poseidon was secretly watching, ready to slaughter Tidalus. The race was going through the Aegean Sea, a perfect place to strike. As Tidalus neared Patmos, there would be plenty of witnesses, and he could easily manipulate the waters of the Aegean.
“Go!”
The referee’s voice shattered the air like a hammer, and both of the swimmers plunged into the water. Within 30 minutes, Tidalus had almost reached Patmos while his opponent was not even close. This was the moment Poseidon had been waiting for. He conjured up a massive wave until it was powerful enough to knock out a Cyclops, let alone a small pile of bones like Tidalus and launched it towards Tidalus.
When Tidalus caught sight of the wave, he was chilled to the bone and, panicking, tried to swim out of harm’s way. However, it was no use and the wave smashed into him. His body sunk into the deep, dark, and dangerous ocean, never to be seen again.
The audience was silent, but they suddenly went wild. A massive wave had suddenly appeared and engulfed Tidalus. That was no natural phenomenon. Some audience members, suspecting that the gods had done that, fell to their knees and begged to them, in hopes of rescuing Tidalus, but none of their pleas were answered. Calls for rescue boats were sent out, and men went out to look for Tidalus’ body.
Days passed without a trace of the missing swimmer, and it was quite obvious that he had passed away, gone down to the Underworld. In honor of him, he was given his own private cemetery. Many of his fans wept as an empty coffin was lowered into the grave.
As for the massive wave, Poseidon named it in honor of Tidalus. Today, it is still known as the tidal wave.