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Athena

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Athena
Goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft
Member of the Twelve Olympians
Mattei Athena at Louvre. Roman copy from the 1st century BC/AD after the Greek original Piraeus Athena of the 4th century BC attributed to Cephisodotos or Euphranor.
AbodeMount Olympus
AnimalsOwl, serpent, horse
SymbolAegis, helmet, spear, armor, Gorgoneion, chariot
TreeOlive
Personal information
ChildrenErichthonius (adopted)
ParentsZeus and Metis[a][1]
SiblingsSeveral paternal half-siblings
Equivalents
Roman equivalentMinerva
Canaanite equivalentAnat[2]
Egyptian equivalentNeith
Athena, in front of the parliament building in Vienna, Austria

Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft. She is one of the Twelve Olympians. Athena's symbol is the owl, the wisest of the birds. She also had a shield called Aegis, which was a gift given to her by Zeus.[3] She is usually shown wearing her helmet and often with her shield. The shield later had Medusa's head on it; after Perseus killed Medusa, he gave the head to Athena for safekeeping. She put it on her shield.[4]

Athena is the protector of Athens, Greece, a city named after her. The Parthenon, which is on the Acropolis in Athens, is her most famous temple. She also helped many heroes, including Heracles, Jason, and Odysseus. She is always seen with Nike, the goddess of victory.[5]

Mythology

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Birth

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There are many stories about Athena's birth. In Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus married Metis. Soon after, Zeus was scared of her giving birth to a child because the Oracle of Delphi had said that she will give birth to Athena. She said she will also give birth to a son that would overthrow Zeus, just like how Zeus overthrew Kronos. Kronos overthrew his father Uranus.[6]

To stop Metis giving birth to her son, Zeus made a plan. He played a game with Metis. The game was that they shape shifted into different animals. When Metis turned into a fly, Zeus saw his chance and he swallowed her whole. However, Zeus was too late. Metis was already pregnant.[7]

While she was inside Zeus's head, Metis made a helmet, armor, and a robe for Athena. The hammering noise caused Zeus to have a severe headache. The headache became worse. To solve this, Hephaestus split his head open. After splitting his head open, Athena came out full grown and with armor on.[8]

Lady of Athens

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Athena, as a war goddess, fought with the Greek heroes. The qualities that led to victory were found on the breastplate that Athena wore when she went to war. As the protector of the safety of kings, Athena became the goddess of good counsel, prudent control and war.[9]

Athens at its height was a important sea power, defeating the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis.[9] However, the water was salty and undrinkable.[9] In an other form of the legend from Vergil's Georgics,[10] Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse.[11] Athena gave the first olive tree.[11][12] Cecrops accepted this gift[11] and declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens.[11] The olive tree brought wood, oil, and food,[9] and became a symbol of Athenian growth.[12][13] Robert Graves was of the mindset that "Poseidon's attempts to take possession of certain cities are just myths".[14]

Patron of heroes

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Athena atold Argos the ship on which the hero Jason and his band of Argonauts sailed, and helped in the ship's construction.[15][16] Pseudo-Apollodorus also records that Athena helped the hero Perseus in his quest to chop off the head of Medusa.[17][18][19] She and Hermes appeared to Perseus after he set off on his quest and gifted him with tools he would need to kill the Gorgon.[19][20] Athena lent Perseus her polished bronze shield to view Medusa's reflection without becoming frozen himself.[19][21] Hermes lent Perseus his harpe to behead Medusa with.[19][22] When Perseus swung the blade to behead Medusa, Athena helped it, allowing the blade to cut the Gorgon's head cleanly.[19][21] According to Pindar's Thirteenth Olympian Ode, Athena helped the hero Bellerophon tame the winged horse Pegasus by giving him a bit.[23][24]

Titles and patronages

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Athena is the goddess of knowledge, purity, arts, crafts, learning, justice and wisdom. She also plays a tough, clever and independent role. Athenians thought she helped them win the Trojan war. Athena often helped heroes, especially ones who were not just brave but clever, like Jason and Perseus.[25] Because of this, people joined her religion, hoping she would give them victory. Moreover, she was also the creator of the olive tree and flute.[26]

Attributes and epithets

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Athena was given many other names. She has the name Ergane as the patron of craftsmen and artisans. With the name Parthenos, she was worshiped in the festivals of the Panathenaea and Pamboeotia where both militaristic and athletic displays took place. With the name Promachos she led in battle.[27] With the name Polias, Athena was the protector of not only Athens but also of many other cities, including Argos, Sparta, Gortyn, Lindos, and Larisa.[28]

Glaukopis

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Athena's most common epithet is Glaukopis (γλαυκῶπις).[29] The word is a combination of glaukós (γλαυκός, meaning "gleaming, silvery", and later, "bluish-green" or "gray")[30] and ṓps (ὤψ, "eye, face").[31]

Modern interpretations

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Modern altar dedicated to Athena and Apollo

One of Sigmund Freud's most valuable items was a small, bronze statue of Athena, which sat on his desk.[32] Freud once described Athena as "a woman who is unapproachable and hold off all sexual desires"[33] Feminist views on Athena are highly seperated;[33] some feminists consider her as a symbol of female empowerment,[33] while others regard her as "the ultimate patriarchal betrayer... who uses her powers to entice men rather than others of her sex."[33]

Athena is a natural patron of universities: At Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, a statue of Athena lives in the Great Hall.[34] It is traditional at exam time for students to leave offerings to the goddess with a note asking for good luck,[34] or to ask for forgivness for accidentally breaking any of the college's numerous other traditions.[34]

Family tree

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Notes

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  1. ↑ In other traditions, Athena's father is sometimes listed as Zeus by himself or Pallas, Brontes, or Itonos.
  2. ↑ According to Homer, Iliad 1.570–579, 14.338, Odyssey 8.312, Hephaestus was apparently the son of Hera and Zeus, see Gantz, p. 74.
  3. ↑ According to Hesiod, Theogony 927–929, Hephaestus was produced by Hera alone, with no father, see Gantz, p. 74.
  4. ↑ According to Hesiod, Theogony 183–200, Aphrodite was born from Uranus' severed genitals, see Gantz, pp. 99–100.
  5. ↑ According to Homer, Aphrodite was the daughter of Zeus (Iliad 3.374, 20.105; Odyssey 8.308, 320) and Dione (Iliad 5.370–71), see Gantz, pp. 99–100.

References

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  1. ↑ Kerényi 1951, pp. 121–122.
  2. ↑ L. Day 1999, p. 39.
  3. ↑ Penglase, Charles (2003-10-04). Greek Myths and Mesopotamia: Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-72930-2.
  4. ↑ Jong, Irene J. F. de (2001-11-22). A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-46478-9.
  5. ↑ Fritze, Ronald H. (2009-05-15). Invented Knowledge: False History, Fake Science and Pseudo-religions. Reaktion Books. ISBN 978-1-86189-674-2.
  6. ↑ Pollitt, Jerome Jordan (1972-03-10). Art and Experience in Classical Greece. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-09662-1.
  7. ↑ Powell, Barry B. (2012). Classical Myth. Pearson. ISBN 978-0-205-17607-6.
  8. ↑ Ruck, Carl A. P.; Staples, Danny (1994). The World of Classical Myth: Gods and Goddesses, Heroines and Heroes. Carolina Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-89089-575-7.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Graves 1960, p. 62.
  10. ↑ Kerényi 1951, p. 281.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Kerényi 1951, p. 124.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Garland 2008, p. 217.
  13. ↑ Kinsley 1989, p. 143.
  14. ↑ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 1.9.16 Archived 25 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ↑ Hansen 2004, p. 124.
  16. ↑ Burkert 1985, p. 141.
  17. ↑ Kinsley 1989, p. 151.
  18. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Deacy 2008, p. 61.
  19. ↑ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.37, 38, 39
  20. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.41
  21. ↑ Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 2.39
  22. ↑ Deacy 2008, p. 48.
  23. ↑ Pindar, Olympian Ode 13.75–78 Archived 6 January 2021 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ↑ Swiatek, Anthony; Breen, Walter H. (1981). Encyclopedia of United States silver & gold commemorative coins 1892-1954. Internet Archive. New York : Arco Pub./F.C.I. Press. ISBN 978-0-668-04765-4.
  25. ↑ Hurwit, Jeffrey M. (2000-01-13). The Athenian Acropolis: History, Mythology, and Archaeology from the Neolithic Era to the Present. CUP Archive. ISBN 978-0-521-42834-7.
  26. ↑ Kerényi, Karl (1974). The gods of the Greeks. Internet Archive. London : Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-27048-6.
  27. ↑ "ATHENA TITLES & EPITHETS - Ancient Greek Religion". www.theoi.com. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  28. ↑ γλαυκῶπις in Liddell and Scott.
  29. ↑ γλαυκός in Liddell and Scott.
  30. ↑ ὤψ in Liddell and Scott.
  31. ↑ Deacy 2008, p. 153.
  32. ↑ 33.0 33.1 33.2 33.3 Deacy 2008, p. 154.
  33. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Friedman 2005, p. 121.
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