Athena(Minerva)Ancient Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare
This ancient Greek goddess is one of my favorites. Athena is a powerful, virginal goddess born from Zeus alone. She is the Greek goddess of many things. Wisdom/ good counsel and warfare we already know, but she also is a goddess of specific arts and crafts, especially weaving. She is also known for inventing the flute. When depicted in art, she is usually shown with her helmet, shield and spear. Sometimes the head of Medusa is shown on her shield. She has a few epithets. They are Pallas Athena, Tritogeneia, Parthenos, and bright-eyed. Birth of the goddess of wisdomBoth Hesiod and the Homeric Hymns have an account of her birth with slight variations, but the basic story is the same. Zeus' first wife was named Metis (meaning wisdom) and was destined to give birth to a maiden that was equal to her father in wisdom and to a son who might overthrow his father. Fearing that he might be overthrown, Zeus swallowed Metis while she was pregnant with the Greek goddess. Sometime later Zeus has a horrible headache and he ask Hephaestus to help ease his pain by splitting his head open with an ax. When he does so out pops the goddess fully grown and dressed in full armor. Contest with PoseidonAthena and Poseidon had a contest to see who would get control over the area of Athens and Attica. They each had to produce something that would be useful to the citizens of the area. She created the olive tree with her spear and with his trident, Poseidon created a salt spring. The citizens voted for the olive tree and so the ancient Greek goddess won the contest for being the patron deity of Athens and Attica. Poseidon was still worshiped by the Athenians and the marks left by his trident were enshrined in the Erectheum, on top of the Acropolis, along with the goddess' olive tree. EpithetsIt is possible that the name Pallas Athena comes from an early playmate of hers named Pallas. She was the daughter of Triton and they used to study and exercise the arts of war together. One day they fell into an argument and just as Pallas was about to strike her, Zeus stepped in to help his daughter. This surprised Pallas, the war goddess took advantage of this and attacked, killing Pallas. When she realized what had happened she grieved for her friend and took her name in honor of her. Tritogeneia Parthenos means virgin and is another way of celebrating the Greek goddesses chaste nature. Bright-eyed comes from the Greek word glaukopis, which can mean gray/green-eyed, making reference to the bright/clever nature of her glance. It could also possibly mean owl-eyed and refers to her wisdom. Judgement of ParisMost of the gods were invited to the wedding festival of Peleus to the nymph, Thetis. During the feast the uninvited Eris, goddess of Discord, makes her appearance and tosses a golden apple with the words "For the most beautiful" written on it among the Greek goddesses Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena. Each goddess tries to claim it as their own. Zeus decides that he can't judge the matter since he loves each goddess equally and so he decides that the mortal prince of Troy, Paris, should be the judge. Hermes led the three Greek goddesses to Paris and explained to the mortal the decision he had to make. Each goddess promised him a gift in return for his favorable decision. Hera said that she would give him royal power, Athena promised him that he would have victory in war, and Aphrodite told him that if he chose her, she would give him the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen, queen of Sparta, as his wife. Paris chose to give the golden apple to Aphrodite, which led to the rape of Helen and the beginning of the Trojan War. Aphrodite sided with the Trojans during the war and Hera and Athena sided with the Greeks to bring destruction upon Troy because of Paris' decision. LinksAthena Experience Ancient Greece Home Page Ancient Greek Gods Jenny Ervin Contact Me
|
