Athena
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This article is
about the Greek goddess. For other uses, see Athena (disambiguation).
"Athene",
"Athina", and "Pallas Athena" redirect here. For other
uses, see Athene (disambiguation), Athina (disambiguation), and Pallas Athena (disambiguation).
Athena (/əˈθiːnə/; Attic
Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ, Athēnā, or Ἀθηναία, Athēnaia; Epic:
Ἀθηναίη, Athēnaiē; Doric: Ἀθάνα, Athānā) or Athene (/əˈθiːniː/; Ionic:
Ἀθήνη, Athēnē), often given the epithet Pallas(/ˈpæləs/; Παλλὰς), is the goddess of wisdom,
craft, and war[2]in ancient
Greek religion and mythology.Minerva is
the Roman
goddess identified with Athena.[3]Athena is known for her calm temperament, as she moves slowly to anger. She is
noted to have only fought for just reasons, and would not fight without a
purpose.[4]
Athena is
portrayed as an astute companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic
endeavour. She is the virgin patroness of Athens. The
Athenians founded the Parthenon on the Acropolis of
her namesake city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her honour.[3]
Veneration of
Athena was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to
cultural changes.[citation needed] In her role as
a protector of the city (polis), many people throughout the Greek world worshipped
Athena as Athena Polias (Ἀθηνᾶ Πολιάς "Athena of the city").
While the city of Athens and the goddess Athena essentially bear the same name
(Athena the goddess, Athenai the city), it is not known which of
the two words is derived from the other.[5]
Contents
[hide]
- 1 Etymology
and origins
- 2 Cult and
patronages
- 3 Epithets
and attributes
- 4 Mythology
- 4.1 Birth
- 4.2 Pallas
Athena
- 4.3 Athena
Parthenos
- 4.4 Lady of
Athens
- 4.5 Counselor
- 4.6 Judgment
of Paris
- 4.7 Roman
fable of Arachne
- 4.8
A changed status in classical mythology
- 5 Classical art
- 6 Post-classical
culture
- 7 Genealogy
- 8 See also
- 9 Footnotes
- 10 References
- 11 External
links
Etymology and origins[edit]
Athena is
associated with Athens,
a plural toponym,
designating the place where—according to myth—she presided over her sisterhood,
the Athenai. In fact, testimonies from different cities in ancient
Greece attest the existence of city goddesses, whose name is the singular
form of the respective city names. For example, in Mycenae there
was a goddess called Mykene, and her sisterhood Mycenae, whereas at Thebesan analogous deity was called Thebe, and the city again a plural, Thebae (or
Thebes, where the ‘s’ is the plural formation). The relationship of Athena to
her city seems to have been a similar one.[6]
Athena had a
special relationship with Athens, as is shown by the etymological connection of the
names of the goddess and the city. According to mythical lore, she competed
with Poseidon and she won by creating the olive tree; the Athenians would
accept her gift and name the city after her. In history, the citizens of Athens
built a statue of Athena as a temple to the goddess, which had piercing eyes, a
helmet on her head, attired with an aegis or cuirass, and an
extremely long spear. It also had a crystal shield with the head of the Gorgon on it. A
large snake accompanied her and she held Nike,
the goddess of victory, in her hand.
In Mycenaean
Greek, at Knossosa single inscription ??????? a-ta-na
po-ti-ni-ja /Athana potnia/ appears in the Linear Btablets from the Late Minoan II-era "Room of the Chariot Tablets";
these comprise the earliest Linear B archive anywhere.[7][8] Although Athana
potnia often is translated Mistress Athena, it could also mean
"the Potniaof Athana", and thus perhaps the Lady of Athens.[9] However,
any connection to the city of Athens in the Knossos inscription is uncertain.[10] In the
still undeciphered corpus of Linear A tablets—possibly written in a Minoan
language—a sign series a-ta-no-dju-wa-ja is to be found.[11] This
could be connected with the Linear B Mycenaean expressions a-ta-na
po-ti-ni-ja and di-u-ja or di-wi-ja (Diwia, "of
Zeus" or, possibly, related to a homonymous goddess),[12]resulting in a translation "Athena of Zeus" or (something like)
"divine Athena". Similarly, in the Greek mythology and epic
tradition, Athena figures as a daughter of Zeus (Διός θυγάτηρ; cfr. Dyeus).
In a Mycenean fresco,
there is a composition of two women extending their hands towards a central
figure who is covered by an enormous figure-eight shield and could also depict
the war-goddess with her palladium, or her palladium in an
aniconic representation. Therefore, Mylonas believes that Athena was a
Mycenaean creation.[13] On the
other hand, Martin Persson Nilsson, the former professor
emeritus of classical archaeology and ancient history at the University
of Lund, claims that she was the goddess of the palace who protected the
king, and that the origin of Athena was the Minoan domestic snake-goddess.[14] In the
so-called Procession-fresco in Knossos which was reconstructed by the Mycenaeans, two rows
of figures carrying vessels, seem to meet in front of a central figure, which
is probably the Minoan palace goddess "Atano".[15]
Some scholars,
such as Nilsson,[16]have claimed that, in early times, Athena was either an owl herself or a bird
goddess in general. In the third book of the Odyssey, she
takes the form of a sea-eagle. These authors argue that she dropped
her prophylactic owl-mask before she lost her wings. "Athena, by the time
she appears in art," Jane Ellen Harrison remarks, "has completely
shed her animal form, has reduced the shapes she once wore of snake and bird to
attributes, but occasionally in black-figure vase-paintings she still appears
with wings."[17]
Miriam Robbins
Dexter has suggested that, at least at some point in her history, Athena was a solar
deity.[18]Athena bears traits common with Indo-Europeansolar goddesses, such as the possession of a mirror and the invention of
weaving (for instance, the Baltic Saule possesses
both these characteristics), and her association with Medusa (herself also
suspected of being the remnant of a solar goddess) adds solar iconography to
her cultus. Additionally, she is also compared with the Celtic Sulis, a deity whose
name is derived from the common proto-Indo-European root for many solar
deities. Though the sun in Greek myth is personified as the male Helios, several
relictual solar goddesses are known, such as Alectrona.[citation needed]
Marble Greek
copy signed "Antiokhos", a 1st-century BC variant of Phidias' 5th
century Athena Promachos that stood on the Acropolis
According to
another etymology, Athena's name may be a compound word derived in part from Tyrrhenian ati, meaning
"mother" and the name of the Hurrian goddess Hannahannahshortened in various places to Ana.[citation needed] Robert S. P. Beekes has suggested a Pre-Greekorigin of the name, based mainly on the existence of the presumably Pre-Greek
morphem *-ān-.[19]
In his dialogueCratylus, the Greek philosopher Plato (428–347 BC)
gives some rather imaginative etymologies of Athena's name, based on the
theories of the ancient Athenians and his own etymological speculations:
That is a
graver matter, and there, my friend, the modern interpreters of Homer may, I
think, assist in explaining the view of the ancients. For most of these in
their explanations of the poet, assert that he meant by Athena "mind"
[νοῦς, noũs]
and "intelligence" [διάνοια, diánoia], and the maker of names
appears to have had a singular notion about her; and indeed calls her by a
still higher title, "divine intelligence" [θεοῦ νόησις, theoũ
nóēsis], as though he would say: This is she who has the mind of God [ἁ
θεονόα, a theonóa). Perhaps, however, the name Theonoe may mean
"she who knows divine things" [τὰ θεῖα νοοῦσα, ta theia noousa]
better than others. Nor shall we be far wrong in supposing that the author of
it wished to identify this Goddess with moral intelligence [εν έθει νόεσιν, en
éthei nóesin], and therefore gave her the name Etheonoe; which, however,
either he or his successors have altered into what they thought a nicer form,
and called her Athena.
— Plato, Cratylus
407b
Thus, Plato
believed that Athena's name was derived from Greek Ἀθεονόα, Atheonóa—which
the later Greeks rationalised as from the deity's (θεός, theós) mind
(νοῦς, noũs). Other Greek authors[who?] attempted
to derive natural symbols from the etymological roots of Athena's names to be aether,air, earth, and moon.[20]
Plato also
notes that the citizens of Sais in Egypt worshipped a goddess whose Egyptian name was Neith,[21] and
which was identified with Athena.[22] Neith
was the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient
Pre-Dynastic period, who was also identified with weaving. In
addition, ancient Greek myths reported that Athena had visited many
mythological places such as Libya's Triton River in North Africa and the Phlegraean plain.[23] ScholarMartin
Bernal created the controversial[24] "Black
Athena" theory to explain this associated origin by claiming that the
conception of Neith was brought to Greece from Egypt, along with "an
enormous number of features of civilization and culture in the third and second
millennia".[25]The connection with Neith was later rejected by other scholars in view of
formal difficulties.[26]
Cult and patronages[edit]
Athenian tetradrachmrepresenting the goddess Athena.
A new peplos was
woven for Athena and ceremonially brought to dress her cult image(British
Museum).
During the late
5th century BC, the role of goddess of philosophy became a major aspect of
Athena's cult.[27] She is
the patroness of various crafts, especially of weaving, as Athena
Ergane, and was honored as such at festivals such as Chalceia. The
metalwork of weapons also fell under her patronage. She led battles (Athena
Promachos or the warrior maiden Athena
Parthenos)[28]as the disciplined, strategic side of war, in contrast to her brother Ares, the patron of
violence, bloodlust and slaughter—"the raw force of war".[29] Athena
is the goddess of knowledge, purity, arts, crafts, learning, justice and
wisdom. She represents intelligence, humility, consciousness, cosmic knowledge,
creativity, education, enlightenment, the arts, eloquence and power. She stands
for truth, justice, and moral values and is known to be tough, clever and
independent. Not only was this version of Athena the opposite of Ares in
combat, it was also the polar opposite of the serene earth goddess version of
the deity, Athena Polias.[28]
Athena appears
in Greek mythology as the patron and helper of many heroes, including Odysseus, Jason, and Heracles. In Classical
Greek myths, she never consorts with a lover, nor does she ever marry,[30] earning
the title Athena Parthenos (Athena the Virgin). A remnant of archaic
myth depicts her as the adoptive mother of Erechtheus/Erichthonius through the foiled rape by Hephaestus.[31]Other variants relate that Erichthonius, the serpent that accompanied Athena,
was born to Gaia: when the rape failed, the semen landed on
Gaia and impregnated her. After Erechthonius was born, Gaia gave him to Athena.
Though Athena
is a goddess of war strategy, she disliked fighting without purpose and
preferred to use wisdom to settle predicaments.[32] The
goddess approved fighting only for a reasonable cause or to resolve conflict.
She encouraged people to use intuitive wisdom rather than anger or violence. As
patron of Athens she fought in the Trojan war on the side of the Achaeans.
Epithets and attributes[edit]
See also: Category:Epithets of Athena
Bust of the
Velletri Pallas type, copy after a votive statue of Kresilas in Athens (c. 425
BC)
Athena's most
famous epithetsinclude Atrytone (Άτρυτώνη "the Unwearying"), Parthenos(Παρθένος "Virgin"), and Promachos (Πρόμαχος "she who
fights in front"). As Athena
Parthenos she was especially worshipped in the festivals of the Panathenaeaand Pamboeotiawhere both militaristic and athletic displays took place.[33] As Athena
Promachos she led in battle (see Promachos).
With the epithet Polias (Πολιάς "of the city"), Athena was the
protector of not only Athens but also of many other cities, including Argos, Sparta, Gortyn, Lindos, and Larisa. The
epithet Ergane (Εργάνη "the Industrious") pointed her out as
the patron of craftsmen and artisans. In her role as judge at Orestes' trial on the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra(which he won), Athena won the epithet Areia (Αρεία). The various Athena
cults, all branching from her panhellenic cult, often proctored various
initiation rites of Grecian youth, e. g. the passage into citizenship by
young men or the passage of young women into marriage. Her various cults were
portals of a uniform socialization, even beyond mainland Greece.[34]
The owl of
Athena, surrounded by an olive wreath. Reverse of an Athenian silver
tetradrachm, c. 175 BC
In Homer's epic works,
Athena's most common epithet is Glaukopis (γλαυκῶπις), which
usually is translated as, "bright-eyed" or "with gleaming
eyes".[35]The word is a combination of glaukós (γλαυκός, meaning "gleaming,
silvery", and later, "bluish-green" or "gray")[36] and ṓps(ὤψ, "eye, face").[37] It is
interesting to note that glaúx (γλαύξ,[38]"little owl")[39] is from
the same root, presumably according to some, because of the bird's own
distinctive eyes. The bird which sees well in the night is closely associated
with the goddess of wisdom: in archaic images, Athena is frequently depicted with
an owl(or "owl of Athena" and later under the Roman
Empire, "owl of Minerva") perched on her hand. This pairing evolved in
tandem so that even today the owl is a symbol of wisdom.[3]Unsurprisingly, the owl became a sort of Athenian mascot. The olive tree is
likewise sacred to her. In earlier times, Athena may well have been a bird
goddess, similar to the unknown goddess depicted with owls, wings, and bird
talons on the Burney relief, a Mesopotamian terracotta relief of
the early second millennium BC.[40]
A little owl,
sacred bird of the goddess (Owl of
Athena)
Other epithets
include Ageleia,Itonia and Aethyiaunder which she was worshiped in Megara.[41] The
word aíthyia (αἴθυια) signifies a "diver", also some diving
bird species (the shearwater?), and figuratively, a "ship", so the
name must reference Athena teaching the art of shipbuilding or navigation.[42][43] In a
temple at Phrixa in Elis,
reportedly built by Clymenus, she was known as Cydonia (Κυδωνία),[44] which
is possibly connected to Greek kũdos (κῦδος "glory").
Cult statue of
Athena with the face of the Carpegna type (late 1st century BC to early 1st
century AD), from the Piazza dell'Emporio, Rome
In the Iliad (4.514),
the Homeric
Hymns, and in Hesiod'sTheogony,
Athena is also given the curious epithet Tritogeneia (Τριτογένεια),
whose significance remains unclear. It could mean various things, including
"Triton-born", perhaps indicating that the homonymous sea-deity was her parent according to
some early myths. In fact there is a myth relating the foster father
relationship of this Triton towards the half-orphan Athena, whom he raised
besides his own daughter Pallas. Karl
Kerényi suggests that "Tritogeneia did not mean that she came into the
world on any particular river or lake, but that she was born of the water
itself; for the name Triton seems to be associated with water generally."[45][46] In Ovid's MetamorphosesAthena is occasionally referred to as "Tritonia".
Another
possible meaning may be "triple-born" or "third-born",
which may refer to a triad or to her status as the third daughter of Zeus or
the fact she was born from Metis, Zeus, and herself; various legends list her
as being the first child after Artemis and Apollo, though other legends
identify her as Zeus' first child.[47] Some
researchers in Indo-European studies, linking the philology
of Indo-European languages to the presumed Indo-European mythology, have suggested a
connection to the Indian deity Trita, sometimes grouped in a threefold body of mythological
poets. Michael Janda has connected the Vedic myth of Trita
to the presentation of Zeus, Poseidon and Hades in the Iliad where they
are "three brothers" having shared the reign of the world, each
ruling one third of it: Hades the underworld, Poseidon the sea whereas Zeus
received the "broad sky".[48] Janda
furthermore connects this narrative with the myth of Athena being born of the
head (i. e. the uppermost part) of Zeus and understands Trito-(that perhaps originally meant "the third") as another word for
"the sky" in this context.[49] In
Janda's analysis of Indo-European mythology, this heavenly sphere is also
connected to the mythological body of water surrounding the inhabited world (cfr.Triton's mother, Amphitrite).
She was given
the epithet Hippia (Ἵππια "of the horses",
"equestrian"), as the inventor of the chariot, and was
worshiped under this title at Athens, Tegea and Olympia.
As Athena Hippia she was given an alternative parentage: Poseidon and
Polyphe, daughter of Oceanus.[50][51] In each
of these cities her temple frequently was the major temple on the acropolis.[52]
The Greek
biographer Plutarch(46–120 AD) refers to an instance during the Parthenon's construction of her
being called Athena Hygieia (Ὑγίεια, i. e. personified
"Health"):
A strange
accident happened in the course of building, which showed that the goddess was
not averse to the work, but was aiding and co-operating to bring it to perfection.
One of the artificers, the quickest and the handiest workman among them all,
with a slip of his foot fell down from a great height, and lay in a miserable
condition, the physicians having no hope of his recovery. When Pericles was
in distress about this, the goddess [Athena] appeared to him at night in a
dream, and ordered a course of treatment, which he applied, and in a short time
and with great ease cured the man. And upon this occasion it was that he set up
a brass statue of Athena Hygeia, in the citadel near the altar, which they say
was there before. But it was Phidias who wrought the goddess's image in gold, and he has
his name inscribed on the pedestal as the workman of it.[53]
In classical
times the Plynteria,
or "Feast of Adorning", was observed every May, it was a festival
lasting five days. During this period the Priestesses of Athena, or
"plyntrídes", performed a cleansing ritual within the Erechtheion,
a sanctuary devoted to Athena and Poseidon. Here Athena's statue was undressed,
her clothes washed, and body purified. Athena was frequently equated with Aphaea, a local
goddess of the island of Aegina, originally from Crete and also
associated with Artemisand the nymph Britomartis. In Arcadia, she was
assimilated with the ancient goddess Alea and worshiped as Athena
Alea.
Mythology[edit]
Birth[edit]
Athena is
"born" from Zeus's forehead as a result of him having swallowed her
mother Metis, as he grasps the clothing of Eileithyiaon the right; black-figured amphora, 550–525
BC, Louvre.
Although Athena
appears before Zeusat Knossos—inLinear B,
as ???????, a-ta-na
po-ti-ni-ja, "Mistress Athena"[54]—in the
Classical Olympian pantheon, Athena was remade as the favourite
daughter of Zeus, born fully armed from his forehead.[55] The
story of her birth comes in several versions. In the one most commonly cited,
Zeus lay with Metis, the goddess of crafty thought and wisdom, but he
immediately feared the consequences. It had been prophesied that Metis would
bear children more powerful than the sire,[56] even
Zeus himself. In order to prevent this, Zeus swallowed Metis [57] but it
was too late because Metis had already conceived.
Eventually Zeus
experienced an enormous headache; Prometheus,Hephaestus,Hermes, Ares, or Palaemon
(depending on the sources examined) cleaved Zeus’ head with the double-headed Minoan axe, the labrys. Athena
leaped from Zeus’ head, fully grown and armed, with a shout—"and pealed to
the broad sky her clarion cry of war. And Ouranos trembled to hear, and Mother
Gaia…" (Pindar,Seventh Olympian Ode). Plato, in the Laws,
attributes the cult of Athena to the culture of Crete, introduced,
he thought, from Libya during the dawn of Greek culture. Classical myths
thereafter note that Herawas so annoyed at Zeus for having produced a child that she conceived and bore Hephaestusby herself, but in Imagines 2. 27(trans. Fairbanks), the third century AD Greek rhetorician Philostratus the Elder writes that Hera
"rejoices" at Athena's birth "as though Athena were her daughter
also." In accordance with this mythological tradition, Plato, in Cratylus(407B), gives the etymology of her name as signifying "the mind of
god", theou noesis. The Christian apologist of the 2nd century Justin
Martyr takes issue with those pagans who erect at springs images of Kore, whom
he interprets as Athena:
They said that
Athena was the daughter of Zeus not from intercourse, but when the god had in
mind the making of a world through a word (logos) his first
thought was Athena.[58]
Other tales[edit]
Atena farnese, Roman copy of
a Greek original from Phidias' circle, c. 430 AD, Museo Archeologico,
Naples
Some origin
stories tell of Athena having been born outside of Olympus and raised by the
god Triton. Fragments attributed by the Christian Eusebius of Caesarea to the semi-legendary Phoenicianhistorian Sanchuniathon, which Eusebius thought had been written
before the Trojan
war, make Athena instead the daughter of Cronus, a king of Byblos who visited
'the inhabitable world' and bequeathed Attica to Athena.[59]Sanchuniathon's account would make Athena the sister of Zeus and Hera, not
Zeus' daughter.
Pallas Athena[edit]
The tradition
regarding Athena's parentage involves some of her more mysterious epithets:
Pallas, as in the ancient-Greek Παλλάς Ἀθήνη (also Pallantias) and Tritogeneia
(also Trito, Tritonis, Tritoneia, Tritogenes). A distant archaic separate
entity named Pallas is invoked as Athena's father, sister, foster sister,
companion, or opponent in battle. One of these is Pallas, a daughter of Triton (a sea god) and, according to some later
sources, a childhood friend of Athena.[60]
In every case,
Athena kills Pallas, accidentally, and thereby gains the name for herself. In
one telling, they practice the arts of war together until one day they have a
falling out. As Pallas is about to strike Athena, Zeus intervenes. With Pallas
stunned by a blow from Zeus, Athena takes advantage and kills her. Distraught
over what she has done, Athena takes the name Pallas for herself.
When Pallas is
Athena's father, the events, including her birth, are located near a body of
water named Triton or Tritonis. When Pallas is Athena's sister or
foster-sister, Athena's father or foster-father is Triton, the son and herald of Poseidon.
Athena may be called the daughter of Poseidon and a nymph named Tritonis,
without involving Pallas. Likewise, Pallas may be Athena's father or opponent,
without involving Triton.[61] On this
topic, Walter Burkert says "she is the Pallas of Athens, Pallas
Athenaie, just as Hera of Argos is Here Argeie.[62] For the
Athenians, Burkert notes, Athena was simply "the Goddess", hē
theós (ἡ θεός), certainly an ancient title.
In fact,
"Pallas" is derived either from πάλλω, "brandish" (as a
weapon), or, more likely, from παλλακίς and related words, "youth, young
woman."[63]The story that Athena kills a friend or relation called "Pallas" and
takes the name to honor her is only attested quite late, in Apollodorus and
Philodemus. It seems to have been invented to explain the name.[64]
The
Parthenon, Temple of Athena Parthenos
Athena Parthenos[edit]
Athena never
had a consort or lover and is thus known as Athena
Parthenos, "Virgin Athena". Her most famous temple, the Parthenon,
on the Acropolis in Athens takes its
name from this title. It is not merely an observation of her virginity, but a
recognition of her role as enforcer of rules of sexual modesty and ritual
mystery. Even beyond recognition, the Athenians allotted the goddess value
based on this pureness of virginity as it upheld a rudiment of female behavior
in the patriarchal society. Kerenyi's study and theory of Athena accredits her
virginal epithet to be a result of the relationship to her father Zeus and a
vital, cohesive piece of her character throughout the ages.[65]
This role is
expressed in a number of stories about Athena. Marinus of Neapolis reports that when
Christians removed the statue of the Goddess from the Parthenon, a
beautiful woman appeared in a dream to Proclus, a
devotee of Athena, and announced that the "Athenian Lady"wished to dwell with him.[66]
The Athena Giustiniani, a Roman copy of a Greek
statue of Pallas Athena with her serpent, Erichthonius
Erichthonius[edit]
Hephaestusattempted to rapeAthena, but she eluded him. His semen fell to the earth and impregnated the soil, and Erichthonius was born from the Earth, Gaia.
Athena then raised the baby as a foster mother.[31]
Athena puts the
infant Erichthonius into a small box (cista) which she entrusts to the
care of three sisters, Herse, Pandrosus, and Aglaulus of Athens. The goddess does
not tell them what the box contains, but warns them not to open it until she
returns. One or two sisters opened the cista to reveal Erichthonius, in
the form (or embrace) of a serpent. The serpent, or insanity induced by
the sight, drives Herse and Aglaulus to throw themselves off the Acropolis.[67] Jane
Harrison (Prolegomena) finds this to be a simple cautionary tale
directed at young girls carrying the cista in the Thesmophoriarituals, to discourage them from opening it outside the proper context.
Another version
of the myth of the Athenian maidens is told in Metamorphosesby the Roman poet Ovid(43 BC – 17 AD); in this late variant Hermes falls in
love with Herse. Herse, Aglaulus, and Pandrosus go to the temple to offer
sacrifices to Athena. Hermes demands help from Aglaulus to seduce Herse.
Aglaulus demands money in exchange. Hermes gives her the money the sisters have
already offered to Athena. As punishment for Aglaulus's greed, Athena asks the
goddess Envyto make Aglaulus jealous of Herse. When Hermes arrives to seduce Herse,
Aglaulus stands in his way instead of helping him as she had agreed. He turns
her to stone.[68]
With this
mythic origin, Erichthonius became the founder-king
of Athens, and many beneficial changes to Athenian culture were ascribed to
him. During this time, Athena frequently protected him.
Medusa and Tiresias[edit]
Medusa by Arnold
Böcklin, c. 1878
In a late myth,Medusa, unlike
her sister Gorgons,
came to be viewed by the Greeks of the 5th century as a beautiful mortal that
served as priestess in Athena's temple. Poseidon lusted after Medusa, and
decided to rape her in the temple of Athena, refusing to allow her vow of
chastity to stand in his way.[69] Upon
discovering the desecration of her temple, Athena changed Medusa's form to
match that of her sister Gorgons as punishment. Medusa's hair turned into
snakes, her lower body was transformed also, and meeting her gaze would turn
any living man to stone. In the earliest myths, there is only one Gorgon, but
there are two snakes that form a belt around her waist.
In one version
of the Tiresiasmyth, Tiresias stumbled upon Athena bathing, and he was struck blind by her to
ensure he would never again see what man was not intended to see but having
lost his eyesight, he was given a special gift—to be able to understand the
language of the birds and thus foretell the future.[70]
Lady of Athens[edit]
The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune by René-Antoine Houasse (circa 1689 or 1706)
Athena competed
with Poseidonto become the patron deity of Athens, which was yet unnamed, in a version of
one founding
myth. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and that the
Athenians would choose the gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with
his tridentand a salt water spring sprang up; this gave them a means of trade and
water—Athens at its height was a significant sea power, defeating the Persianfleet at the Battle of Salamis—but the water was salty and not
very good for drinking.[71]
Athena,
however, offered them the first domesticated olive tree.
The Athenians (or their king, Cecrops) accepted the olive tree and with it the
patronage of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food. Robert
Graves was of the opinion that "Poseidon's attempts to take possession
of certain cities are political myths" which reflect the conflict between
matriarchal and patriarchal religions.[71]
Other cult sites[edit]
Athena depicted
on a coin of Attalus
I, ruler of Pergamon, c. 200 BC
Athena was also
the patron goddess of several other Greek cities, notably Sparta, where the
archaic cult of Athena Alea had its sanctuaries in the surrounding
villages of Mantineiaand, notably, Tegea.
In Sparta itself, the temple of Athena Khalkíoikos (Athena "of the
Brazen House", often latinized as Chalcioecus) was the grandest and located
on the Spartan acropolis; presumably it had a roof of bronze. The forecourt of
the Brazen House was the place where the most solemn religious functions in
Sparta took place.
Tegea was an
important religious center of ancient Greece,[72]containing the Temple of Athena Alea. The temenos was founded by Aleus, Pausanias was informed.[73] Votive
bronzes at the site from the Geometric and Archaic periods take the forms of
horses and deer; there are sealstone and fibulae. In the
Archaic period the nine villages that underlie Tegea banded together in a synoecism to
form one city.[74]Tegea was listed in Homer'sCatalogue of Ships as one of the cities that
contributed ships and men for the Achaean
assault on Troy.
Athena and
Heracles on an Atticred-figure kylix, 480–470 BC
Counselor[edit]
Silver coin
showing Athena with Scylla decorated helmet and Heracles fighting the Nemean lion
(Heraclea Lucania, 390-340 BC)
According to
Pseudo-Apollodorus's Bibliotheca, Athena guided the
hero Perseus in his quest to behead Medusa.[75] Other
late sources report that she instructed Heracles to
skin the Nemean
Lion by using its own claws to cut through its thick hide. She also helped
Heracles to defeat the Stymphalian Birds, and to navigate the underworld
so as to capture Cerberus.
In The
Odyssey, Odysseus' cunning and shrewd nature quickly wins Athena's
favour. For the first part of the poem, however, she largely is confined to
aiding him only from afar, mainly by implanting thoughts in his head
during his journey home from Troy. Her guiding actions reinforce her role as
the "protectress of heroes," or, as mythologian Walter Friedrich Otto dubbed her, the
"goddess of nearness," due to her mentoring and motherly probing.[76] It is
not until he washes up on the shore of the island of the Phaeacians,
where Nausicaais washing her clothes that Athena arrives personally to provide more tangible
assistance. She appears in Nausicaa's dreams to ensure that the princess
rescues Odysseus and plays a role in his eventual escort to Ithaca.
Athena appears
in disguise to Odysseus upon his arrival, initially lying and telling him that
Penelope, his wife, has remarried and that he is believed to be dead; but
Odysseus lies back to her, employing skillful prevarications to protect
himself.[77]Impressed by his resolve and shrewdness, she reveals herself and tells him what
he needs to know in order to win back his kingdom. She disguises him as an
elderly man or beggar so that he cannot be noticed by the suitors or Penelope,
and helps him to defeat the suitors.
Athena also
appears to Odysseus's son Telemachos. Her actions lead him to travel around to
Odysseus's comrades and ask about his father. He hears stories about some of
Odysseus's journey. Athena's push for Telemachos's journey helps him grow into
the man role, that his father once held.
She also plays
a role in ending the resultant feud against the suitors' relatives. She
instructs Laertesto throw his spear and to kill Eupeithes, the father of Antinous.
Judgment of Paris[edit]
Main article: Judgement of Paris
Paris is
awarding the apple to Aphrodite Urteil des Paris by Anton Raphael Mengs, c. 1857
In one myth,
all the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the
marriage of Peleusand Thetis (the
eventual parents of Achilles). Only Eris,
goddess of discord, was not invited. She was annoyed at this, so she arrived
with a golden apple inscribed with the word καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, "for the
fairest"), which she threw among the goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera, and
Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful owner of the apple.
The goddesses
chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to favor one of the
goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a Trojan prince. After
bathing in the spring of Mount Ida where Troy was situated, the goddesses appeared
before Paris for his decision. The goddesses undressed before him to be
evaluated, either at his request or by their own choice.
Still, Paris
could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they resorted to
bribes. Hera tried to bribe Paris with control over all Asia and Europe, while
Athena offered wisdom, fame and glory in battle, but Aphrodite came forth and
whispered to Paris that if he were to choose her as the fairest he would have
the most beautiful mortal woman in the world as a wife, and he accordingly
chose her. This woman was Helen, who was, unfortunately for Paris, already
married to King Menelaus of Sparta.
The other two goddesses were enraged by this and, as a direct result, sided
with the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Roman fable of Arachne[edit]
Minerva and Arachne by René-Antoine Houasse (1706)
The fable of Arachne is a
late Roman addition to Classical Greek
mythology[78]that does not appear in any Greek texts from the Classical
Era or in the myth repertoire of the Attic vase-painters. Arachne's name
means spider in ancient Greek.[79] Arachne
was the daughter of a famous dyer in Tyrian
purple in Hypaipa of Lydia, and a weaving student of Athena. She became so conceited
of her skill as a weaver that she began claiming that her skill was greater
than that of Athena herself.
Athena gave
Arachne a chance to redeem herself by assuming the form of an old woman and
warning Arachne not to offend the deities. Arachne scoffed and wished for a
weaving contest, so she could prove her skill.
Athena wove the
scene of her victory over Poseidon that had inspired her patronage of Athens.
According to Ovid's Latin narrative, Arachne's tapestry featured twenty-one
episodes of the infidelity of the deities, including Zeus being unfaithful
with Leda, with Europa,
and with Danaë.
Athena admitted that Arachne's work was flawless, but was outraged at Arachne's
offensive choice of subjects that displayed the failings and transgressions of
the deities. Finally, losing her temper, Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry
and loom, striking it with her shuttle.
Athena then
struck Arachne with her staff, which changed her into a spider. In some
versions, the destruction of her loom leads Arachne to hang herself in despair;
Athena takes pity on her, and transforms her into a spider. In the
aforementioned version, Arachne weaved scenes of joy while Athena weaved scenes
of horror.
The fable
suggests that the origin of weaving lay in imitation of spiders and that it was
considered to have been perfected first in Asia Minor.
A changed status in classical mythology[edit]
Minerva and the
Triumph of Jupiter by René-Antoine Houasse (1706)
In classical
Greek mythology the role of Athena changed as the pantheon became organized
under the leadership of Zeus. In earlier mythology she is identified as a parthenogenicdaughter of a goddess, but the classical myths fashion for her a peculiar
"birth from the head of Zeus" that assigns a father for Athena and
eliminates a mother for her, identifying the father as a deity who at one time
was portrayed as her brother. Athens may have fallen in 404 BC but the cult of
Athena was so dominant in the culture that it survived the transitions seen in
the mythic roles of other goddesses, albeit with a juggling of
"family" relationships.
J.J. Bachofen
advocated that Athena was originally a maternal figure stable in her security
and poise but was caught up and perverted by a patriarchal society; this was
especially the case in Athens. The goddess adapted but could very easily be
seen as a god. He viewed it as "motherless paternity in the place of
fatherless maternity" where once altered, Athena's character was to be
crystallized as that of a patriarch.[80]
Whereas
Bachofen saw the switch to paternity on Athena's behalf as an increase of
power, Freud on the contrary perceived Athena as an "original mother
goddess divested of her power". In this interpretation, Athena was demoted
to be only Zeus's daughter, never allowed the expression of motherhood. Still
more different from Bachofen's perspective is the lack of role permanency in
Freud's view: Freud held that time and differing cultures would mold Athena to
stand for what was necessary to them.[81]
Some modern
authors classify the changes as an "androgynous compromise" that
allowed her traits and what she stood for to be attributed to male and female
rulers alike over the course of history (such as Marie
de' Medici, Anne of Austria, Christina of Sweden, and Catherine the Great).[82]
Classical art[edit]
Restoration of
the polychromedecoration of the Athena statue from the Aphaea temple at Aegina, c. 490
BC (from the exposition "Bunte Götter" by the Munich Glyptothek)
Classical
mosaic from a villa at Tusculum, 3rd century AD, now at Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican
Mythological
scene with Athena (left) and Herakles (right), on a stone
palette of the Greco-Buddhist art of Gandhara, India
Classically,
Athena is portrayed wearing a full-length chiton,
and sometimes in armor, with her helmet raised high on the forehead to reveal
the image of Nike. Her shield bears at its centre the aegis
with the head of the gorgon (gorgoneion) in the center and snakes around the
edge. It is in this standing posture that she was depicted in Phidias's famous
lost gold and ivory statue of her, 36 m tall, the Athena
Parthenos in the Parthenon. Athena also often is depicted with an owl sitting on one of
her shoulders.[83]
The Mourning
Athena is a relief sculpture that dates around 460 BC and portrays a
weary Athena resting on a staff. In earlier, archaic portraits of Athena in black-figure pottery, the goddess retains some
of her Minoan-Mycenaean character, such as great bird wings although this is
not true of archaic sculpture such as those of Aphaean
Athena, where Athena has subsumed an earlier, invisibly numinous—Aphaea—goddess
with Cretan connections in her mythos.
Other commonly
received and repeated types of Athena in sculpture may be found in this list.
Apart from her
attributes, there seems to be a relative consensus in late sculpture from the
Classical period, the 5th century onward, as to what Athena looked like. Most
noticeable in the face is perhaps the full round strong, chin with a high nose
that has a high bridge as a natural extension of the forehead. The eyes
typically are somewhat deeply set. The unsmiling lips are usually full, but the
mouth is depicted fairly narrow, usually just slightly wider than the nose. The
neck is somewhat long. The net result is a serene, serious, somewhat aloof, and
very classical beauty.
Post-classical culture[edit]
Euro coin
commemorating 60 years of the Second Republic of Austria, featuring Athena
Promachos
A brief summary
of Athena's evolution of myriad motifs after her dominance in Greece may be
seen as follows: The rise of Christianity in Greece largely ended the worship
of Greek deities and polytheism in general, but she resurfaced in the Middle
Ages as a defender of sagacity and virtue so that her warrior status was still
intact (she may be found on some family crests of nobility). During the
Renaissance she donned the mantle of patron of the arts and human endeavor and
finally, although not ultimately, Athena personified the miracles of freedom
and republic during the French Revolution (a statue of the goddess was centered
on the Place de la Revolution in Paris).[3]
For over a
century a full-scale replica of the Parthenon has
stood in Nashville, Tennessee, which is known as the
Athens of the South. In 1990, a gilded 41 feet (12.5 m) tall replica
of Phidias' statue of Athena Parthenos was added. The state seal of California features an image of Athena
(or Minerva) kneeling next to a brown grizzly bear.[84]
Athena is a natural patron of universities: she is the symbol of the Darmstadt University of Technology,
in Germany, and the Federal University of Rio de
Janeiro, in Brazil. Her image can be found in the shields of the Faculty of
Philosophy and Letters and the Faculty of Sciences of the National Autonomous University
of Mexico, where her owl is the symbol of the Faculty of Chemistry. Her
helmet appears upon the shield of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New
York. At Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania a statue of
Athena (a replica of the original bronze one in the arts and archaeology
library) resides in the Great Hall. It is traditional at exam time for students
to leave offerings to the goddess with a note asking for good luck, or to
repent for accidentally breaking any of the college's numerous other
traditions. Athena's owl also serves as the mascot of the college, and one of
the college hymns is "Pallas Athena". Pallas Athena is the tutelary
goddess of the international social fraternity Phi
Delta Theta.[85] Her
owl is also a symbol of the fraternity.[85]
Jean Boucher's statue of the seated skeptical
thinker Ernest Renan caused great controversy when it was
installed in Tréguier, Brittany in 1902. Renan's 1862 biography of Jesus had denied
his divinity, and he had written the "Prayer on the
Acropolis" addressed to the goddess Athena. The statue was placed in
the square fronted by the cathedral. Renan's head was turned away from the
building, while Athena, beside him, was depicted raising her arm, which was
interpreted as indicating a challenge to the church during an anti-clerical
phase in French official culture. The installation was accompanied by a mass
protest from local Roman Catholics and a religious service against the growth
of skepticismand secularism.[86]
Athena has been
used numerous times as a symbol of a republic by different countries and
appears on currency as she did on the ancient drachma of
Athens. Athena (Minerva) is the subject of the $50 1915-S Panama-Pacific commemorative coin. At 2.5 troy oz (78 g) gold,
this is the largest (by weight) coin ever produced by the U.S. Mint. This was the first $50 coin issued by
the U.S. Mint and no higher was produced until the production of the $100
platinum coins in 1997. Of course, in terms of face-value in adjusted dollars,
the 1915 is the highest denomination ever issued by the U.S. Mint.[citation needed]
French car
maker Citroënnamed the top line of its DSmodels (pronounced Déesse in French, for Goddess) Pallas. It was voted the most
beautiful car of all time by Classic & Sports Car magazine.[87]
Genealogy[edit]
See also[edit]
Footnotes[edit]
1. Jump
up ^ According to Hesiod's Theogony,
Metis was Athena's mother, but, according to Homer's Iliad, after Zeus
swallowed Metis because she was pregnant with Athena (to prevent the birth),
Athena sprang forth from the head of Zeus nonetheless and later it was declared
that she "had no mother"
2. Jump
up ^ Merriam-Webster's
Encyclopedia of Literature, s.v.
"Athena p. 81.
3. ^ Jump
up to: a bcdDeacy, Susan, and Alexandra Villing. Athena in the Classical World. Koninklijke
Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2001. Print.
4. Jump
up ^ Loewen,
Nancy (1998). Athena Greek and Roman Mythology. Mankato, Minnesota: Capstone
Press. p. 15. ISBN 9780736800488.
5. Jump
up ^ "Whether
the goddess was named after the city or the city after the goddess is an
ancient dispute" (Burkert 1985:139)
6. Jump
up ^ Ruck and
Staples 1994:24.
7. Jump
up ^ KN V 52, text
208 in Ventris and Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, p.
126 f.
8. Jump
up ^ "Palaeolexicon,
Word study tool of ancient languages". Palaeolexicon.com. Retrieved 2010-08-25.
9. Jump
up ^ Palaima, p.
444.
10. Jump up ^ Burkert, p.
44.
11. Jump up ^ KO Za 1
inscription, line 1.
12. Jump up ^ Cfr.Ventris and Chadwick, Documents in Mycenaean Greek, p. 126 f.
13. Jump up ^ G. Mylonas, Mycenae
and the Mycenaean world, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1965,
p. 159.
14. Jump up ^ Also the later
Greek Athena was closely related with snakes and birds: Martin Persson Nilsson,Die
Geschichte der griechischen Religion, C. F. Beck, München 1967,
pp. 347, 433.
15. Jump up ^ A. Fururmark,
"The Thera catastrophe-Consequences for the European civilization",
p. 672. In: Thera and the Aegean world I, London 1978.
16. Jump up ^ Nilsson,
Martin Persson (1950). The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and Its Survival in Greek
Religion (Second ed.). New York: Biblo & Tannen. p. 496. ISBN 0-8196-0273-6. … originally
Athena appeared in the shape of various birds, as the gods did in the
Minoan-Mycenaean age. There is a series of representations of Athena in human
shape but provided with wings.
17. Jump up ^ Harrison
1922:306. (Harrison
1922:307, fig. 84: Detail of a cup in the Faina collection). Archived5 November 2004 at the Wayback Machine.
18. Jump up ^ Miriam Robbins
Dexter, Proto-Indo-European Sun Maidens and Gods of the Moon. In: Mankind
Quarterly 25:1–2 (Fall/Winter, 1984), pp. 137–144.
19. Jump up ^ Robert S. P.
Beekes, Etymological Dictionary of Greek, Brill, 2009, p. 29.
20. Jump up ^ Gerhard
Johrens (1981), Der Athenahymnus des Ailios Aristeides, pp. 438–452.
21. Jump up ^ "The
citizens have a deity for their foundress; she is called in the Egyptian tongue
Neith, and is asserted by them to be the same whom the Hellenes call Athena;
they are great lovers of the Athenians, and say that they are in some way
related to them." (Timaeus 21e.)
22. Jump up ^ Cf. also
Herodotus, Histories 2:170–175.
23. Jump up ^ Aeschylus, Eumenides,v.
292 f.. Cf. the tradition that she was the daughter of Neilos: see, e.g.
Clement of Alexandria Protr. 2.28.2; Cicero, De
Natura Deorum 3.59.
24. Jump up ^ Jacques
Berlinerblau, Heresy
in the University: The Black Athena Controversy and the Responsibilities of
American Intellectuals, Rutgers University Press, 1999, p. 93ff.
25. Jump up ^ Martin Bernal,Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization (New
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987), pp. 21, 51 ff.
26. Jump up ^ Jay H.
Jasanoff and Alan Nussbaum, Word
games: the Linguistic Evidence in Black Athena, in: Mary R. Lefkowitz
and Guy MacLean Rogers (eds.), Black Athena
Revisited, The University of North Carolina Press, 1996, p. 194.
27. Jump up ^ Walter
Burkert, Greek Religion 1985:VII "Philosophical Religion"
treats these transformations.
28. ^ Jump
up to: a bC.J. Herrington, Athena Parthenos and Athena
Polias. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1955
29. Jump up ^ Darmon."Athena
and Ares". Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1978.
30. Jump up ^ S. Goldhill. Reading
Greek Tragedy (Aesch.Eum.737). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986.
31. ^ Jump
up to: a bPseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheke 3.14.6.
32. Jump up ^ Loewen,
Nancy. Athena. ISBN 0-7368-0048-4.
33. Jump up ^ Noel
Robertson: Festivals and Legends: The Formation of Greek Cities in the Light
of Public Ritual. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1992.
34. Jump up ^ P. Schmitt,
"Athena Apatouria et la ceinture. Les aspects féminins des apatouries à
Athènes" in Annales: Economies, Societies, Civilisations(1059–1073). London: Thames and Hudson, 2000.
35. Jump up ^ γλαυκῶπις inLiddelland Scott.
36. Jump up ^ γλαυκός inLiddelland Scott.
37. Jump up ^ ὤψ inLiddelland Scott.
38. Jump up ^ Thompson, D'Arcy Wentworth. A
glossary of Greek birds. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1895, p. 45f.
39. Jump up ^ γλαύξ inLiddelland Scott.
40. Jump up ^ Nilsson,
Martin Persson (1950). The Minoan-Mycenaean Religion and Its Survival in Greek
Religion (Second ed.). New York: Biblo & Tannen. pp. 491–496. ISBN 0-8196-0273-6. "It may perhaps be
conjectured that the wings are not only due to the Orientalizing fashion of the
time, but are reminiscent of the old bird epiphany."
41. Jump up ^ Pausanias, i. 5. § 3; 41. § 6.
42. Jump up ^ John
Tzetzes, ad Lycophr., l.c..
43. Jump up ^ Schmitz,
Leonhard (1867). "Aethyia". In Smith, William. Dictionary of
Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston, MA. p. 51.
44. Jump up ^ Schmitz,
Leonhard (1867). "Cydonia". In Smith, William. Dictionary of
Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. 1. Boston, MA. p. 910.
45. Jump up ^ Kerényi, p.
128.