 |
||
The Gods of Ancient Greece: Athena Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis. She is the goddess of wisdom, war, justice, weaving, pottery, and carpentry. In her capacity as goddess of war she is different from her brother Ares. She is more of an advisor than a soldier, although representations of her show her dressed in armor and carrying a spear. She is also considered to be a virgin goddess.
She is the patron of the city of Athens, and her most famous temple, the Parthenon, is located there. Many of her other temples are located in the centers of cities. It is said that of all the gods, she is the most comfortable among humans. She will often appear to individuals in the guise of a friend, or at least in a human body, to give one advice in difficult times.
The olive tree is sacred to her, and it was her gift to the people of Athens. The owl is her totem animal. She is often accompanied by the goddess of victory, Nike. Many people confuse the two goddesses.
A marvelous festival held in her honor in Athens was the Panathenaia. The date was said to be her birthday. The festival began with an over-night vigil. The next day, the people processed across the city to her temple. A new peplos, or dress of Greek women, is woven for her by young girls, and presented to her. There were many athletic events, such as chariot races, and the winners were awarded jars of olive oil from her sacred trees.
Another form of her name is Athene.
Agoraia, “of the market”
Areis, “warlike”
Ergane, “workerwoman”
Glaukopis, “owl-eyed”
Nike, “victory”
Pallas, “strong virgin”
Polias, “of the city”
Sthenias, “mighty”
(Campbell, pp. 61-62)
I begin to sing of Pallas Athene, the glorious goddess, bright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of cities, courageous, Tritogeneia. From his awful head wise Zeus himself bare her arrayed in warlike arms of flashing gold, and awe seized all the gods as they gazed. But Athena sprang quickly from the immortal head and stood before Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear: great Olympus began to reel horribly at the might of the bright-eyed goddess, and earth round about cried fearfully, and the sea was moved and tossed with dark waves, while foam burst forth suddenly: the bright Son of Hyperion stopped his swift-footed horses a long while, until the maiden Pallas Athene had stripped the heavenly armour from her immortal shoulders. And wise Zeus was glad.
From: “The Birth of Athena,” http://library.flawlesslogic.com/athena.htm
Revered Pallás, you alone great Zeus bore by himself,
noble and blessed goddess, brave in the din of war.
Renowned and cave-haunting, you may and may not be spoken of.
Your domain is on wind-swept hilltops
and shaded mountains, and dells charm your heart.
Arms please you, and you strike men's souls with frenzy, O maiden vigorous and
horrid-tempered.
Slayer of Gorgo, blessed mother of the arts, you shun the bed of love
and, O impetuous one, you bring madness to the wicked and prudence to the
virtuous.
Male and female, begetter of war, counselor,
she-dragon of many shapes, frenzy-loving, illustrious,
destroyer of the Phlegraian Giants, driver of horses,
Tritogeneia, you free us of suffering, O victorious goddess.
Day and night-- ever into the small hours--
hear my prayer and give me a full measure of peace,
of riches, and of health accompanied by happy seasons,
O gray-eyed and
inventive queen to whom many pray.
Translation by Apostolos Athanassakis
This myth explains how Athena was born.
Zeus was having an affair with Metis, the goddess of wisdom. He had received a prophecy that he would be overthrown by one of his children, just as he had overthrown his father, who in turn had overthrown his. In order to prevent this from happening, Zeus swallowed Metis after impregnating her. After some time Zeus began to have such terrible headaches; they were so bad that he could not take it any more. Hephaistos helped alleviate his suffering by splitting his head open with an axe. Upon doing this, the goddess Athena, fully dressed in armor, sprang from his head.
This myth shows her great ability as Goddess of Justice.
Out of revenge, Orestes killed the murderer of his father. However, this murdered just happened to be his mother. The Erinyes (also called the Furies) pursued him to avenge the death of his mother. Orestes could not escape them no matter what he did. Finally he called on the gods for help. Athena decided to hold a trial to see if Orestes was guilty of murder. The Erinyes presented a powerful case, stating that he had killed his own mother willfully, and due to this should be punished. However, Apollo acted as Orestes’ council, explaining that he was avenging the murder of his father, and as the eldest son, he was duty-bound to do so. The jury was split; half believed him to be innocent, while the other half said guilty. To bring the case to a close, Athena herself, acting a judge, cast the tie-breaking vote, and Orestes was found innocent. Afterward the Erinyes left him, and he underwent purification rituals with the help of Apollo.