The Greek goddess Athena is usually portrayed as one of the strongest gods in Olympia. As Greek civilization shapes gods that represent their desired identity, representing the god of war and the immortal spirit of wisdom, Athena is the goddess of the balance between intelligence and power. Through Athena's existence, she embodies victory and judgment, while her influences on other gods and mortals demonstrate the power of intellect and civilization. By fusing characteristics of multiple gods to one body, Athena embodies the characteristics of Greek civilization, which are wisdom, power and justice.
In most depictions of Athena's birth, she was given birth from Zeus's holy head, "arrayed in her armor of war, all-gleaming in gold, and every one of the immortals was gripped with awe as they watched" (Graves 157). In birth she is a symbol of the threatening force of authority and violence. Because Athena's power and potential, an oracle of Gaea (the goddess of the earth) warned Zeus of "this would be a girl-child and that, if Metis conceived again, she would bear a son who was fated to depose Zeus, just as Zeus had deposed Cronus, and Cronus had deposed Uranus" (Graves 46). Metis was a clever goddess and was even known to be wisdom herself. Though Metis tried to avoid Zeus, Zeus transformed Metis and consumed her. When Promethius split Zeus's head open, it was the birth of Athena and Metis's eternal wisdom. But the birth from Zeus's head also represents that Athena has the wisdom equivalent to Zeus's and that she is not directly the next generation fated to depose Zeus as Gaea's prophecy and Zeus remains in supreme command of Mount Olympus. ...
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...d expresses the balance of their society. People worship Athena as she is the invincible and wise goddess that embodies intelligence and power. Instead of multiple gods, Athena is crafted and embodied with every characteristics Greeks desired. Through Athena, she unifies these elements into one body that reflects the parallels of the ideal Greek civilization.
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Parada, Carlos. "Greek Mythology Link, Athena" 1997
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Pontikis, Nick. "MYTH MAN'S HOMEWORKHELP CENTER-ATHENA" 2003
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Graves, Robert. The Greek Myths New York: Penguin Books, 1992
M.P.O.Morford & R.J.Lenardon Classical Mythology (7th edition) New York: Oxfor
Throughout Athena’s appearances in the various mythological stories, she is a relatively static character. For begin, her role in Perseus’ Adventures (GHM 3.12.b.), in Apollodorus’ Library, portrays her entirely as a guardian angel of sorts, for it is the shield that she gave Perseus that allowed him to kill Medusa. “...and while Athena guided his hand and he looked with averted gaze on a brazen shield….” (GHM 2.4.3, pg 267). She is clearly benevolent if her character is taken at full value in this instance. However, in another work, Homer’s The Iliad, book 5 (GHM 3.8. Homer’s Gods and Heroes in Battle: Iliad, Book 5) Athena is much more war-like, no longer is she aiding an intrepid adventurer in a quest to rid evil; now she picks, among other gods, the sides of the Greeks (Achaeans).
She is seen standing up to man and showcasing her authority when she speaks out to her father, Zeus. And although she is chastised, she does not back down because later in the text we again see her have her say when she questioned her father’s actions. Athena has respect for the cosmic order of the universe but still challenges the set perimeters in terms of divine intervention. Fond of Odysseus, Athena indirectly, directly intervened in the lives of him and his family but instead of appearing as herself, she appears as an old friend of Odysseus and “a shepherd, like a king’s son, all delicately made” (Homer 13. 281-282). A sharp contrast to the discernible interference the other goddesses are involved in, this quotation illustrates how she intervenes in Odysseus’s life in different forms which allow him to get help without outright knowing it is Athena, until when she feels it
The God's impact and personality had a direct influence on daily life in Greek society. The Gods can give things "A cruel turn, this. Never had I thought to see this land, but Zeus let me see it." (Book 5, Line 426-427 The Odyssey unabridged), however, they can also take things away and curse their people "Take yourself out of this island, creeping thing...Your voyage here was cursed by heaven" (Book 10, Line 82-85 The Odyssey unabridged). Greek citizens had to always be considering what the Gods were thinking of them. The Greeks knew that whatever the Gods gave them, they will just as easily take everything away. By knowing the nicknames of the Gods, readers are able to determine their personalities. Throughout The Odyssey, Athena, Roman name Minerva, is often referred to as the "Grey-eyed goddess". This explanation can account for her cleverness and her bright, scheming eye. Athena is constantly changing shapes and disguises, but the cunning eye, stays constant. Another example of one of the God's personalities, is in the myth of Athena's birth. The personality of Zeus shines. It displays Zeus' constant lust after female mortals. There are many other displays of Zeus' lust. Many half mortals are the offspring of Zeus, due to his flirtatious attitude.
Athena was the Greek Goddess of many ideas, but she was famous mostly for her superior wisdom, her cunning skills in times of war, and her implausible talent for household tasks, such as weaving and pottery. She was celebrated more than any other God in ancient mythology, was the supposed inventor of countless innovations, and her figure gave reason for Greek woman to gain rights long before others of their time. The goddess of war, the guardian of Athens, and the defender of Heroes; Athena’s impact on the lives of Ancient Greeks is outstanding.
The movie depicted Athena as a people pleaser and a stickler for rules. At an early age, she did everything her father said to do. She never question her father why she couldn’t do certain things. Athena never pushed herself to the limit, in other words she was operating in stagnation. A mental health counselor would be useful for Athena, to push her to want more out of her life. Also, the mental health counselor can be helpful to boost her self-esteem, to make her more independent without breaking against Greek’s traditions. For instance, Toula was able to work with computers, which was something she has been wanting to do, and at the same time she was still working with her family. Also, Athena may be dealing with pressure from her family
Out of Zeus’s many children, Athena was his favorite. Her story starts oddly enough. “According to myth, after Zeus seduced Metis he learned that any son she bore would overthrow him, so he swallowed her alive. Later Hephaestus split Zeus ' skull with an ax, and out sprang Athena, fully armed.” (“Athena”). However, she was also a goddess of peace, noted for her compassion and generosity, as found throughout the Odyssey as she saves Odysseus numerous times. Throughout the Odyssey, Athena and Poseidon have many goals that do not coexist. While Poseidon tried to kill Odysseus multiple times, Athena deflected many of his blows. Throughout Greek religion many occasions are found where a disagreement between Poseidon and Athena ensue. “In one contest with Poseidon concerning dominion over Attica, Athena made an olive tree grow on the Acropolis while Poseidon caused a saltwater stream to gush from the Acropolis.”
Many deities offer help and advice to Odysseus on his journey home to Ithaca in “The Odyssey” but none of them provide as much help as Athena. There are many evidence in the epic poem that Athena favors Odysseus over other mortals because his virtues are similar to hers. Athena is the goddess of war and wisdom and Odysseus is a cunning warrior. However, helping Odysseus can also be a disguise of Athena bringing her wrath to those who goes against her virtues. Athena controls of most of Odysseus’s actions after he gets home to Ithaca. While it seems that Athena is helping Odysseus to get what he desires, she actually takes away some of his free will in order to get what she wants.
The people of Greece believed in mythology and believed they were blessed by the deity which inspired the artists’ creation of the spectacular sculptures including Athena Parthenos, the goddess of wisdom. Wisdom during this period was highly regarded. Most of the sculptures in Athens were made of different types of bronze. (See Figure 1.)
Athena was the goddess of war and wisdom. Daughter of Zeus and Metis, but born from only Zeus. Gaea the Earth goddess told Zeus that his child would u...
What makes the depiction between Athena and Aphrodite interesting is the different ways they are portrayed even sharing the similarity of being born strictly from male only. Athena from the all-powerful king of the gods Zeus and Aphrodite from Ouronos. Though they were both born from man alone, the content of these births caused Athena to be expressed in a more dignified, respected, and superior way. Hesiod’s recount of the births of Athena and Aphrodite in his Theogony reveals the source of Athena’s superiority. According to the Theogony, Ouranos’ genitals are thrown into the sea where they mix with the sea foam to result in Aphrodite (Hesiod 180-192). Aphrodite is said to be called, by Hesiod, “Philommedes, fond of a man’s genitals” ( Hesiod, 200-201). In contrast, Hesiod writes that Athena is born from Zeus’ head (Hesiod 924) after Zeus consumes her mother Metis, the goddess whose name means wisdom, for fear of her giving birth to someone who was destined to be his match in wisdom (Hesiod 894-900).
Athena, the Greek goddess of both wisdom and war, is often considered the craftiest of all Olympian gods. She was born of a headache, and erupted from Zeus’ head fully armed and ready for battle. However, beside all this pomp, she is a rather caring, if war-loving, immortal. Throughout the entirety of The Odyssey she conveys an entirely platonic, almost motherly love for Odysseus. It is this that makes her significant character in Homer’s work. In The Odyssey, Athena is portrayed as a, if not the, major female figure throughout the entire epic poem. With her affection for Odysseus and her frequent appearances she plays a major role throughout the entire poem. Evidence of this integral role will be presented as proof of her importance to the story.
Calypso feels that her sexuality makes her susceptible to unfair treatment by the gods. This further proves the point that women were objectified, sexually and otherwise, in Greek culture. It is important to note that Odysseus’ relationship with most goddesses throughout The Odyssey involves the act of sex. Athena, on the other hand, personifies both feministic and non-feministic traits, although they are not necessarily masculine traits. This is quite strange, however, as most women are represented as solely feminine and completely inferior to men. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. According to Homer, in the Iliad, Athena is portrayed as a fierce and ruthless warrior, characteristics that women were not generally assigned during this time period. At the same time, Athena is illustrated as being emotional, acting on her emotions. She has a
Athena is the goddess everyone wants to have as guardian for his life. She went against her uncle Poseidon to fight for her Odysseus. At one point, we can even think that Athena is also in love to Odysseus because she has never him down. But the real truth is Athena is an amazing goddess who protect Odysseus no matter what because this is the Love she has for him
The goddess of wisdom, Athena, and the goddess of sexual desire, Aphrodite, both play a significant role in this poem. These women have the ability to control mortals and even other gods. They are considered to be one of the powerful forces in this poem because of their control over the mortal relationships would systematically change the course of conflict and actions of the mortals. In the beginning of book I, Homer uses Athena to try and calm Achilles down from a quarrel with Agamemnon. During this situation the goddess is about to change a situation when she, Athena, states to
Athena's function is to be a goddess of pro-Greek warfare. She came to the aid