Athena is a Greek Goddess of art, literature, wisdom, courage, strength and intelligence. She is the daughter of the Greek God Zeus, but she did not have a mother. Instead she was born from Zeus' forehead, fully grown and dressed in armor. However, Zeus' first wife, Metis ( who was a Titan), considered Athena to be her daughter. This is because Zeus swallowed Metis under the advice of Gaia and Uranus. It was believed that Zeus was afraid that Metis had conceived a son to take over Zeus' throne and the kingdom of Olympia. Another account says that Hephasteus split open Zeus' head, thus making Athena to be born. She is a fierce Goddess, but brave and skilled in battle. In order for men to tame their horses, Athena invented the bridle. She also …show more content…
She does not have a consort, therefore, she never marries. Athena rejects all things sexual and she also rejects motherhood. She had many epithets including Parthenos and Promachos. Because she is a Goddess of War, she can not be dominated by other goddesses and she can not be violated because she is also a palace goddess.
She won a contest against the Greek God Poseidon and became a patron Goddess of Athens. She had also offered an olive tree to the Athenians. Athena and Athens come from the same word. Athens is a plural word and is also know as Athenae. Even though Athena and Athens share the same name, it is unclear which word came first. In the city of Thebes, Athena was called Thebe. The Roman Goddess, Minerva, is her counterpart.
Athena shares an incredibly special relationship with Athens given the special connection bewteen her name and Athens. The people of Athens built a statue of Athena as an honor of her being a temple Goddess. The statue of Athena has strikingly piercing eyes, a helmet on top of her head, armor of aegis and holding a spear. The statue is also holding a sheild made out of crystal with a Gorgon's head on it. The Gorgon's head was given to Athena after she slayed Medusa with the help of
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Because she is a Goddess of War, her male Greek counterpart is Ares, who is a God of War. Athena, being the Goddess of the City of Athens, protected the civilized life of Athens. Because she had compassion and generosity for others, she was often praised. The Parthenon served as her temple because she served as Athens guardian. Panathenaea is celebrated every year and it is Athena's most important festival. Along with Hesita and Artemis, Athena is a Virgin Goddess. Her siblings are Artemis, Aphrodite, Ares, Apollo, Dionysus, Hermes, Heracles, Hephasteus and Perseus. Athena's nicknames include Hippeia (which means “of the horses”), Hygieia (which means “healer”) and Tritogeneia (which means “third born”). Plato oftened viewed Athena as the Egyptian diety Neith, a war goddess. If a man spies on her naked, she will punish them. It is believed that Athena does have a dark side that is Medusa. She can be intimidating at times, very critical and judgemental when it comes to the weakness of others. Athena is sensitive and and because she doesn't show love or affection, her only wound is her heart. She is more masucline than feminine, but she is beautiful in her own way. When she was a child she always was reading a book, she was curious to seek new information and was always a daddy's girl.As an adult she her own priorites were more important than others, was a devoted and trusted friend and was very rational. Historic people
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.
Character of Athena in Homer's Odyssey Imagine living in another world and time, one where you were not only a god but could also take the form of any object or person that you chose. Athena, the daughter of Zeus, has this ability. Of all the characters in the Odyssey, the most interesting to me is Athena. In my opinion, she guides the main characters of the Odyssey in the right direction. She kind of looks over their shoulders and serves as a guardian angel. Athena makes Telemachos go to Pylos and Sparta. Athena says, "My advice to you is this, if you will let me advise you. Get the best
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
In Greek mythology, there are many, many gods and goddesses that the people prayed to on a regular basis for everyday things we take for granted. There was usually a different deity for anything a person wanted to pray for: love, money, children, success or almost anything else one could think of or want. People today are amazed at the number of gods there were and how people could remember which god did what. We study these today but still get easily confused, which is understandable. Athena was a very prominent goddess, especially in Athens and she is also featured throughout Homer’s Odyssey. Many confuse her with Aphrodite, the goddess of love. Actually, Athena is known as the goddess of war, practical reason, wisdom, and handicraft. She was also known as the protector of the city of Athens.
Athena’s father was Zeus, the king of the gods and goddess’. Athena had a mother and a stepmother, her mother’s name was Metis. Her grandparents are Kronus and Rhea. Poseidon was Athena’s uncle and Demeter was Athena’s aunt. Hades was Athena’s uncle and Hades had two wives Hera and Hestia. Hera was also Athena’s stepmom. Athena had a cousin who was known as Aphrodite. She had three half brothers, Hermes, Hephaestus and Apollo as well as a half sister named Artemis.
He lost all interest in her and turned his attention to Athena, who, like Aphrodite, was not in love with him. Hephaestus fell in love with Athena when she came to him for a spear. When he tried to initiate intercourse, she rejected him. HEPHAESTUS AND APHRODITE Both Hephaestus and Aphrodite are powerful and popular figures of Greek mythology. The sexy of the sexy.
The Greeks believed the deities provided the city protection and allowed them to be successful in their endeavors while in time of war. Phidias, a master bronze worker, was commissioned to create the sculpture of Athena Parthenos, the goddess of wisdom to show tribute to the gods by creating a large scale sculpture in Acropolis. The Acropolis was the most important site in the city of Athens, and was well recognized as the hilltop of protection. It is also the most significant reference point of ancient Greek culture as well as the symbol of the city of Athens. Some of the greatest architectural masterpieces of the period were erected on its ground.
Their belief can be explained by this quote written by P. Walcot in the article “Greek Attitudes Towards Women: The Mythological Evidence”: “The Greeks believed women to be incapable of not exercising their sexual charms and that the results were catastrophic, irrespective of whether or not women set out to cause trouble deliberately or acted in a blissful ignorance of what they were doing” (39).... ... middle of paper ... ... Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility, is a goddess who represents lust and desire.
Athena’s interesting life started by a very strange birth. When Athena’s mother Metis was impregnated, Athena’s father, Zeus, swallowed her. (2) Soon Zeus had great head pains, so he got Hephaestus to cut open his head with an axe. (5) When he sliced open Zeus’s head, Athena emerged fully grown and with a set of armor on. (2) Even though Zeus had many other children, Athena became his favorite. (8) She had many half brothers and sisters to compete against for this title including Hermes, Hephaestus, Apollo, Ares, Hebe, Artemis, Aphrodite, Persephone, and Tityus. (3)
Athena was a goddess of war who preferred peace to fighting (Lies 47). The deity was depicted in full wartime armor, including a helmet and spear. However, despite her rough accessories, Athena also showed off extreme femininity in her clothing as well as features (Buxton 79). Athena was Zeus’s favorite daughter. Zeus, the king of the gods, allowed her to dress in his Aegis (Lies 47).
The Reduced Replica of Athena Parthenos - at the MFA in Boston is a marble statue which depicts a graceful, robed female icon. The statue has lost both arms, and is dressed in a chiton Athena , also referred to as Minerva, the Maiden, or Parthenos was the Favorite daughter of Zeus. Legend states that she was not generated by any woman with Zeus, but instead leapt out of his head fully grown and armored. Athena is known an the goddess of wisdom, the goddess of the city , the protectress of civilized life, artisan activities , and agricultural bounty. All of these characteristics explain her sculptural likenesses in so many ancient cities in need of dietous protection. 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...
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
But due to Athena’s masculinity, she was discussed almost as an exception to this belief, but only enough to be considered a step above women and below mortal men. While Aphrodite who embraced her femininity and sexuality, was seen as one of the most inferior immortals by other immortals and thus by myth writers.
...ory of the contest between Athena and Poseidon to claim Athens, in which Athena won and thus being worshipped by people (Hyginus, pp. 264). Therefore, the Parthenon was built to dedicate to Athena, their virgin patron.