Athena's Role In Ancient Greek Myth

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Athena is the Goddess of many things. She is the Goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, and many arts, like weaving (“Athena”). Another one of her names is Athene (Atsma). Athene was the the Goddess of many things and was related to many of the other Gods and Goddesses. She has been mentioned in many of the Greek myths, too. Athena is a unique Greek Goddess with a huge family, is in many myths such as the one about how she came to patron Athens, and has many different things that symbolize her and that she is the symbol of. Family time for Athena was very hectic. Her father was Zeus, who had over 140 kids (Bryant, 30). It’s thought that she is Zeus’ favorite child though because he trusted her with his lightning bolt (“Athena”). Her half-brother, …show more content…

Poseidon and Athena both wanted to have their own city that was dedicated solely to them. That’s how the competition for the city of Athens, it wasn’t called Athens at the time, started. The competition was simple, they’d supply the city with a special gift that they could use and the people chose which one they prefered more. Poseidon decided that he was going to use his trident and push it into the ground creating a beautiful fountain. Besides being gorgeous, there wasn’t a use for it. The people thought of it as disparage because the water that spewed out of it was salty and therefore couldn’t be used for agriculture or drinking water. Athena then gave the gift of the olive tree. It was a very simple gift, but it supplied the people of Athens with many things. They could use the olives to eat, the oil to cook or create light, and the wood for fires or buildings. The choice of the people was obvious, it was Athena. As soon as she was awarded the city, she named it after herself. That is how the city of Athens got its name. (Bryant, 34) Athene has an abundant amount of things that she symbolizes and that symbolize her. Some of the most popular symbols for Athena are the olive tree and the owl, which is her sacred animal (“Athena”). Other things that represent her are the serpent, a

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