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Athena and her importance in the Odyssey
How did athena impact the greeks
Athena in greek culture
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Have you ever wondered about the Greek goddess Athena? What caused her birth? Do you even know who she is? Well, Athena is the Greek goddess of war, arts, skill, and most of all, wisdom. She is one of the most important goddesses in the Greek history. Athena was praised for her compassion and generosity. She taught many people to help others. Athena was culturally significant because she exhibited valuable traits such as bravery, courage, strong, wise and inspiring.
Athena is Zeus's daughter. She was also his favorite child. Athena sprang fully grown and in armour from Zeus's forehead. She has no mother but one of the most cited stories is that Zeus lay with Metis, the goddess of crafty thought and wisdom, and then he swallowed her because he feared she might give birth to a child more powerful than him because of a prediction, which was stated in the website https://greekgodsandgoddesses.net/goddesses/athena/. Athena was a ruthless and fierce warrior. In the Odyssey, she was angry and also unforgiving. In the course of the Trojan War, she struck Ajax with madness. Which proves a few of her valuable traits.
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People benefited from her and her actions. She was considered a symbol of logic, civilized behavior, and compassion mixed with wisdom. Honor Athena with crystals that depict the few things that were important to her were fairness, wisdom, and loyalty. Her wisdom, intelligence, and kindness inspired people to help other people and be creative. Also, she was against violence and that taught people to not be violent. She is one of the most inspiring goddesses in Greek
The goddesses Played a vital role in Greek society for they were responsible for many aspects of Greek. life, i.e., a life of a child. birth, harvest, etc. Accompanying the 6 major goddesses (Hera, Athena, Aphrodite, Hestia, Demeter and Artemis) we have the lesser divinities such as the Muses, the Graces, the Fates, etc. The second level of women used in Greek mythology is that of the human.
Athena was Zeus's daughter, and his favorite to be exact. Athena's mother was Metis, goddess of prudence, and she didn't give birth to Athena the way other mothers gave birth to their children. When Athena was born she sprang out of Zeus's head, when Hephaestus "struck his father's skull," fully grown and in full armor wearing the "robe
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.)
One myth about Athena is that She was classified as Zeus’s favorite kid. Athena was born within Zeus because he swallowed the
Mythology was very important to the men and women of ancient Greece. They worshipped the gods and goddesses, wrote poems about them, and based a great deal of art work off of them. The people of Greece looked to the gods and goddesses for help in all aspects of their lives; including health, agriculture, and war. Reading about Greek mythology can inform people about the society of Greece because the Greek gods were created by the people of Greece. Three main goddesses who were worshipped by the Greeks were Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.
Athena was born beside the river Triton where she was nurtured by 3 nymphs. One of the nymphs
The Odyssey brought to light many Mythological characters, as important as Odysseus was I don’t believe the poem would have had as much meaning if Athena wasn’t in it. Athena was known for her reasoning and strategic skill. She knew when to sit and watch and when to intervene. With Athena around, many had the ability to be someone they normally weren’t in both good and bad ways. Athena came to Odysseus, Penelope and Telemachus at different times for different reasons.
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)
A Classics website states that “The Trojan Horse The latter, a worthy son of his father, slays the last ally of the Trojans, the Eurypylus, the brave son of Telephus; and Philoctetes, with one of the arrows of Heracles, kills Paris. Even when the last condition of the capture of Troy, the removal of a small statue of Athena, called the Palladium, from the temple of Athena on the citadel, has been successfully fulfilled by Diomedes and Odysseus, the town can only be taken by treachery. On the advice of Athena, Epeius, son of Panopeus, builds a gigantic wooden horse, in the belly of which the bravest Greek warriors conceal themselves under the direction of Odysseus.” In all Athena in the Illiad shows the many roles that she seems to display throughout the books. Athena goes from the typical goddess to the woman that is on the battlefield provocking someone kill someone with an arrow.
Mythology was critical to Greek people’s everyday life, just like how religion is in our modern day in age. Everyday events, such as a thunderstorm, could be linked to a god or goddess. For example, when an earthquake would happen, it would be Poseidon crashing his tritan on the ground. People’s lives revolved around the whole ideology and it served as a way to explain the unexplained and to help them in times of need. All of the stories of these great gods and goddesses were passed down generation through generation each time getting more extreme and distorted. People idolized these beings and built stunning life like sculptures of them. Zeus was the most important of all the Greek gods and also king of Mount Olympus. He became a king after
In Greek mythology, Athena whom Roman equivalent names Minerva is goddess of wisdom, war, courage, civilization, law and justice, handicrafts, and the arts. Because of her plentiful abilities, Greek people extremely worship her without doubt. In addition, her remarkable ability that influences to the modern life is wisdom. It is clearly shown in the education. There are many proofs of education that is forced by Athena.
The ancient Greeks made numerous contributions to not only our society, but to civilizations world wide. They believed there was rational order in the universe and they were on a mission to find it. They believed they were capable of perfection and strived to achieve just that. They had brilliant philosophers and mathematicians. Some names that probably already pop into your mind when thinking about ancient Greeks are Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle.
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).
Why: Since Athena was fierce and brave in battle. She took part in wars that defended the state and home from outside enemies. Athena was the embodiment of wisdom, reason, and purity. Choosing her due to having experience and not being known as cruel in battle. I would also pray to Hestia (Vesta), goddess of hearth, family, and domestic life. I would pray to her for to protect my son in war, so I would not have to worry about my son returning. Hestia was the goddess of family, considering this she could prevent my family from losing a son due to her being the gentlest of all Olympians.
Athena was a villain but did not, in fact, start the Trojan War, although, she did play a part in the events leading up to the war-making her part of the underlying cause for it. When three goddesses Athena, Aphrodite, and Hera were given a golden apple and had to decide who was the fairest Zeus order