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Athenas impact in greek mythology
The role of some of the major gods and goddesses. ancient Greece
Athenas impact in greek mythology
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Athena was one of the twelve gods in Greek mythology that lived on Mount Olympus. She was the daughter of Zeus the ruler of all the gods and the god of the sky. Athena had many titles is Greek mythology but her two most influential were the goddess of war and the goddess of wisdom. Some of the stories that will be discussed in this paper have multiple versions to them depending on who is telling them or what culture is telling them. The story of Athena’s birth is a very interesting one, as her birth like most from older pathos is not a normal birth story like todays births. Most of Athena’s birth stories state that she had no mother and only a father, Zeus. The story starts with two people, a God and a titan; we know them as Zeus and Metis. …show more content…
She is stil worshiped to this day by the Indian people. Her story is quite different from Athena’s, she was not the goddess of war and had nothing to do with violence. Instead she was also the goddess of knowledge helping people learn things such as the Alphabet. The Indian people hold a festival every year in her honor on the fifth day of spring in which the Hindu children are given their first lesson in reading and writing (Das). Morrigan is the Celtic goddess of war. She is also entirely different from Athena as she is more of an evil goddess focused on war more than helping the people. “Her name is linguistically rooted to the Indo-European words mor – terror and rigan – queen.” (Shaw). She had the ability to shapeshift into a crow or a raven or be accompanied by them. There are many stories that are told in which she would strike fear into men in battle by flying over them shrieking indicating that their death was imminent. As you can see Athena was a very important figure in Greek mythology. She was very close to the same person in some cultures and completely different person in others. Her influence on the people varies widely depending on which stories you read and from what culture they are
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 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
Athena is a very intricate and complex character who has a vital role in the epic poem. She is the Goddess of war and battle, a very interesting role for a female to possess. Because she is the Goddess of war, she has...
As a resident on Mount Olympus, Athena rightfully represents both intelligence and strategy (Grant, Hazel 83). Symbols that identify with the goddess include the owl for wisdom and the olive branch for peace (Athena or Minerva… 1). 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 Aegis was a breastplate made of goatskin that bore the image of a gorgon to instill panic in foes (Buxton 79). She was born fully-grown and already dressed in her full outfit, ready for war. Furthermore, Athena was the only Olympian not born of a mother. She sprang directly from her father, Zeus’s, head (Lies 47). She was different from the others of her kind, which may be why she was so honored so highly in early Greece.
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.
Lefkowitz, M. R. (1996). Ancient history, Modern Myths. Black Athena Revisited [Portfolio reading set]. Retrieved from University of Massachusetts at Boston: http://www.UMB.edu
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.)
She places in people the desire to have sexual relations and causes fear in men of the power of seduction by women. Her marriage to her husband was ignored as she had affairs with immortal and mortal men. Her infidelity in her marriage places her on the side with Greek men, rather than Greek women because only Greek men were able to cheat on their wives; not the other way around. In conclusion, the three important rules discussed in this paper that Greek women were required to obey, can be seen in the myths of the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Whether or not the Greek goddesses obeyed or did not obey these rules, their importance to the Greek culture is ever strong.
Spretnak, Charlene. {Lost Goddesses of Early Greece: A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths}. Boston: Beacon Press, 1984.
Athena was born beside the river Triton where she was nurtured by 3 nymphs. One of the nymphs
The third and final level of women in Greek mythology is that of the monster. These monsters are part woman and part animal and mainly depict the fears of woman inside the head of the man, i.
Women 's roles in the Iliad and Odyssey the seem to differ from the roles of men. Women were depicted as possessions to the men. Athena seems to stand out the most when it comes to both of these books Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. Not only was Athena the goddess of wisdom and war, she played the role of the protector. Athena is one of the main female characters that truly show out throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey. An ancient history website states that “Athena was a major protagonist in Homer’s account of the Trojan War in the Illiad where she supports the Achaeans and their heroes, especially Achilles, to whom she gives encouragement and wise counsel." Athena beings to first show in the Illiad when Agamemnon threatens to go to Achille’s
Even though Athena isn’t the main character, she is essentially what the driving force behind the plot of The Odyssey. In the first book, when attempting to get Zeus to send Odysseus away
Athena had one of the strangest births of any of the gods. Out of the many gods and goddesses, who lived atop mount Olympus, Zeus reigned above them all. He was the most powerful and strongest of all the gods and goddesses, even if you combined all of their attributes together, they still were no match for Zeus and his dominance, It is no surprise that a god this great should need no woman to bear offspring at the level of the gods. Zeus was told by mother earth and father sky that him, and his wife metis would bare children, which would jeopardize his position as ruler of everything. With this foretold conclusion, Zeus decided to swallow Metis who was about to give birth, and in so gaining her intelligence and wisdom. It is said however, that the result of metis being eaten were Zeus' tremendous headaches. Hephaestus had the solution to these headaches, an axe, the result of the axe and Zeus' skull was that Athena sprang out, fully-grown and Armored. Athena had been given a numerous amount of traits from her mother, more over; the main qualities were wisdom and justice.
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