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Athena's role in the Odyssey
Athenas contribution to society
Athena's role in the Odyssey
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Recommended: Athena's role in the Odyssey
The role of the goddess Athena is vital in any survey of ancient Greek mythology. Her many skills and positive characteristics differentiate her from the average women of ancient societies and set her as a role model of intelligence and prowess. This essay will explain the background and growth of Athena, as well as her attributes and characteristics. Athena’s major role in ancient Greek literature and mythology will further explain her role in history and as a foundation of Greek culture.
The goddess Athena is the child of the sea nymph Metis and Zeus. The story of her birth personifies her role in Greek mythology. Zeus lusted after Metis and chased her his way. She tried to escape by turning into various creatures. Eventually, they got married and Metis became Zeus’s first wife. An oracle of Gaea prophesied that the child he would bear with her after the birth of Athena would overpower him as the lord of heaven causing Zeus to worry, as it had happened to his father. To prevent this he swallowed the pregnant Metis with Athena in her womb. When it was time for her to be born, Zeus’s head was in extreme pain. All the Olympian gods tried to help him and eventually Hephaestus opened Zeus’s head with an axe. From Zeus’s head emerged Athena, fully grown and dressed in full armor. This
She is the protectress of civilized life, artesian activities and agriculture. Athena is the embodiment of wisdom, reason and purity. She is Zeus’s favorite child and was allowed to use his weapons. Her holy tree was the olive and she is often symbolized as an own. She wears an Aegis and a goatskin shield which has a fringe of snake. While fierce and brave in battle, she only takes part in wars that defended the state and home from outside enemies. . Athena invented the bridle, which allowed men to tame horses, the trumpet and flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship and the
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)
(34) So Zeus decided to trick Metis and play a game, and that's how Metis got into Zeus's head. While Metis was in Zeus's head she became pregnant and she made her baby girl a robe and helmet. Zeus swallowed Metis because he was afraid of getting dethroned and because he wanted to keep Metis for her wise council. (34) When Athena was born her grey eyes flashed,
This paper will discuss the well published work of, Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves: Women in Classical Antiquity. New York: Schocken, 1975. Print. Sarah B. Pomerory uses this book to educate others about the role women have played throughout ancient history. Pomerory uses a timeline to go through each role, starting with mythological women, who were called Goddesses. She then talks about some common roles, the whores, wives, and slaves during this time. Pomerory enlightens the audience on the topic of women, who were seen as nothing at the time. Men were seen as the only crucial part in history; however, Pomerory’s focus on women portrays the era in a new light.
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 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...
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.
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.
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.
Aphrodite and Athena were both great powerful women who were revered as goddesses in greek mythology. They both were greatly worshipped, however due to their distinct personality traits they were worshipped and spoken about and very different ways. Both goddesses are immortal and female, and both seem to distinguish the incongruous gender roles between men and women throughout ancient Greece. What makes these two goddesses interesting, however, is their differences, which will determine how they will be reflected in myth. On one hand you have Athena, the androgynous goddess of war and wisdom. On the other you have Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. During this time, even among the immortals, women were seen as inferior and less
Greek women, as depicted as in their history and literature, endure many hardships and struggle to establish a meaningful status in their society. In the Odyssey, Penelope’s only role in the epic is to support Odysseus and remain loyal to him. She is at home and struggles to keep her family intact while Odysseus is away trying to return to his native land. The cultural role of women is depicted as being supportive of man and nothing more. Yet what women in ancient Greece did long ago was by far more impressive than what men did.
Athena was born beside the river Triton where she was nurtured by 3 nymphs. One of the nymphs
The Role of Women in Greek Mythology In learning about the feminist movement, we studied the three articles, discussed and reviewed the different authors perspectives on the topic, and learned how important the role of woman in Greek mythology is. In presenting the feminist theory to the class, we analyzed the three articles, Women in Ancient Greece; Women in Antiquity: New Assessments; and Women in Greek Myth, and discussed how although the three articles provided different views on Feminism in mythology, they all essentially are aiming to teach the same basic concept. In order to understand the feminist theory, we have to understand the notion that although myths are invented and that they involve fantasy, the concept of mythology does not necessarily imply that there is no truth of history in them. Some of the humans may have lived while some of the events may have taken place. Most importantly, the social customs and the way of life depicted in the myths are a valuable representation of Greek society.
allowed her to have Ares. Zeus really didn't care for Ares, once during infancy Ares had been
Zeus’s jealous wife, Hera, found out that he was having an affair with Princess Semele and she was not happy so Hera went to Princess Semele in disguise. Hera told Princess Semele that if Zeus truly loved her that he would let her see him in his natural form, a frenzy of lightning bolts. Princess Semele asked Zeus to promise to grant her a wish. He loved her and so he swore to her that he would do whatever she wanted. When she told him that her wish was to have him show himself to her as his natural form he knew it was a mistake but he had promised and could not take it back. He had to go to her as a frenzy of lightning bolts and he knew it would kill her; when he went she was fatally scorched. Princess Semele was pregnant with Dionysus, so Zeus reacted by grabbing the fetus and putting it in his thigh. From there, this is where the fetus grew and where Dionysus was born