Athena / Minerva
Athena was the virgin goddess of arts, craft and war. Also known as Athene, she was also identified as the Roman goddess, Minerva. Athena was daughter of Zeus and his first wife Metis (wisdom), who was the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys.After Zeus had overthrown his father Cronus and became supreme ruler of heaven, Gaea warned her grandson that if Metis has a second child, it would be a son. Zeus was told that this son would one day overthrow him, as he had done to his own father (Cronus). Not wanting to suffer the same fate as his father, he swallowed Metis, while she was still pregnant.
Months later, Zeus suffered from a great headache. Either Prometheus or Hephaestus used an axe to split open Zeus' head. Athena leaped out of Zeus' head, wearing full armour and uttering a war cry. The gods were astonished and profoundly alarmed at this prodigy. Athena became Zeus' favorite child.
Triton, son of Poseidon, raised Athena as she was growing up. Athena was sometimes known by her epithet, Tritogeneia - "thrice born", either because of Triton or because she grew up at Lake Tritonis, in Libya.
Triton had a daughter named Pallas, who became a playmate for Athena. The young goddess was playing with her friend, when Athena accidentally killed her. In memory of her childhood playmate, she put her friend's name before her own. Thereafter, she was called Pallas Athena. She also created a wooden image of her friend, which was called the Palladium. However, her father (Zeus) threw the statue out of Olympus and it landed in the tent of Ilus, the son of King Tros of Dardania.
There is some confusion over the origin and meaning of the name Pallas. Pallas is a name that can be applied to male or female. In the case of Athena, when it was used as a name for a girl, the name Pallas probably means "girl" or "maiden". However, some modern scholars dispute this meaning, because Pallas could also mean "brandisher".
There is a theory that Athena seems to be a pre-Hellenic goddess (ie, before the arrival of Dorians, Ionians and Aeolians), existing originally as a Minoan or Mycenaean goddess of crafts, homes, hearth and communities. When the Hellenic people migrated to Greece, they brought with them Pallas, the virgin war goddess. The two goddesses fused into a single goddess, known as Pallas Athena, which we know of today, retaining the attributes and functions of both goddesses.
As a virgin goddess, she was known by her epithet, Parthenos. The Greeks saw her as goddess of severe beauty, with the bluest eyes, sometimes with gray flashing eyes. In art she was normally depicted as wearing the terror-inducing aegis, symbolizing the dark storm clouds, and was armed with the resistless spear (shaft of lightning). In the poem the Shield of Hercules, ascribed to Hesiod:
"She was armed like as if she would array a battle, with a spear in her hand, and a golden helmet, and the aegis about her shoulders. And was going towards the awful strife. "
Since her mother was the goddess of wisdom, Athena inherited her mother's intellectual abilities. She personified the clear upper air as well as mental clearness and acuteness, embodying the spirit of truth and divine wisdom.
But Athena was also the goddess of war. She participated with skill and wisdom in wars to defend the state, but she did not fight, like Ares, with uncontrolled ferocity, for the sheer love of strife and mindless slaughter. She did not participate in war for the love of killing, but rather, her activities in war were intended to restore order, and thus she was ultimately the goddess of peace. Athena represented the more noble aspects of war such as courage and self-control, whereas Ares symbolized the more brutal aspects of war.
As the goddess of war, she also became patron goddess of many heroes, acting more like an ideal elder sister, providing guidance. She aided Bellerophon in taming the winged horse, Pegasus. According to some sources, Athena, not Poseidon, taught mankind the art of horsemanship.
Athena also helped several of her mortal half-brothers, Perseus and Hercules She provided Perseus with information on how to kill the Gorgon Medusa. Athena accompanied and advised Hercules in various adventures. It was Athena who brought Hercules to aid the gods in a war. In the war against the giants (Gigantomachia), she killed the giant named Pallas by crushing him under a huge boulder. She used Pallas' skin as her garment, the aegis. She was popular among the heroes, because she was the goddess of victory, and one of her epithets was Athena Nike.
Athena was one of the goddesses who wanted the golden apple during the Judgment of Paris. She promised Paris to make him a great hero, winning all his wars. Her enmity was incurred against the Trojans when Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite. She sided with the Greeks, often aiding her favorites, particularly Achilles, Diomedes and Odysseus. With Athena's encouragement, Diomedes not only wounded Aeneas, but also the two gods Aphrodite and Ares.
When Ares confronted her, she easily bested him. As Ares charged her, with his sword brandishing, Athena calmly hurled a large rock at Ares, knocking the war god unconscious. She also struck Aphrodite when the love goddess ran to her lover's side. Perhaps it was revenge for losing the golden apple to Aphrodite in the Judgment of Paris.
Athena was responsible for causing Hector to fight Achilles without divine aid: Achilles killed Hector in single combat. Athena inflicted madness on Ajax, when he lost the armour of Achilles to Odysseus.
It was a sacred statuette of Athena or that of her childhood friend Pallas, called the Palladium, which made Troy invulnerable to attack, during the Trojan War.
Upon the advice of the Trojan seer Helenus, Odysseus and Diomedes stole the Palladium from its altar. (According to Vergil in the Aeneid, the Palladium that Diomedes and Odysseus had stolen was a fake, and Aeneas took the real Palladium with him to Italy.) It was Athena who inspired Odysseus to design the Wooden Horse (Trojan Horse) that would bring about the fall of Troy.
Athena was probably also the goddess of justice. When the Erinyes (Furies) persecuted Orestes and afflicted him with madness, Athena acted as judge in Orestes' trial in Athens. When the Athenian jury were tied in their verdict on Orestes' innocent and guilt, she cast her verdict in favor of Orestes. She thereby acquitted Orestes of murdering his mother.
Cecrops was king of Attica (at the time, the region was known as Cecropia), when she and her uncle Poseidon sought to claim Athens by becoming a patron deity of the city. The citizens awarded the city to Athena, because she caused an olive tree to spring out of the rock on the Acropolis. The city was then named after her.
As goddess of craft, she invented the flute, but discarded it when Hera and Aphrodite laughed at her whenever she blew it. She cursed anyone who picked up the musical instrument that she had discarded. A satyr named Marsyas picked up the flute and dared to challenge Apollo in a musical contest, but he lost and was flayed alive by the god.
She helped Argus to build the Argo for Jason and his crew. Surprisingly, her role in the Quest was relatively small.
Her epithets were Mechanitis (patroness of undertakings), Nike (victory), Pallas (girl?), Parthenia, Parthenos (virgin goddess), Polymetis (resourceful), Promachus (protectress), Soteira (savior), and Tritogeneia (thrice born).
Her place of worship was not only in Athens, but also in Argos, Sparta and Troy as well. The olive tree was sacred to her, and her sacred animals were horses, sea eagles, cocks and serpents, but her favorite bird was the owl.
Months later, Zeus suffered from a great headache. Either Prometheus or Hephaestus used an axe to split open Zeus' head. Athena leaped out of Zeus' head, wearing full armour and uttering a war cry. The gods were astonished and profoundly alarmed at this prodigy. Athena became Zeus' favorite child.
Triton, son of Poseidon, raised Athena as she was growing up. Athena was sometimes known by her epithet, Tritogeneia - "thrice born", either because of Triton or because she grew up at Lake Tritonis, in Libya.
Triton had a daughter named Pallas, who became a playmate for Athena. The young goddess was playing with her friend, when Athena accidentally killed her. In memory of her childhood playmate, she put her friend's name before her own. Thereafter, she was called Pallas Athena. She also created a wooden image of her friend, which was called the Palladium. However, her father (Zeus) threw the statue out of Olympus and it landed in the tent of Ilus, the son of King Tros of Dardania.
There is some confusion over the origin and meaning of the name Pallas. Pallas is a name that can be applied to male or female. In the case of Athena, when it was used as a name for a girl, the name Pallas probably means "girl" or "maiden". However, some modern scholars dispute this meaning, because Pallas could also mean "brandisher".
There is a theory that Athena seems to be a pre-Hellenic goddess (ie, before the arrival of Dorians, Ionians and Aeolians), existing originally as a Minoan or Mycenaean goddess of crafts, homes, hearth and communities. When the Hellenic people migrated to Greece, they brought with them Pallas, the virgin war goddess. The two goddesses fused into a single goddess, known as Pallas Athena, which we know of today, retaining the attributes and functions of both goddesses.
As a virgin goddess, she was known by her epithet, Parthenos. The Greeks saw her as goddess of severe beauty, with the bluest eyes, sometimes with gray flashing eyes. In art she was normally depicted as wearing the terror-inducing aegis, symbolizing the dark storm clouds, and was armed with the resistless spear (shaft of lightning). In the poem the Shield of Hercules, ascribed to Hesiod:
"She was armed like as if she would array a battle, with a spear in her hand, and a golden helmet, and the aegis about her shoulders. And was going towards the awful strife. "
Since her mother was the goddess of wisdom, Athena inherited her mother's intellectual abilities. She personified the clear upper air as well as mental clearness and acuteness, embodying the spirit of truth and divine wisdom.
But Athena was also the goddess of war. She participated with skill and wisdom in wars to defend the state, but she did not fight, like Ares, with uncontrolled ferocity, for the sheer love of strife and mindless slaughter. She did not participate in war for the love of killing, but rather, her activities in war were intended to restore order, and thus she was ultimately the goddess of peace. Athena represented the more noble aspects of war such as courage and self-control, whereas Ares symbolized the more brutal aspects of war.
As the goddess of war, she also became patron goddess of many heroes, acting more like an ideal elder sister, providing guidance. She aided Bellerophon in taming the winged horse, Pegasus. According to some sources, Athena, not Poseidon, taught mankind the art of horsemanship.
Athena also helped several of her mortal half-brothers, Perseus and Hercules She provided Perseus with information on how to kill the Gorgon Medusa. Athena accompanied and advised Hercules in various adventures. It was Athena who brought Hercules to aid the gods in a war. In the war against the giants (Gigantomachia), she killed the giant named Pallas by crushing him under a huge boulder. She used Pallas' skin as her garment, the aegis. She was popular among the heroes, because she was the goddess of victory, and one of her epithets was Athena Nike.
Athena was one of the goddesses who wanted the golden apple during the Judgment of Paris. She promised Paris to make him a great hero, winning all his wars. Her enmity was incurred against the Trojans when Paris awarded the apple to Aphrodite. She sided with the Greeks, often aiding her favorites, particularly Achilles, Diomedes and Odysseus. With Athena's encouragement, Diomedes not only wounded Aeneas, but also the two gods Aphrodite and Ares.
When Ares confronted her, she easily bested him. As Ares charged her, with his sword brandishing, Athena calmly hurled a large rock at Ares, knocking the war god unconscious. She also struck Aphrodite when the love goddess ran to her lover's side. Perhaps it was revenge for losing the golden apple to Aphrodite in the Judgment of Paris.
Athena was responsible for causing Hector to fight Achilles without divine aid: Achilles killed Hector in single combat. Athena inflicted madness on Ajax, when he lost the armour of Achilles to Odysseus.
It was a sacred statuette of Athena or that of her childhood friend Pallas, called the Palladium, which made Troy invulnerable to attack, during the Trojan War.
Upon the advice of the Trojan seer Helenus, Odysseus and Diomedes stole the Palladium from its altar. (According to Vergil in the Aeneid, the Palladium that Diomedes and Odysseus had stolen was a fake, and Aeneas took the real Palladium with him to Italy.) It was Athena who inspired Odysseus to design the Wooden Horse (Trojan Horse) that would bring about the fall of Troy.
Athena was probably also the goddess of justice. When the Erinyes (Furies) persecuted Orestes and afflicted him with madness, Athena acted as judge in Orestes' trial in Athens. When the Athenian jury were tied in their verdict on Orestes' innocent and guilt, she cast her verdict in favor of Orestes. She thereby acquitted Orestes of murdering his mother.
Cecrops was king of Attica (at the time, the region was known as Cecropia), when she and her uncle Poseidon sought to claim Athens by becoming a patron deity of the city. The citizens awarded the city to Athena, because she caused an olive tree to spring out of the rock on the Acropolis. The city was then named after her.
As goddess of craft, she invented the flute, but discarded it when Hera and Aphrodite laughed at her whenever she blew it. She cursed anyone who picked up the musical instrument that she had discarded. A satyr named Marsyas picked up the flute and dared to challenge Apollo in a musical contest, but he lost and was flayed alive by the god.
She helped Argus to build the Argo for Jason and his crew. Surprisingly, her role in the Quest was relatively small.
Her epithets were Mechanitis (patroness of undertakings), Nike (victory), Pallas (girl?), Parthenia, Parthenos (virgin goddess), Polymetis (resourceful), Promachus (protectress), Soteira (savior), and Tritogeneia (thrice born).
Her place of worship was not only in Athens, but also in Argos, Sparta and Troy as well. The olive tree was sacred to her, and her sacred animals were horses, sea eagles, cocks and serpents, but her favorite bird was the owl.
