Athena: goddess of war
ATHENE (Athena) was the Olympian goddess of wisdom & good counsel, war, the defence of towns, heroic endeavour, weaving, pottery & various other crafts.She was depicted as a stately woman armed with a shield and spear, & wearing a long robe, crested helm, & the famed aigis--a snake-trimmed cape adorned with the monstrous visage of the Gorgon Medousa (Medusa).
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MYTHS
The more famous myths featuring the goddess Athene include:--
Her birth from the head of Zeus, fully-grown and arrayed in arms. More>>
Her contest with Poseidon for dominion of Athens in which she produced the first olive tree và he the first horse. More>>
The War of the Giants in which she buried Enkelados (Enceladus) beneath Mount Etna and made her aigis from the skin of Pallas. More>>
The attempted violation of the goddess by Hephaistos (Hephaestus), who spilled his seed upon the earth & produced Erikhthonios (Erichthonius), who she then adopted as her own son. More>>
The assisting of Perseus in his quest lớn slay the Gorgon & the Argonauts in their quest for the Golden Fleece. More>>
The assisting of Herakles (Heracles) with his twelve labours. More>>
The weaving contest with Arakhne (Arachne) who was transformed by the goddess into a spider . More>>
The blinding of Teiresias (Tiresias) for seeing her naked while bathing. More>>
The Judgement of Paris in which she competed with Hera & Aphrodite for the prize of the golden apple. More>>
The Trojan War where she sided with the Greeks in battle, but attacked their ships with a storm when they failed to lớn punish Oilean Aias (Ajax) for violating her Trojan shrine. More>>
Many other myths are detailed over the following pages.
ATHENA PAGES ON capnuochaiphong.com
This site contains a total of 9 pages describing the goddess, including general descriptions, mythology, and cult. The nội dung is outlined in the Index of Athena Pages (left column or below).
FAMILY OF ATHENA
PARENTS
<1.1> ZEUS & METIS (Hesiod Theogony 887, 924; Apollodorus 1.20)<1.2> Born from the head of ZEUS (Hesiod Theogony 887, 924; Apollodorus 1.20, others)
OFFSPRING
NONE (she was a virgin goddess)
ENCYCLOPEDIA
ATHE′NA (Athênê or Athêna), one of the great divinities of the Greeks. Homer Il. v. 880) calls her a daughter of Zeus, without any allusion to lớn her mother or to the manner in which she was called into existence, while most of the later traditions agree in stating that she was born from the head of Zeus. According khổng lồ Hesiod (Theog. 886, &c.), Metis, the first wife of Zeus, was the mother of Athena, but when Metis was pregnant with her, Zeus, on the advice of Gaea and Uranus, swallowed Metis up, & afterwards gave birth himself khổng lồ Athena, who sprang from his head. (Hesiod, l. C. 924.) Pindar (Ol. vii. 35, &c.) adds, that Hephaestus split the head of Zeus with his axe, and that Athena sprang forth with a mighty war-shout. Others relate, that Prometheus or Hermes or Palamaon assisted Zeus in giving birth khổng lồ Athena, và mentioned the river Triton as the place where the sự kiện took place. (Apollod. I. 4. § 6; Schol. ad Pind. Ol. vii. 66.) Other traditions again relate, that Athena sprang from the head of Zeus in full armour, a statement for which Stesichorus is said to have been the most ancient authority. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 355; Philostr. Icon. ii. 27; Schol. ad Apollon. iv. 1310.)
All these traditions, however, agree in making Athena a daughter of Zeus; but a second set regard her as the daughter of Pallas, the winged giant, whom she afterwards killed on account of his attempting khổng lồ violate her chastity, whose skin she used as her aegis, and whose wings she fastened to her own feet. (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. L. C.; Cic. de Nat. Deor. iii. 23.)
A third tradition carries us khổng lồ Libya, & calls Athena a daughter of Poseidon và Tritonis. Athena, says Herodotus (iv. 180), on one occasion became angry with her father và went lớn Zeus, who made her his own daughter. This passage shows more clearly than any other the manner in which genuine và ancient Hellenic myths were transplanted khổng lồ Libya, where they were afterwards regarded as the sources of Hellenic ones. Respecting this Libyan Athena, it is farther related, that she was educated by the rivergod Triton, together with his own daughter Pallas. (Apollod. Iii. 12. § 3.) In Libya she was also said lớn have invented the flute; for when Perseus had cut off the head of Medusa, & Stheno & Euryale, the sisters of Medusa, lamented her death, while plaintive sounds issued from the mouths of the serpents which surrounded their heads, Athena is said lớn have imitated these sounds on a reed. (Pind. Pyth. xii. 19, &c.; compare the other accounts in Hygin. Fab. 165; Apollod. I. 4. § 2 ; Paus. I. 24. § 1.)
The connexion of Athena with Triton and Tritonis caused afterwards the various traditions about her birth-place, so that wherever there was a river or a well of that name, as in Crete, Thessaly, Boeotia, Arcadia, và Egypt, the inhabitants of those districts asserted that Athena was born there. It is from such birth-places on a river Triton that she seems to have been called Tritonis or Tritogeneia (Paus. Ix. 33. § 5), though it should be observed that this surname is also explained in other ways; for some derive it from an ancient Cretan, Aeolic, or Boeotian word, tritô, signifying "head," so that it would mean " the goddess born from the head," và others think that it was intended khổng lồ commemorate the circumstance of her being born on the third day of the month. (Tztez. ad Lycoph. 519.) The connexion of Athena with Triton naturally suggests, that we have to lớn look for the most ancient seat of her worship in Greece lớn the banks of the river Triton in Boeotia, which emptied itself into lake Copais, & on which there were two ancient Pelasgian towns, Athenae & Eleusis, which were according khổng lồ tradition swallowed up by the lake. From thence her worship was carried by the Minyans into Attica, Libya, và other countries. (Müller, Orchom. p 355.) We must lastly notice one tradition, which made Athena a daughter of Itonius & sister of Iodama, who was killed by Athena (Paus. Ix. 34. § 1; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 355), và another according to lớn which she was the daughter of Hephaestus.
These various traditions about Athena arose, as in most other cases, from local legends & from identifications of the Greek Athena with other divinities. The common notion which the Greeks entertained about her, and which was most widely spread in the ancient world, is, that she was the daughter of Zeus, and if we take Metis to have been her mother, we have at once the clue lớn the character which she bears in the religion of Greece ; for, as her father was the most powerful and her mother the wisest among the gods, so Athena was a combination of the two, that is, a goddess in whom power & wisdom were harmoniously blended. From this fundamental idea may be derived the various aspects under which she appears in the ancient writers. She seems lớn have been a divinity of a purely ethical character, và not the representative of any particular physical power nguồn manifested in nature; her power & wisdom appear in her being the protectress and preserver of the state & of social institutions. Everything, therefore, which gives khổng lồ the state strength & prosperity, such as agriculture, inventions, và industry, as well as everything which preserves & protects it from injurious influence from without, such as the defence of the walls, fortresses, and harbours, is under her immediate care.
As the protectress of agriculture, Athena is represented as the inventor of the plough and rake: she created the olive tree, the greatest blessing of Attica, taught the people to lớn yoke oxen to lớn the plough, took care of the breeding of horses, và instructed men how to tame them by the bridle, her own invention. Allusions khổng lồ this feature of her character are contained in the epithets boudeia, boarmia, agripha, hippia, or chalinitis. (Eustath. ad Hom. p. 1076; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 520; Hesych. s. V. Hippia; Serv. ad Aen. iv. 402; Pind. Ol. xiii. 79.) At the beginning of spring thanks were offered khổng lồ her in advance (procharistêria, Suid. s. V.) for the protection she was to afford to lớn the fields.
Besides the inventions relating to agriculture, others also connected with various kinds of science, industry, & art, are ascribed to lớn her, and all her inventions are not of the kind which men make by chance or accident, but such as require thought và meditation. We may notice the invention of numbers (Liv. Vii. 3), of the trumpet (Böckh, ad Pind. phường 344), the chariot, và navigation.
She was further believed to lớn have invented nearly every kind of work in which women were employed, and she herself was skilled in such work : in short Athena và Hephaestus were the great patrons both of the useful và elegant arts. Hence she is called erganê (Paus. I. 24. § 3), & later writers make her the goddess of all widom, knowledge, và art, & represent her as sitting on the right hand side of her father Zeus, và supporting him with her counsel. (Hom. Od. xxiii 160, xviii. 190; Hymn. In Ven. 4, 7, &c.; Plut. Cim. 10; Ovid, Fast. iii. 833; Orph. Hymn. xxxi. 8; Spanh. ad Callim. p 643; Horat. Carm. i. 12. 19; comp. Dict. Of Ant. under Athênaia và Chalkeia.) As the goddess who made so many inventions necessary and useful in civilized life, she is characterized by various epithets and surnames, expressing the keenness of her sight or the power of her intellect, such as optiletis, ophthalmitis, oxuderkês, glaukôpis, poluboulos, polumêtis, và mêchanitis.
As the patron divinity of the state, she was at Athens the protectress of the phratries và houses which formed the basis of the state. The festival of the Apaturia had a direct reference to lớn this particular point in the character of the goddess. (Dict. Of Ant. S. V. Apaturia.) She also maintained the authority of the law, và justice, & order, in the courts & the assembly of the people. This notion was as ancient as the Homeric poems, in which she is described as assisting Odysseus against the lawless conduct of the suitors. (Od. Xiii. 394.) She was believed to lớn have instituted the ancient court of the Areiopagus, & in cases where the votes of the judges were equally diviled, she gave the casting one in favour of the accused. (Aeschyl. Eum. 753; comp. Paus. I. 28. § 5.) The epithets which have reference to lớn this part of the goddess"s character are axiopoinos, the avenger (Paus. Iii. 15. § 4), Boulaia, và aguraia. (iii. 11. § 8.)
As Athena promoted the internal prosperity of the state, by encouraging agriculture và industry, & by maintaining law và order in all public transactions, so also she protected the state from outward enemies, and thus assumes the character of a warlike divinity, though in a very different sense from Ares, Eris, or Enyo. According to Homer (Il. v. 736, &c.), she does not even bear arms, but borrows them from Zeus; she keeps men from slaughter when prudence demands it (Il. I. 199, &c.), and repels Ares"s savage love of war, và conquers him. (v. 840, &c., xxi. 406.) She does not love war for its own sake, but simply on trương mục of the advantages which the state gains in engaging in it; and she therefore supports only such warlike undertakings as are begun with prudence, and are likely to be followed by favourable results. (x. 244, &c.) The epithets which she derives from her warlike character are ageleia, laphria, alkimachê, laossoos, and others. In times of war, towns, fortresses, và harbours are under her especial care, whence she is designated as erusiptolis, alalkomenêïs, polias, poliouchos, akraia, akria, klêdouchos, pulaitis, promachorma, & the like.
As the prudent goddess of war, she is also the protectress of all heroes who are distinguished for prudence và good counsel, as well as for their strength and valour, such as Heracles, Perseus, Bellerophontes, Achilles, Diomedes, và Odysseus. In the war of Zeus against the giants, she assisted her father & Heracles with her counsel, và also took an active part in it, for she buried Enceladus under the island of Sicily, và slew Pallas. (Apollod. I. 6. § 1, &c.; comp. Spanheim, ad Callim. p. 643; Horat. Carm. i. 12. 19.) In the Trojan war she sided with the more civilised Greeks, though on their return trang chủ she visited them with storms, on tài khoản of the manner in which the Locrian Ajax had treated stavrou in her temple. As a goddess of war & the protectress of heroes, Athena usually appears in armour, with the aegis và a golden staff, with which she bestows on her favourites youth & majesty. (Hom. Od. xvi. 172.)
The character of Athena, as we have here traced it, holds a middle place between the male and female, whence she is called in an Orphic hymn (xxxi. 10) arsên kai thêlus, và hence also she is a virgin divinity (Hom. Hymn. ix. 3), whose heart is inaccessible to the passion of love, and who shuns matrimonial connexion. Teiresias was deprived of his sight for having seen her in the bath (Callim. Hymn. pp. 546,589), và Hephaestus, who made an attempt upon her chastity, was obliged khổng lồ flee. (Apollod. Iii. 6. § 7, 14. § 6; Hom. Il. ii. 547, &c.; comp. Tzetz. ad Lycophr. 111.) For this reason, the ancient traditions always describe the goddess as dressed; & when Ovid (Heroid. v. 36) makes her appear naked before Paris, he abandons the genuine old story. Her statue also was always dressed, và when it was carried about at the Attic festivals, it was entirely covered. But, notwithstanding the common opinion of her virgin character, there are some traditions of late origin which describe her as a mother. Thus, Apollo is called a son of Hephaestus & Athena -- a legend which may have arisen at the time when the Ionians introduced the worship of Apollo into Attica, và when this new divinity was placed in some family connexion with the ancient goddess of the country. (Müller, Dor. ii. 2. § 13.) Lychnus also is called a son of Hephaestus và Athena. (Spanheim, ad Callim. phường 644.)
Athena was worshipped in all parts of Greece, và from the ancient towns on the lake Copais her worship was nitroduced at a very early period into Attica, where she became the great national divinity of the city and the country. Here she was afterwards regarded as the thea sôteira, ugieia, và paiônia, và the serpent, the symbol of perpetual renovation, was sacred to lớn her. (Paus. I. 23. § 5, 31. § 3, 2. § 4.) At Lindus in Rhodes her worship was likewise very ancient. Among the things sacred khổng lồ her we may mention the owl, serpent, cock, and olive-tree, which she was said lớn have created in her contest with Poseidon about the possession of Attica. (Plut. de Is. Et Os.; Paus. Vi. 26. § 2, i. 24. § 3; Hygin. Fab. 164.) At Corone in Messenia her statue bore a crow in its hand. (Paus. Iv. 34. § 3.)
The sacrifices offered to her consisted of bulls, whence she probably derived the surname of taurobolos (Suid. s. V.), rams, & cows. (Horn. Il. ii. 550; Ov. Met. iv. 754.) Eustathius (ad Hom. L. C.) remarks, that only female animals were sacrificed khổng lồ her, but no female lambs. In Ilion, Locrian maidens or children are said to have been sacrificed to lớn her every year as an atonement for the crime committed by the Locrian Ajax upon Cassandra; and Suidas (s. V. poinê) states, that these human sacrifices continued to be offered khổng lồ her down lớn B. C. 346. Respecting the great festivals of Athena at Athens, see Dict. Of Ant. S. Vv. Panathenaea and Arrhephoria.
Athena was frequently represented in works of art; but those in which her figure reached the highest ideal of perfection were the three statues by Pheidias. The first was the celebrated colossal statue of the goddess, of gold and ivory, which was erected on the acropolis of Athens; the second was a still greater bronze statue, made out of the spoils taken by the Athenians in the battle of Marathon; the third was a small bronze statue called the beautiful or the Lemnian Athena, because it had been dedicated at Athens by the Lemnians. The first of these statues represented the goddess in a standing position, bearing in her hand a Nike four cubits in height. The shield stood by her feet; her robe came down lớn her feet, on her breast was the head of Medusa, in her right hand she bore a lance, và at her feet there lay a serpent. (Paus. I. 24. § 7, 28. § 2.) We still possess a great number of representations of Athena in statues, colossal busts, reliefs, coins, & in vase-paintings.
Among the attributes which characterise the goddess in these works of art, we mention -- 1. The helmet, which she usually wears on her head, but in a few instances carries in her hand. It is usually ornamented in the most beautiful manner with griffins, heads of rams, horses, and sphinxes. (Comp. Horn. Il. v. 743.) 2. The aegis. (Dict. Of Ant. S. V. Aegis.) 3. The round Argolic shield. In the centre of which is represented the head of Medusa. 4. Objects sacred to lớn her, such as an olive branch, a serpent, an owl, a cock, và a lance. Her garment is usually the Spartan tunic without sleeves, and over it she wears a cloak, the peplus, or, though rarely, the chlamys. The general expression of her figure is thoughtfulness và earnestness; her face is rather oval than round, the hair is rich and generally combed backwards over the temples, và floats freely down behind. The whole figure is majestic, & rather strong built than slender: the hips are small & the shoulders broad, so that the whole somewhat resembles a male figure.
Source: Dictionary of Greek & Roman Biography & Mythology.
CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES
HYMNS to lớn ATHENA
I) THE HOMERIC HYMNSHomeric Hymn 11 khổng lồ Athena (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th khổng lồ 4th B.C.) :"Of Pallas Athena, guardian of the city, I begin lớn sing. Dread is she, and with Ares she loves the deeds of war, the sack of cities and the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they go to war và come back. Hail, goddess, và give us good fortune và happiness!"
Homeric Hymn 39 to lớn Athena :"I begin to lớn sing of Pallas Athena, the glorious goddess, bright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of cities, courageous, Tritogeneia. From his awful head wise Zeus himself bare her arrayed in warlike arms of flashing gold, and awe seized all the gods as they gazed. But Athena sprang quickly from the immortal head & stood before Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear: great Olympos began to lớn reel horribly at the might of the grey-eyed goddess, và earth round about cried fearfully, and the sea was moved và tossed with dark waves, while foam burst forth suddenly: the bright Son of Hyperion
Orphic Hymn 32 to Athena (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. To lớn 2nd A.D.) :
"Only-begotten, noble race of Zeus, blessed và fierce, who joyest in caves to lớn rove: O warlike Pallas, whose illustrious kind, ineffable, và effable we find : magnanimous and famed, the rocky height, and groves, and shady mountains thee delight: in arms rejoicing, who with furies dire and wild the souls of mortals dost inspire. Gymnastic virgin of terrific mind, dire Gorgon"s bane, unmarried, blessed, kind: mother of arts, impetuous; understood as fury by the bad, but wisdom by the good. Female and male, the arts of war are thine, O much-formed, Drakaina (She-Dragon), inspired divine: over the Phlegraion Gigantes (Phlegraean Giants), roused to lớn ire, thy coursers driving with destructive dire. Tritogeneia, of splendid mien, purger of evils, all-victorious queen. Hear me, O Goddess, when to thee I pray, with supplicating voice both night và day, and in my latest hour give peace & health, propitious times, and necessary wealth, và ever present be thy votaries aid, O much implored, art"s parent, blue-eyed maid."
DESCRIPTIONS OF ATHENA
Pausanias, description of Greece 1. 14. 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) :"I saw that the statue of Athena had xanh eyes . . . For the Libyans have a saying that the goddess is the daughter of Poseidon . . . Và for this reason has xanh eyes lượt thích Poseidon."
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 8. 350 ff (trans. Way) (Greek epic C4th A.D.) :"Athena from Olympos swooped khổng lồ forest-mantled Ida. Quaked the earth and Xanthos" murmuring streams; so mightily she shook them . . . From her immortal armour flashed around the hovering lightnings; fearful serpents breathed fire from her shield invincible; the crest of her great helmet swept the clouds."
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 12. 167 ff :"Ares to the fray rose first, và on Athena rushed. Thereat fell each on other: clashed around their limbs the golden arms celestial as they charged. Round them the wide sea thundered, the dark earth quaked "neath immortal feet. Rang from them all far-pealing battle-shouts; that awful cry rolled up to the broad-arching heaven, và down even khổng lồ Hades" fathomless abyss."
Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 14. 386 ff :"She
Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 8 (trans. Fairbanks) (Greek rhetorician C3rd A.D.) :"
Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 70 ff (trans. Melville) (Roman epic C1st B.C. To lớn C1st A.D.) :"
Apuleius, The Golden Ass 10. 30 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) : "
