The Wisdom of the Gods: Athena
I thought I celebrate the Birthday of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom and War.
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| The Male Athena |
The Greek goddess Athena is usually portrayed as one of the
most benevolent goddesses. She is also strong, fair, and merciful. Athena is known as one of the three virgin goddesses,
referred to as virgin because they were able to remain independent and free
from men’s control, immune to the spells of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love, and
the consequent pull of marriage and motherhood. In Greek mythology Athena
was, in essence, the prototype of the "career woman".
Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis. But there was
a problem, Zeus was told by Mother Gaia
that if he had a son by her this son would be mightier than him (you know, the
same way he was greater than his daddy and his daddy was greater than his
grandpa). So to nick this in the butt he tricked Metis to come close to him and
swallowing her. He figured she was no longer a threat. However, Metis was pregnant with
Athena at the time and when it was time for Athena to be born, this turned into
quite a problem. Soon Zeus was plagued with killer headaches and he
ran to Prometheus and begged him to open
his head. Prometheus did as he was told, and out popped Athena, full grown and
ready for battle!
Zeus’s first child, the goddess Athena quickly became his
favorite. Athena was the only one of his children that Zeus ever entrusted with
his magic shield and the secret of where his Master Bolt was stored. The
goddess Athena remained his constant ally and fierce protector, promoting his
interests, serving as his advisor.
The goddess Athena was a superb strategist and many of the
Greek myths recount tales of her help given to various gods, goddesses, and
heroes as they went into battle or faced seemingly impossible tests. Although
she was widely known in one of her roles as "Athena Goddess of War",
it was as a mediator and a planner that she excelled. She always worked to
prevent war, but once war had been joined the goddess Athena fought
efficiently for her side.
Athena championed many heroes and warriors, offering them her advice and
protection, helping them to win their battles. In one of her most famous
adventures Athena would assume the shape of various men, women, and children to
guide the wandering Odysseus. Her protection allowed the suffering hero to
finally return safely to his home and family.
Nike, the winged Goddess of Victory,
often accompanied the goddess Athena. Not surprising, since "Athena,
Goddess of War" never lost a battle. Athena was frequently called upon to
settle disputes between the gods or various mortals. "Athena Goddess of
Wisdom" was known for her superb logic and intellect. Her decisions
were usually well-considered, highly ethical, and seldom motivated by
self-interest. Not only the goddess Athena's decisions demonstrate her
wisdom, but they revealed her great compassion as well.
I am telling this story here (briefly) because it is
important to Athena (I think), but there is a much better version of this, for
your reading pleasure will come later. So! Ancient time the city of Athens
belonged to Poseidon. He had claimed it by coming in, striking a rock with his
trident and establishing a spring.
But the spring gushed salt water, and so it wasn't very
useful. Many years later, during the reign of Cecrops (a half-snake man who was
the king there), Athena came in and planted an olive tree, thus claiming the
land for herself. Poseidon was totally pissed off, and challenged Athena to
mortal combat and Athena was about to accept except that Zeus stepped in and
stopped them. Instead they went before the Gods with Cecrops presenting the
evidence. The Olympians (before Dionysus born) voted. All the males voted for
Poseidon and all the Goddesses voted for Athena, except for Zeus - who refused
to give his opinion. Therefore, Athena won the decision by one vote.
Poseidon was pissed, threw a temper tantrum and flooded another one of Athena's cities (called
Athenae on the Thriasian Plain). So Athena moved to Athens, took residence
there and named that city after herself too. But, to help Poseidon's ego and save the city, the
women of Athens were deprived of their vote, and men were no longer to carry
their mothers' names.
Once, when a man called Teiresias accidentally walked in
upon the goddess Athena while she was bathing (an act usually punished by
death), Athena took pity on the poor mortal. Not wishing his death, she
instead covered his eyes with her hands, thus simultaneously blinding him and
giving him "inner sight" and the gift of prophecy. As a result
he became one of the most revered oracles in ancient Greece.
Athena was, as I said, generally cool. But every once in a
while she got all bitchy (as gods tend to get) and lashed out. Once, was a
rather minor incident when she invented this double stemmed flute. She was
really excited about it, and went around playing it everywhere. That is, until
someone happened to mention that she looked absolutely ridiculous with her
cheeks puffed out like that to play. She was furious and threw the flute onto
the ground where it was picked up by Marsyas, but that's another story.
A goddess of many talents, "Athena Goddess of
Crafts" was an expert artisan herself. She is a best friend and
sometime lover to the God Hephaestus The goddess Athena was celebrated as the
patron of weavers, potters, goldsmiths, sculptors, musicians, and horsemen. Athena
was credited with the invention of the yoke and the bridle, the sailing ship,
and the flute and trumpet.
More than any other of the Greek goddesses , Athena remains
a symbol of civilization, useful knowledge, noble reasoning, logic and wisdom.
The goddess Athena reminds us that we can successfully use our intellect and
creativity in the pursuit of any goal we choose.
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