Greek Mythology is the name given to the set of narratives developed in Ancient Greece, which explore elements of nature and human behavior. You may have already come across these stories when you watched movies like Percy Jackson, Clash of the Titans, or when you heard someone talk about Greek Gods and Goddesses.
In this set of narratives, we find divine characters who represent virtues and who can relate to different natural phenomena. In addition, there are kinships between them that need to be studied very carefully, because the families are large!
One of the most popular Greek goddesses is Athena. Known as the goddess of civilization, wisdom, battle strategy, arts, justice and skill, she is a powerful figure. In some versions, she can be found with the name Pallas Athena, and the Romans called her Minerva.
The goddess was worshiped in Ancient Greece and everywhere the Greeks occupied such as Asia Minor, the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa and the Mediterranean regions, each of which brought new interpretations to this iconic figure.
Next, unravel every detail about Athena and understand why she is considered one of the twelve main deities of Greek mythology!
Origin of Athena
The origin of Athena is still a matter of controversy among researchers. There are two versions for the emergence of the goddess. In the first of them, Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis, the first wife of the god. When she became pregnant, Zeus was warned that his daughter would be more powerful than he was. Fearing he would lose his power, he created a prank on Métis.
In the game, Zeus and Metis had to transform into animals. Metis, unfortunately, turned into a fly, being swallowed by Zeus. Instead of going to his stomach, however, she went to his head. Years later, when feeling a lot of pain in this region, Zeus asked Hephaestus to break his skull.
When Zeus' head was opened, Athena came out armed and grown up, ready to reign at her father's side, without trying to dethrone him. In another version, Athena would be a bastard daughter of Zeus, discovered when he married Hera. Angered, Zeus' wife bore him a bastard son, Hephaestus.
The Myth of Athena
Athena is a figure that symbolizes strength, courage and intelligence. Because she was a great strategist in battles, she was known for being a defender of Greek cities. In fact, the city of Athens was named after her.
Thus, Athena is present in numerous myths that involve battles and conflicts, such as the competition she had with Poseidon for control of a city. According to the myth, both wanted to rule the same place. It was decided that whoever gave the best gift to the city could protect it.
While Poseidon brought sea water and a horse to the city, Athena tamed and tamed the horse and gave the city an olive tree, providing food and wood. As Athena's gift brought prosperity to the city, she won the battle.
the cult of the goddess
As Athena is a figure that represents the protection of cities from the best battle strategies, the goddess was greatly worshiped in Ancient Greece and in the Greek colonies. The main center of worship was the city of Athens, but tributes and festivities marked numerous regions.
The Panathenaias, festivals destined to worship Athena, were the most important of the period. Artists demonstrated their work, chants were repeated to honor the goddess, and golden statues and objects were set aside for the deity.
Although the celebration of agriculture was the focus of the festivities for Athena, they also played games that harked back to the battles in which the goddess was involved. It was necessary to sing, dance, repeat rituals. The person who performed best would win head of cattle and amphorae with oil from the olive tree that Athena gave to the city.
In architecture, Athena was also honored. Many temples were created for the goddess, but the most important was the Parthenon temple of Athens, built after the Persians invaded the city of Athens in an effort to rescue the identity and strength of that people.
What does Athena represent in society?
Throughout her entire life, Athena chose not to have children and not get involved with other gods. She advocated, in fact, that the gods should not maintain relations with each other, so that they could focus on their functions and activities.
For these reasons, Athena is a symbol of purity, in the sexual sense. Despite this, this is not an exalted characteristic of the goddess. She is recognized for her intelligence, her strength, her courage and her strategy in battles.
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Analyzing the construction of Athena's image in modern society, we could say that she breaks the standards of femininity and sexuality, because she chose not to have a partner and dedicated herself fully to her work, her true passion.
Athena is an inspiration to women who want to be more than mothers and wives. They can be warriors, victors, protectors and examples of wisdom to those around them, just as Athena was.
