He knew that the goddess of reason, Metis (Metis), would have two children: a daughter, Athena, and a son of extraordinary intelligence and strength. goddesses of fate moira told Zeus that this son would take away his power over the world. To avoid this, Zeus lulled Metis with affectionate speeches and swallowed her before the birth of children. Soon Zeus felt a terrible pain in his head. To get rid of her, he called on his son Hephaestus and ordered to cut his head. With an ax blow, Hephaestus split the skull of Zeus, and from there, to the amazement of the other Olympian gods, she emerged into fully armed powerful and beautiful warrior, the goddess Pallas Athena. Athena's blue eyes burned with divine wisdom.
Birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. Drawing on an amphora of the second half of the 6th century. BC
Athena - goddess of war
Athena is the “blue-eyed virgin”, the goddess of the clear sky, dispersing the clouds with her sparkling spear, attaching to her shield, Aegis, the snake-haired head of the terrible Gorgon Medusa, the black daughter of the night, at the same time the goddess of victorious energy in any struggle: she is armed with a shield, sword and spear. The goddess Pallas Athena was considered by the Greeks to be the inventor of military art. She is always accompanied by the winged goddess of victory (Nika). Athena - the guardian of cities, the goddess of the acropolises; in honor of her, the goddess of the Athenian Acropolis, the Athenians performed large and small Panathenaic holidays. Being the goddess of war, Athena, however, did not experience joy in battles, like the gods Ares and Eris, but preferred to resolve feuds in peace. In peaceful days, she did not carry weapons, but during wars she received them from Zeus. However, having entered the battle, Pallas never lost it - even to the god of war Ares.
myths Ancient Greece: Athena. Wise warrior
Athena - goddess of wisdom
Pallas Athena keeps order in the weather changes, so that after a thunderstorm that gave rain, the sky clears up again: but she is also the goddess of fertility of fields and gardens; under her patronage, an olive tree grew in Attica, which had such importance for this land; it gives prosperity to the home and family. Under the auspices of Pallas Athena is the civil system, tribal institutions, public life; the goddess of the all-pervading and clear ether, the goddess Athena became in the myths about the gods of Ancient Greece the goddess of the insight of the mind, prudence, the goddess of all inventions of art, the goddess of artistic activity, mental pursuits, the goddess of wisdom. She gives wisdom and knowledge, teaches people the arts and crafts. The girls of ancient Greece honored Pallas Athena as a teacher of home needlework - culinary arts, weaving and spinning. No one can surpass the goddess Athena in the art of weaving. The ancient Greek myth said that it is very dangerous to compete with her in this - Arachne, the daughter of Idmon, who wanted to surpass Athena in this art, severely paid for her arrogance.
The ancient Greeks believed that Pallas Athena, the goddess of wisdom, made a great many useful inventions: she created a flute, a pipe, a ceramic pot, a plow, a rake, a yoke for oxen, bridles for horses, a chariot, a ship, the art of counting. Therefore, the ancient Greek commanders always tried to get from Athena helpful tips. Athena Pallas was famous for her kindness, and therefore, when the judges disagreed at the trials in the Areopag of Athens, she always gave her vote for the acquittal of the accused.
The goddess Athena fills Hercules' cup with wine. Ancient Greek vessel ca. 480-470 BC
Little by little, Pallas Athena became the goddess of everything that the Athenians were proud of: the clear sky of Attica, her olive groves, the state institutions of the Athenians, their prudence in war, their courage, their science, poetry, art - everything entered into their idea of \u200b\u200btheir patroness, goddess "Virgin of Athens". The whole life of the Athenians was in close connection with their service to the goddess Pallas Athena, and before they put her statue in the Parthenon temple, they honored her for many centuries in her mythical symbol, the olive tree.
Virginity of Pallas Athena
Virginity was the most characteristic and integral part of the cult of the goddess Athena. According to Greek myths, many gods, titans and giants wanted to enter into marital relations with Pallas, but she rejected all courtship. Once, during the Trojan War, not wanting to ask for weapons from Zeus, who did not support either the Hellenes or the Trojans, Athena asked Hephaestus to make her own armor. Hephaestus agreed, but said that he would do the work not for money, but for love. Not understanding the meaning of what was said, Athena came for armor to the forge of Hephaestus. He rushed to the goddess and tried to take possession of her. They say that Hephaestus was incited to this by Poseidon, who lost the dispute to Athena for the possession of Attica: the sea god convinced the Olympic blacksmith of Pallas's secret desire for someone to take possession of her by force. Athena, however, escaped from the hands of Hephaestus, but at the same time his seed spilled on her just above the knee. Pallas wiped herself with a tuft of wool and threw it away. The seed of Hephaestus fell on mother earth Gaia and impregnated her. Dissatisfied with this, Gaia said that she would not raise her unborn child from Hephaestus. Athena then announced that she would raise him herself.
Statue of Athena the Virgin in the Parthenon. Sculptor Phidias
When the child was born, he was named Erichthonius. It was one of the mythical progenitors of the Athenians. Taking Erichtonius from Gaia, Pallas Athena put him in a sacred casket and gave him to Aglavra, the eldest daughter of the Athenian king. Kekropsa. The sad fate of Aglavra, her mother and two sisters is told in myth from Erichthonius. All four died, for Aglavra tried to deceive the god Hermes. Hearing of their sad fate, upset Athena dropped a huge rock that she was carrying to the Athenian Acropolis in order to better strengthen it. This rock was named Mount Lycabettus. The crow, which conveyed to Pallas Athena the mournful news of the death of the women of the Kekrops family, was made black by the goddess from white. Since then, all crows are black. Pallas forbade them to appear on the Athenian acropolis. The goddess Athena Pallas hid Erichtonia in her aegis and raised her. Later he became king of Athens and introduced the cult of his named mother in that city. After his death, Erichthonius was ascended to heaven, becoming the constellation Charioteer, for he, with the help of the goddess Athena, was the first to learn how to use a chariot drawn by four horses.
For the Athenians, the idea of the virginity of their main goddess symbolized the impregnability of their city. Some scientists believe that in ancient myths Athena Pallas was not a virgin, but had children from Hephaestus, Poseidon and the god of the winds Boreas. Some vague memories of these myths have been preserved in historical Hellas - at least in the above story about Athena and Hephaestus. Erichthonius, most likely, was initially considered the son of Athena and Poseidon. The rest of this myth is preserved in the legend that Erichthonius was the first to ride a quadriga chariot, which in ancient Greek religion was an invariable attribute of Poseidon.
Myths about Pallas Athena
The most famous myths about Athena (except for the above story about Erichthonius) are the legends about the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica, about the sculptor Pygmalion, about Athena and the satire of Marsyas, about Arachne and of Athena's participation on the side of the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Panathenaia - holidays in honor of Athena
Of the many holidays that ancient Athens celebrated in honor of its patron goddess, and which were mostly agricultural in nature, the most important were the “small Panathenays” and “great Panathenays”. Small were celebrated every year, in the summer; great - once every four years. According to ancient Greek myths, the Panatheneas were founded by the son of Kekrops Erechtheus, a pupil of Athena, the personification of a fertile field.
Competitions of runners during the Panathenaic. Vase ok. 530 BC
The entire population of Attica converged on the great Panathenaia in Athens; a solemn procession carried to the Acropolis a mantle (Peplos), embroidered by the Athenians for the ancient statue of the goddess Pallas Athena, which stood in her Acropolis temple. This mantle was saffron; sewing on it was gold, and represented scenes from the victorious battles of the goddess Athena with the titans. Priests walked ahead with sacrificial animals; the priests were followed by the meteks (foreigners who lived in Athens); they carried sacrificial vessels and other paraphernalia. Girls, daughters of respected families of Athenian citizens, followed the meteks and carried a reaping wreath on their heads, baskets with sacred barley, honey, sacrificial bread; the daughters of the Metecs held umbrellas over them to protect them from the hot summer sun. Further on, a platform set on wheels rode; a mast was approved on it; the peplos of the goddess Pallas Athena was tied to the mast. The musicians followed the platform, followed by young men wearing myrtle wreaths; some walked and sang hymns in honor of the goddess, others were on horseback, armed with a shield and a spear. Further along the streets of Athens came cheerful old men with olive branches in their hands; behind them were the awards intended for the winners of the games: olive wreaths, vessels with olive oil; brought gifts to the temple. Behind them were adult horses and chariots that would compete in running at games in honor of the goddess Athena. At the end of the procession rode on horseback young men belonging to the first two classes of citizens.
Parthenon - Temple of Athena the Virgin in the Acropolis
The procession went from Keramik, according to the most best streets, decorated with oak branches; the people standing in the streets were all in white clothes, men and women. The path of the procession led through the square popular assemblies, past the temples of Demeter and Apollo. Pythian. The Acropolis was resplendent with decorations. The procession entered there, and worship was performed, sacrifices were made while singing hymns to the glory of the goddess Pallas Athena.
Ancient Greek mythology is very bright, due to the many gods and goddesses represented in it. One of the extraordinary representatives is the beautiful fair-haired goddess Pallas Athena. Her father, none other than the supreme god Zeus himself, the lord of heaven. In its significance, Athena is not inferior, and sometimes surpasses her imperious father. Her name is immortalized in the name of the Greek city - Athens.
Who is Athena
The appearance of Athena is shrouded in secrets, from the text of the ancient source of Theogony it follows that Zeus found out: his wise wife Metis should give birth to a great daughter and son. The ruler did not want to give his reins of government to anyone, and swallowed his pregnant wife. Later, feeling a severe headache, Zeus asked the god Hephaestus to hit him on the head with a hammer - this is how Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, appeared in all her weapons. Possessing the strategies and tactics of waging just wars, Athena succeeded and also became the patroness of many types of crafts:
- public order - Athena in public affairs, established the highest court in Athens;
- shipbuilding and navigation - the architects Ferekl, Arg and Danai, under the mentorship of Athena, created their own ships, one of which Argo was sent by the goddess to heaven;
- metal craftswoman - the statue of Aphrodite is considered the work of Athena herself;
- weaving and spinning craft - she made clothes for herself and other goddesses. Athena taught women to weave. The spinning wheel is a symbol of Athena;
- music - a trumpet and a two-horned flute, the invention of Athena;
- healing - healed and resurrected with the blood of the Gorgon medusa;
- patroness - in many other positive aspects. Athena is loved for her timely assistance. Hercules, Odysseus, Perseus, Achilles, Jason, Telemachus are the heroes of ancient Greek mythology who called Athena in difficult moments.
What does Athena look like?
The Greek goddess Athena is traditionally depicted in military attire, with a majestic bearing in her hand a spear shining in the sun. Homer, the ancient narrator of the epic poem The Iliad, describes Athena as a bright-eyed, sharp-eyed, full of power in golden armor, a beautiful, but "not soft-hearted" Virgin. The artists depicted the goddess with a stern, thoughtful face, in a long hoodie (peplos) or shell.
Symbol of Athena
In mythology, each piece of clothing, the background around the deity is replete with various symbols that have a sacred meaning. These archetypes are the link between humans and gods. Knowing these symbols, images arise with the help of which one or another character can be identified. The symbolism of Athena is easily recognizable:
- Athena's helmet - made of iron, decorated with 4 horses, or a monster with a snake tail;
- spear - one of the statues of the goddess adorned the ancient acropolis in Athens, her shining golden spear, the first thing sailors saw when returning to the city;
- aegis - a shield made of goatskin, with the image of the Gorgon Medusa;
- Nike - a figurine of the goddess of Victory in the hand of Athena;
- the owl is a symbol of wisdom;
- the snake is a gift of foresight.
Children of Athena
The ancient Greek goddess Athena was considered a chaste virgin, Eros himself ignored the request of his mother, the goddess Aphrodite, to shoot an arrow of love at Athena, as he was afraid to even fly past because of the goddess’s menacing gaze. Nevertheless, the joys of motherhood were not alien to Athena and she raised adopted children:
- Hygieia - the goddess of health, is considered by one source the daughter of Asclepius (healer) and Athena;
- Erichthonius is the son of Gaia and Hephaestus, according to legend, Hephaestus chased Athena and dropped the seed on the ground, Gaia considered this a shame for herself and refused to raise her son. Athena secretly raised Erichthonius. The goddess Athena is often depicted with a snake; researchers believe that this is a symbol of Erichthonius.
The myth of the goddess Athena
Ancient Greek mythology describes gods who are like people: they love, they hate, they strive for power, they crave recognition. The myth about Athena is interesting, in which Kekrops, the first Athenian king, could not decide who should be the patron of the city. Athena and Poseidon (the god of the ocean) began to argue, Kekrops suggested that the gods resolve the dispute as follows: invent the most useful item. Poseidon carved a source of water with a trident, Athena hit the ground with a spear and an olive tree appeared. Women voted for Athena, men for Poseidon, so Athens had two patrons.
Zeus reigns high on the bright Olympus, surrounded by a host of gods. Here is his wife Hera, and the golden-haired Apollo with his sister Artemis, and the golden Aphrodite, and the mighty daughter of Zeus and Athena, and many other gods...
Deep in the abyss of the sea stands the wonderful palace of the great brother of the Thunderer Zeus, the shaker of the earth Poseidon. Poseidon rules over the seas, and the waves of the sea are obedient to the slightest movement of his hand, armed with a formidable trident ...
Deep underground reigns the unforgiving, grim brother of Zeus, Hades. His kingdom is full of darkness and horrors. The joyful rays of the bright sun never penetrate there. Bottomless abysses lead from the surface of the earth to the sad kingdom of Hades. Dark rivers flow in it...
The great goddess Hera, the wife of the auspicious Zeus, patronizes marriage and protects the sanctity and inviolability of marriage unions. She sends the spouses numerous offspring and blesses the mother at the time of the birth of the child...
The god of light, the golden-haired Apollo, was born on the island of Delos. His mother Latona, driven by the wrath of the goddess Hera, could not find shelter anywhere. Pursued by the dragon Python sent by the Hero, she wandered all over the world...
The eternally young, beautiful goddess was born on Delos at the same time as her brother, the golden-haired Apollo. They are twins. The most sincere love, the closest friendship unites brother and sister. They also deeply love their mother Latona...
The goddess Pallas Athena was born by Zeus himself. Zeus the Thunderer knew that the goddess of reason, Metis, would have two children: a daughter, Athena, and a son of extraordinary intelligence and strength. Moira, the goddess of fate, revealed to Zeus the secret that the son of the goddess Metis would overthrow him from the throne ...
In the grotto of Mount Kyllene in Arcadia, the son of Zeus and Maya, the god Hermes, the messenger of the gods, was born. With the speed of thought, he is transferred from Olympus to the farthest corner of the world in his winged sandals, with a caduceus wand in his hands ...
The god of war, the frantic Ares, is the son of the Thunderer Zeus and Hera. Zeus does not like him. He often tells his son that he is the most hated by him among the gods of Olympus. Zeus does not love his son for his bloodthirstiness...
Not the pampered, windy goddess Aphrodite to interfere in bloody battles. She awakens love in the hearts of gods and mortals. Thanks to this power, she reigns over the whole world. Only the warrior Athena, Hestia and Artemis are not subject to her power...
Hephaestus, the son of Zeus and Hera, the god of fire, the blacksmith god, with whom no one can compare in the art of forging, was born on the bright Olympus as a weak and lame child. Came into anger great Hera when they showed her an ugly, frail son ...
Powerful is the great goddess Demeter. She gives fertility to the earth, and without her beneficial power, nothing grows either in shady forests, or in meadows, or in rich arable lands. The great goddess Demeter had a young beautiful daughter, Persephone...
Since time immemorial, this order has been established in the world. The goddess of the night, Nikta, rides across the sky in a chariot drawn by black horses and covers the earth with her black veil. Following her, white bulls with strong horns slowly draw the chariot of the moon goddess Selena...
And the son of Dionysus was born to the dying Semele, a weak child unable to live. It seemed that he, too, was doomed to perish in the fire. But how could the son of the great Zeus die. From the ground on all sides, as if by a wave of a magic wand, thick green ivy grew. He covered the unfortunate child from the fire with his greenery and saved him from death...
Pan, although he was one of ancient gods Greece, had in the Homeric era and later, until the II century. BC, little value. The very fact that the god Pan was depicted as a half-man - half-goat (a relic of totemism) indicates the antiquity of this god...
There once lived a king and a queen, and they had three daughters. The eldest daughters were born beautiful, but with the youngest, named Psyche, no one could compare with beauty. She was the most beautiful on earth, people from all countries flocked to the city to admire her. Everyone admired her charm and charm and found her similar to Venus...
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Following in the footsteps of Homer and other Greek poets into the Olympus created by their imagination, we encounter gods whose images are strikingly different from everything that is included in our concept of "god". Nothing human is alien to the gods of Olympus...
Pallas Athena
Nikolai Kun
Birth of Athena
The goddess Pallas Athena was born by Zeus himself. Zeus the Thunderer knew that the goddess of reason, Metis, would have two children: a daughter, Athena, and a son of extraordinary intelligence and strength. Moira, the goddess of fate, revealed to Zeus the secret that the son of the goddess Metis would overthrow him from the throne and take away his power over the world. The great Zeus was afraid. To avoid the formidable fate that the moiras promised him, he, having put the goddess Metis to sleep with affectionate speeches, swallowed her before her daughter, the goddess Athena, was born. After a while, Zeus felt a terrible headache. Then he called on his son Hephaestus and ordered to cut his head to get rid of the unbearable pain and noise in his head. Hephaestus waved an ax, with a powerful blow he cracked the skull of Zeus without damaging it, and a mighty warrior, goddess came out of the head of the Thunderer. Pallas Athena. Fully armed, in a brilliant helmet, with a spear and a shield, she appeared before the astonished eyes of the Olympian gods. She shook her gleaming spear menacingly. Her war cry resounded far across the sky, and bright Olympus shook to its very foundation. Beautiful, majestic, she stood before the gods. Athena's blue eyes burned with divine wisdom, all of her shone with marvelous, heavenly, powerful beauty. The gods praised his beloved daughter born from the head of Zeus, the protector of cities, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, the invincible warrior Pallas Athena.
Athena patronizes the heroes of Greece, gives them her advice full of wisdom and helps them, invincible, in time of danger. She keeps cities, fortresses and their walls. She gives wisdom and knowledge, teaches people the arts and crafts. And the girls of Greece honor Athena because she teaches them needlework. None of the mortals and goddesses can surpass Athena in the art of weaving. Everyone knows how dangerous it is to compete with her in this, they know how Arachne, the daughter of Idmon, paid, who wanted to be higher than Athena in this art.
Arachne
Based on Ovid's "Metamorphoses"
Arachne was famous throughout Lydia for her art. Nymphs often gathered from the slopes of Tmol and from the banks of the gold-bearing Pactol to admire her work. Arachne spun from threads like fog, fabrics as transparent as air. She was proud that she had no equal in the world in the art of weaving. One day she exclaimed:
Let Pallas Athena herself come to compete with me! Do not defeat me; I'm not afraid of this.
And now, under the guise of a gray-haired, hunched old woman, leaning on a staff, the goddess Athena appeared before Arachne and said to her:
More than one evil brings with it, Arachne, old age: years bring experience. Heed my advice: strive to surpass only mortals with your art. Don't challenge the goddess to a match. Humbly beg her to forgive you for your arrogant words, The goddess forgives those who pray.
Arachne dropped the thin yarn from her hands; her eyes flashed with anger. Confident in her art, she answered boldly:
You are unreasonable, old woman, Old age has deprived you of reason. Read such instructions to your daughters-in-law and daughters, but leave me alone. I can give myself advice. What I said, so be it. Why doesn't Athena come, why doesn't she want to compete with me?
I'm here, Arachne! the goddess exclaimed, assuming her true form.
Nymphs and Lydian women bowed low before the beloved daughter of Zeus and praised her. Only Arachne remained silent. Just as the sky lights up with a scarlet light in the early morning, when the pink-fingered Dawn-Eos takes off into the sky on its sparkling wings, so the face of Athena flushed with the color of anger. Arachne stands on her decision, she still passionately wants to compete with Athena. She does not foresee that she is in danger of an imminent death.
The competition has begun. The great goddess Athena wove the majestic Athenian Acropolis on her bedspread in the middle, and on it she depicted her dispute with for power over Attica. Twelve bright gods of Olympus, and among them her father, Zeus the Thunderer, sit as judges in this dispute. Poseidon, the shaker of the earth, raised his trident, hit it on the rock, and a salty spring gushed out of the barren rock. And Athena, wearing a helmet, with a shield and aegis, shook her spear and plunged it deep into the ground. A sacred olive grew out of the ground. The gods awarded victory to Athena, recognizing her gift to Attica as more valuable. In the corners, the goddess depicted how the gods punish people for disobedience, and around it she wove a wreath of olive leaves. Arachne depicted on her coverlet many scenes from the life of the gods, in which the gods are weak, obsessed with human passions. All around, Arachne wove a wreath of flowers intertwined with ivy. The height of perfection was the work of Arachne, she was not inferior in beauty to the work of Athena, but in her images one could see disrespect for the gods, even contempt. Athena was terribly angry, she tore the work of Arachne and hit her with a shuttle. The unfortunate Arachne could not bear the shame; she twisted the rope, made a noose and hanged herself. Athena freed Arachne from the loop and told her:
Live, unruly. But you will hang forever and weave forever, and this punishment will last in your offspring.
Athena sprinkled Arachne with the juice of magical grass, and immediately her body shrank, thick hair fell from her head, and she turned into a spider. Since then, the Arachne spider has been hanging in its web and forever weaving it, as it did in life.
Notes:
Athena (among the Romans Minerva) is one of the most revered goddesses of Greece: she played a big role in the Greek folk epic. Athena is the guardian of cities. In Homeric Troy there was a statue of Athena, allegedly fallen from the sky, the so-called palladium: it was believed that she was guarding Troy. With the growth of Greek culture, Athena also became the patroness of science.
The state in Asia Minor, defeated by the Persians in the VI century. BC.
The scene of the dispute between Athena and Poseidon was depicted on the pediment of the Parthenon temple in Athens by the famous Greek sculptor Phidias (5th century BC); in a badly damaged form, the pediment has survived to our time.
Nicholas Kuhn. Legends and myths of Ancient Greece
Added ok. 2006-2007
#1352
Happy New Year 2012 to all!
Well designed site. Intersnye articles.
March 10, 2019
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[deeper into history] [ latest additions ]Athena, Greek - daughter of Zeus, goddess of wisdom and victorious war, protector, arts and crafts.
Old myths speak about the birth of Athena rather sparingly: Homer says only that she is without a mother. Details can already be found in later authors. According to Hesiod, Zeus was predicted that the goddess of wisdom, Metis, would give birth to a daughter who would surpass him in wisdom, and a son who would surpass him in strength and overthrow him from the throne. To prevent this, Zeus swallowed Metis, after which Athena was born from his head.
Still later myths even know how this happened. After Zeus ate Metis, he felt that his head was simply splitting from pain. Then he called Hephaestus (according to other versions - Hermes or the titan Prometheus), he cut his head with an ax - and Pallas Athena was born in full armor.
Thus, in accordance with the symbolism of the myths, Athena was also the power of Zeus. He loved her more than all his daughters: he spoke to her as to his own thought, did not hide anything from her and did not refuse her anything. For her part, Athena understood and appreciated her father's goodwill. She was always by his side, never once carried away by any other god or man, and for all her beauty, majesty and nobility, she did not marry, remaining Athena-Virgo (Athena Parthenos).
Through her origins and the favor of Zeus, Athena became one of the most powerful goddesses in the Greek pantheon. Since ancient times, she was, first of all, the goddess of war, being a protector from enemies.
True, the war was in the competence of Ares, but Athena did not interfere. For Apec was the god of fierce war, bloody battles, while she was the goddess of intelligently, prudently waged war, which invariably ends in victory, which could not be said about the wars of Ares. Athena - the goddess of war - the Greeks revered under the name of Athena Enoplos (Athena armed) or Athena Promachos (Athena the advanced fighter or Athena, calling to battle), as the goddess of victorious war she was called Athena Nike (Athena the Victor).
From start to finish ancient world Athena was the protector goddess of the Greeks, especially the Athenians, who were always her favorites. Like Pallas Athena, the goddess also guarded other cities, primarily those where in the temples there were her cult figurines, the so-called palladium; as long as the palladium remained in the city, the city was impregnable. The Trojans also had such palladium in their main temple, and therefore the Achaeans, who besieged Troy, certainly needed to steal this palladium (which Odysseus and Diomedes did). Athena patronized the Greeks and their cities both in war and in peace. She was a defender of people's assemblies and rights, she took care of children and the sick, and gave prosperity to people. Often her help took purely concrete forms. For example, she gave the Athenians an olive, thus laying the foundation for one of the main branches of the Greek national economy (by the way, to this day).
Pictured: Riviera Brighton's painting Pallas Athena and the Shepherd's Dogs.
In addition to these important functions, Athena was also the goddess of arts and crafts (the Greeks, as a rule, did not distinguish between these two concepts; they denoted the work of a sculptor, a mason and a shoemaker with the word “techne”). She taught women to spin and weave, men to blacksmith, jewelry and dyeing crafts, and helped build temples and ships. For her help and protection, Athena demanded respect and sacrifice - this was the right of every god. She punished disrespect and insults, but it was easier to propitiate her than other goddesses.
Athena intervened frequently and effectively in the life of the gods and heroes, and each of her interventions led exactly to the result that she herself desired. With the god of the sea, Poseidon, Athena had a dispute about dominance over Attica and Athens. The council of the gods appointed the first Athenian king Kekrop as an arbitrator, and Athena won the argument by giving an olive and thus securing Kekrop's favor. When Paris offended Athena with her unwillingness to recognize her primacy in a dispute over beauty, she repaid him by helping the Achaeans defeat Troy. When her admirer Diomedes had a hard time in the battle under the walls of Troy, she herself took the place of the charioteer in his war chariot and forced her brother Ares to flee. She helped Odysseus, his son Telemachus, Agamemnon's son Orestes, Bellerophon, Perseus and many other heroes. Athena never left her wards in trouble, she always helped the Greeks, especially the Athenians, and she subsequently provided the same support to the Romans, who revered her under the name of Minerva.
In the photo: a copy of the work of Phidias, a colossal bronze statue of Pallas Athena in the center of the Acropolis.
The goddess Athena is already mentioned in the monuments of the Cretan-Mycenaean writing of the 14th-13th centuries. BC e. (the so-called Linear B) discovered at Knossos. In them, she is called the goddess-protector of the royal palace and the nearby city, an assistant in battle and a giver of the harvest; her name sounds like "Atana". The cult of Athena spread throughout Greece, traces of it remain even after the victory of Christianity. Above all, she was honored by the Athenians, whose city still bears her name.
From time immemorial, festivities were held in Athens in honor of the birth of the goddess - Panathenaea (they fell on July - August). In the middle of the 6th c. BC e. the Athenian ruler Peisistratus established the so-called Great Panathenaic, which took place every four years and included competitions of musicians, poets, orators, gymnasts and athletes, riders, rowers. Small Panathenaic celebrations were celebrated annually and more modestly. The culmination of these festivities was the offering of the gifts of the Athenian people to the goddess, primarily a new robe for the ancient cult statue of Athena in the Erechtheion temple on the Acropolis. The Panathenaic procession is masterfully depicted on the frieze of the Athenian Parthenon, one of the authors of which was the great Phidias. In Rome, celebrations in honor of Minerva were held twice a year (in March and June).
In the photo: a statue of Athena ("Pallas Giustiniani") in the gardens of Peterhof.
Architectural structures in honor of Athena are among the treasures of human culture - even if only ruins have survived from them. First of all, this is the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis, built in 447-432. BC e. Iktin and Callicrates under the artistic direction of Phidias and consecrated by Pericles already in 438 BC. e. For more than two millennia, the Parthenon stood, almost touched by time until in 1687 it was damaged by an explosion of gunpowder that the Turks had stored in it during the war with Venice. Nearby is a small temple to Nike, dedicated to Athena the Victorious; during the Turkish occupation, it was completely destroyed, but in 1835-1836. rose again from the ruins. The last of these buildings on the Acropolis is the Erechtheion, dedicated to Athena, Poseidon and Erechtheus (Erechtheus). At one time, Athenian palladium was stored in it, and next to the Erechtheion, the "Olive of Athena" was planted (the current one was planted in 1917). The magnificent temples of Athena were also built by the Greeks on the Spartan Acropolis, in the Arcadian Tegea, on the Marble Terrace in Delphi, in the Asia Minor cities of Pergamum, Priene and Asse; in Argos there was a common temple of Athena and Apollo. The remains of her temple have been preserved in the Sicilian Cefaledia (now Cefalu) and in the ruins of Himera; twelve Doric columns of her temple in Syracuse still stand as component the cathedral there. Her temple was also in Troy (not only in Homeric, but also in the historical new Ilion). Perhaps the oldest of the three surviving temples at Poseidonia, Paestum, in southern Italy, now called Pesti) con, was also dedicated to her. 6th c. BC BC, but tradition called the "Temple of Ceres".
In the photo: Pallas Athena (Minerva). .
Greek artists depicted Athena as a serious young woman in a long robe (peplos) or armor. Sometimes, despite the women's clothing, she had a helmet on her head, and next to her were her sacred animals, an owl and a snake. Of her antique statues, the most highly valued: "Athena Parthenos", a colossal chrysoelephantine statue (i.e., made of gold and ivory), from 438 BC. e. standing in the Parthenon; "Athena Promachos", a colossal bronze statue from around 451 BC. e., standing in front of the Parthenon, and "Athena Lemnia" (after 450 BC), erected on the Acropolis by grateful Athenian colonists from Lemnos. All these three statues were created by Phidias; unfortunately, we know them only from descriptions and later copies and replicas, mostly not very high level. Reliefs give an idea of some statues: for example, we know how Myron’s sculpture “Athena and Marsyas” looked like, we know from its image on the so-called “Finlay vase” (1st century BC), stored in Athens, in National Archaeological Museum. Perhaps her best relief of the classical era is “Thoughtful Athena”, leaning on a spear and sadly looking at a stele with the names of the fallen Athenians (Acropolis Museum). The most faithful, although not very skillful and, moreover, ten times reduced copy of the cult statue of Athena Parthenos can probably be considered the so-called Athena Varvakion (Athens, National Archaeological Museum). In general, there are quite a few statues of Athena, whole or in the form of torsos. The most famous of them, Roman copies of Greek originals of the classical era, are in Italy and are traditionally called by the names of their former owners or by their location: "Athena Farnese" (Naples, National Museum), "Athena Giustiniani" (Vatican), "Athena from Velletri" (Rome, Capitoline Museums and Paris, Louvre). most valuable in artistically a copy of the head of "Athena Lemnia" is in the Municipal Museum in Bologna.
The image of Athena has been preserved on about two hundred vases, many of which date back to the 6th century BC. BC e. The archaized image of Athena adorned all the amphoras that were awarded to the winners of the Panathenaic games.
Of the works of modern times, no less numerous and no less diverse, we will name only two paintings: “Pallas and the Centaur” by Botticelli (1482) and “The Birth of Athena from the Head of Zeus” by Fiamingo (1590s). Of the statues, there are also two: the work of Dros from the beginning of our century, which stands on a high Ionic column in front of the Athenian Academy, and the work of Houdon of the late 18th century, which adorns the Institute of France.
In the photo: a statue of Athena in front of the Austrian Parliament in Vienna.
The goddess of wisdom and knowledge, the invincible warrior, the protector of cities and the patroness of sciences, Pallas Athena enjoyed well-deserved respect among the ancient Greeks. She was the favorite daughter of Zeus, and it is in her honor that the modern one is named. Pallas Athena helped the heroes of Greece with wise advice and did not leave them in moments of danger. The ancient Greek goddess taught the girls of Greece weaving, spinning and cooking. It is believed that it was Pallas Athena who invented the flute and established the Areopagus (high court).
Appearance of Pallas Athena:
Majestic posture, large gray (and according to some sources, blue) eyes, blond hair - her whole appearance suggests that you have a goddess in front of you. Athena Pallas, as a rule, was depicted in armor and with a spear in her hand.
Symbols and attributes:
Pallas Athena is surrounded by male attributes. On the head is a helmet with a high crest. A shield (aegis) is obligatory present - it is decorated with the head of Medusa Gorgon. The ancient Greek goddess of wisdom Pallas Athena is accompanied by an owl and a snake - symbols of wisdom. It is noted that the goddess of victory, Nike, was her constant companion. The sacred olive tree can also be called a symbol of Pallas.
Athena Pallas is surrounded by male attributes: on her head is a helmet with a high crest, in her hands is a shield adorned with the head of Medusa Gorgon
Strengths of Pallas Athena:
Although Athena was one of the most "sensible" goddesses of the ancient Greek Pantheon, nevertheless, she was characterized by a certain favoritism. This, in particular, is hinted at by the myths of Odysseus and Perseus.
Parents:
Pallas Athena was born unusually and spectacularly. Once Zeus was predicted that his wife - the goddess Metis - would give birth to a son who would be smarter and stronger than his father and overthrow him. But first, a daughter had to be born. Zeus, not wanting to be overthrown, swallowed the pregnant Metis. Soon he felt a severe headache and ordered Hephaestus to cut his head with an ax. Athena was born from the head of Zeus. The goddess was already fully armed at birth.
The goddess was born from the head of Zeus and was already fully armed at birth
There are other, less common versions of who the parents of the ancient Greek goddess Pallas Athena were. According to some myths, her mother was the nymph of the river Triton, and her father was the god of the seas, Poseidon.
Place of Birth:
It is impossible to unequivocally state exactly where the goddess Pallas Athena was born: different myths point to different places. So, she could be born near Lake Tritonis or the river Triton, in Crete, in the west of Thessaly, in Arcadia, or even in the town of Alalcomene in Boeotia. The most common version is that the birthplace of Athena is still Crete.
Personal life of Pallas Athena:
The goddess Athena Pallas was a virgin and was proud of it. However, she raised an adopted son. That's what the myths say. Once the god of fire Hephaestus turned to Zeus with a request to give him Athena as his wife. Since Zeus had previously promised Hephaestus to fulfill any of his desires, he had no choice but to agree. Yes, the Thunderer had to agree to marry his beloved daughter, but he, nevertheless, advised her to defend herself.
Majestic posture, big gray eyes, blond hair - her whole appearance suggests that you have a goddess in front of you.
According to one version, ancient greek goddess wisdom had to turn to the god of fire for weapons. Hephaestus, not at a loss, tried to take possession of the goddess. However, the maiden Athena was not going to enter into an intimate relationship - neither with Hephaestus, nor with anyone else. Athena Pallas rushed away from the overly excited god, and he chased after her. When Hephaestus caught up with the maiden, she began to defend herself and even wounded him. Hephaestus spilled the seed on the ground, and soon the baby Erichthonius was born. He was born Gaia - the earth from Hephaestus.
Pallas Athena took Erichthonius under her protection. She fed the baby with her milk and raised him. Erichthonius grew up in her temple and always honored the goddess. It was he who began to hold Panathenaic - festivities in honor of Pallas Athena.
goddess temple
The main sanctuary of ancient Athens and the most beautiful work ancient art- the temple of the goddess Athena (Parthenon) and today is one of the main visiting cards of Greece. This bright building, as if pierced through by the rays of the sun, rises in the very heart of the ancient city.
The temple of the goddess (Parthenon) is decorated with cutters depicting scenes from her life - one of the main visiting cards of Greece
In the same place - in the Parthenon - was the most famous statue of Pallas Athena by Phidias. Being about 11 m in height, the sculpture was made of gold and ivory on a wooden base. The original of the statue has not survived to this day, but it is known from surviving copies and images on coins.
The main myths about Pallas Athena:
The goddess Athena Pallas is the heroine of many mythological stories.
Among the most famous is the myth of how she gained dominion over Attica, having won the rivalry for the region of Poseidon. Each of the gods made a gift to the city: Poseidon - a water source, Athena - an olive tree. The judges decided that the gift of the goddess is more useful, and gave preference to her. So Pallas Athena won the dispute and became the mistress of Attica, and the city where it all happened was named after her.
Another myth tells how Pallas Athena participated in gigantomachy (battle with giants). On one of the giants, the formidable warrior brought down the island of Sicily, on the other she tore off the skin and covered her own body with it. The details of this battle were depicted on the shield of the statue of Athena.
Frequent companions of the goddess - an owl and a snake - symbols of wisdom, and also Nike - the goddess of victory
Pallas Athena also participated in the Trojan War. She helped the Greeks in every possible way in the capture of Troy, and it is she who is credited with the emergence of the idea that put an end to the long-term siege - about deceiving the Trojans with the help of the Wooden Horse. She prompted Odysseus to place a detachment of Greek soldiers in a huge statue of a wooden horse and leave it at the gates of Troy, while the main forces of the Greeks retreated from Troy, allegedly lifting the siege. The Trojans, after some hesitation, dragged this wooden structure into the city. At night, the soldiers hiding inside the horse came out, opened the city gates and let in their comrades.