Does the ancient Greek’s ideation of the goddess Athena compare to modern day portrayals of her? First, how did the ancient Greeks imagine Athena? And now, how does that compare to her portrayals now? Does she compare extremely alike or does she differ tremendously? To begin, in ancient Greek’s times, Pallas Athena embodies the Greek goddess of wisdom, crafts, and war. The name Pallas translates to mean “girl.” Her other epithets include: Parthenos, Ergane, Promachos, and Nike. These names translate respectively to: “virgin,” “of the crafts,” “of war,” and “victory”. Both Homer and Hesiod, authors who wrote about her, gave her similar nicknames, such as: gray-eyed, bright-eyed, flashing-eyed, goddess of spoil, lovely-haired goddess, Tritogenia …show more content…
These coins, called “tetradrachm,” but today, most refer to the coins as “Athenian owls” because on the reverse side an owl appears. On the obverse side; however, Athena appears. Since the patroness of Athens remains Athena, it makes sense that she shows up on the Athenian’s coins. Reid Goldsborough, author of Through the Ages: Athenian Owls, adds that Athena remains pictured in a side portrait with a “...large almond-shaped frontal eye...” which may have religious significance, since she remains as an Eye Goddess (2). The owl pictured on the reverse side, an actual species, known as the Athena Noctua, named after the goddess, also. Because of the simple aesthetics of the coins, they became quite popular in the ancient Greek’s eyes. The Athenian Owls arguably became the most influential coin of the ancient times because they popularized the “heads” and “tails” sides that people still use today. These coins also started as some of the first coins where the government made money off of producing them. Similarly, another popular depiction of Athena stands a sculpture of her at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. The statue, called either “The Peaceable” or “The Mattei Athena,” replicates an original statue from 350 B.C. by either the sculptor Kephisodotos or Euphranor. The original found in 1959 still survives and resides in Piraeus, near Athens. The one found at the Louvre differs slightly from the original, but still shows …show more content…
McGonagall characterizes herself as a very wise teacher, and even from a young age, Rowling declares that McGonagall always displays wisdom. Rowling confirms, “By the end of her education at Hogwarts, Minerva McGonagall had achieved an impressive record: top grades in O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s, Prefect, Head Girl, and winner of the Transfiguration Today Most Promising Newcomer award” (6). She, also, helps teach her brothers, when they begin to learn magic, to not flaunt their magic and help clean up when something goes wrong- something very impressive for such a young girl.
Next, in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan, the protagonist’s girlfriend, Annabeth Chase, lives to the title of “the daughter of Athena.” Annabeth shows in multiple cases to share her mother’s wisdom. The author considers her a demigod, half human and half god, and she appears in three out of the five books. In the first book, she, along with Percy and Grover, travels across the United States and through Hades to reach Olympus and try find out who stole her uncle Zeus’s lightning
Athena, the Greek goddess of both wisdom and war, is often considered the craftiest of all Olympian gods. She was born of a headache, and erupted from Zeus’ head fully armed and ready for battle. However, beside all this pomp, she is a rather caring, if war-loving, immortal. Throughout the entirety of The Odyssey she conveys an entirely platonic, almost motherly love for Odysseus. It is this that makes her significant character in Homer’s work. In The Odyssey, Athena is portrayed as a, if not the, major female figure throughout the entire epic poem. With her affection for Odysseus and her frequent appearances she plays a major role throughout the entire poem. Evidence of this integral role will be presented as proof of her importance to the story.
For example, in the illustration of Aphrodite’s birth, she is described as “modest and beautiful” (Theogony, 9). When Athena is born from Zeus’ head, she is depicted as “the fearsome rouser of the fray, leader of armies, the lady Atrytone, whose pleasure is in war and the clamour of battle” (Theogony, 30). Hesiod even includes a lengthy portrayal of Hecate, where he articulates how Zeus honored Hecate more than all others. Hecate is said to have positions of power, dominion over parts of both land and sea and prestige. Hesiod also mentions that Hecate has a role in public gatherings (“…the man of her choice shines out among the crowd” [Theogony, 16]) as well as in war (“…the goddess [Hecate] comes and stands by whichever side she chooses to grant victory…” [Theogony, 16]) While the representations of these goddesses may be positive, Hesiod is not speaking about women in general, or even mortal women. As M. L. West says, “When they are personified must clearly be classed as gods, not mortals; after all, they are invisible and imperishable, and they have the power to affect human affairs.”1 Goddesses like Athena, Aphrodite and Hecate are personifications of abstract concepts that the ancient Greeks valued. While the Greek gods often exhibited very human-like qualities, they were still deities; put on pedestals to be respected
Athena and Calypso are the most significant goddesses presented in The Odyssey. While Athena embodies both feminine and not so feminine traits, Calypso embodies the sexual nature of women and the thought and feelings of sexualized women. Calypso, for example, sheds light on the double standards that exist between gods and goddesses: “Hard-hearted you are, you gods! You unrivaled lords of jealousy- scandalized when
Athena is a very intricate and complex character who has a vital role in the epic poem. She is the Goddess of war and battle, a very interesting role for a female to possess. Because she is the Goddess of war, she has...
In the Greek society women were treated very differently than they are today. Women in ancient Greece were not allowed to own property, participate in politics, and they were under control of the man in their lives. The goddess Aphrodite did not adhere to these social norms and thus the reason the earthly women must comply with the societal structure that was set before them. Aphrodite did not have a father figure according to Hesiod, and therefore did not have a man in her life to tell her what to do. She was a serial adulteress and has many children with many men other than her husband. She was not the only goddess from the ancient Greek myths to cause doubt in the minds of men. Gaia and the Titan Rhea rise up against their husbands in order to protect their children. Pandora, another woman in the Greek myths, shows that all evil comes from woman. Aphrodite, Gaia, Rhea, and Pandora cause the ancient Greek men to be suspicious of women because of her mischievous and wild behavior.
The people of Greece believed in mythology and believed they were blessed by the deity which inspired the artists’ creation of the spectacular sculptures including Athena Parthenos, the goddess of wisdom. Wisdom during this period was highly regarded. Most of the sculptures in Athens were made of different types of bronze. (See Figure 1.)
These three goddesses represent three different types of women in Greek society. Sarah Pomeroy, author of Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves, believed that “the goddesses are archetypal images of human females, as envisioned by males” (8). Pomeroy understands the significance of the differences between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, and what those differences meant for the women of Greece who were required to follow three important rules. The first rule was for the women to live a life of domesticity and motherhood. This was very important to the men in the society.
As you can see Athena was a very important figure in Greek mythology. She was very close to the same person in some cultures and completely different person in others. Her influence on the people varies widely depending on which stories you read and from what culture they are
Athena is the goddess of several different categories including wisdom, war, and crafts. She is one of the most well-known Olympian goddesses. Athena had a strange birth, followed by an odd life. Athena combines several personalities of different gods into one goddess with her traits of wisdom, power, and craftiness.
She was originally a beautiful woman until tragedy fell upon her. Athena puts her under a curse which turned her gorgeous hair into snakes. Her gentle warm eyes turned into blood-shot which screamed fear and disgust onto an onlooker. She turned anyone who looks at her into stone.
On her negative side, Pallas Athena touches on conflict, legal battles, injustice and illnesses due to a weakened immune system”-(www.greekmythology.com). “Nike was the goddess of victory in Greek mythology, depicted as having wings, hence her alternative name "Winged Goddess". Kratos siblings to Nike, Zelos, and Bia. Kratos was the representation of power and strength in greek mythology. “Along with Hephaestus and Bia, he managed to constrain Prometheus and bind him at the peak of the Caucasus, as punishment for his actions against Zeus' will.”- (www.greekmythology). And finally Bia was the greek representation of mighty force, power, might, compulsion, and bodily strength. All four siblings were winged enforcers of Zeus and they all stood in attendance next to his throne at all times. Kratos(strength), Nike(Victory), and Bia(Force) they all represent virtues of war and victory and Pallas being the father of these four warlike gods was ironicaly still defeated by Athena. But although Pallas’s myth was short it lead the way for greater and longer myths to come so in a way he died so his children could later in time succeed in the places that he failed. Pallas had his offspring while he was married to Styx. “Styx was a Titan goddess in Greek mythology, daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, thus
Earth's Daughters: Stories of Women in Classical Mythology. Golden, CO: Fulcrum Resources, 1999. Print. The. Stebbins, Elinor. The "Athena".
Athena was the goddess of war and wisdom. Daughter of Zeus and Metis, but born from only Zeus. Gaea the Earth goddess told Zeus that his child would u...
Athena is the goddess everyone wants to have as guardian for his life. She went against her uncle Poseidon to fight for her Odysseus. At one point, we can even think that Athena is also in love to Odysseus because she has never him down. But the real truth is Athena is an amazing goddess who protect Odysseus no matter what because this is the Love she has for him
Aphrodite and Athena were both great powerful women who were revered as goddesses in greek mythology. They both were greatly worshipped, however due to their distinct personality traits they were worshipped and spoken about and very different ways. Both goddesses are immortal and female, and both seem to distinguish the incongruous gender roles between men and women throughout ancient Greece. What makes these two goddesses interesting, however, is their differences, which will determine how they will be reflected in myth. On one hand you have Athena, the androgynous goddess of war and wisdom. On the other you have Aphrodite, the goddess of love and sexuality. During this time, even among the immortals, women were seen as inferior and less