Athena is the goddess of wisdom and one of the three virgin goddesses (D’Aulaire 34; Hamilton 30). Athena is also a “fierce and ruthless battle-goddess”; however, she is only described as such in situations where she must protect the State and home from invaders (Hamilton 29). As a battle goddess, Athena represents victory in battle through glory and honor (Jordan 28). Athena is also known for her self control and discipline against the more unruly gods, such as Hermes and Poseidon (Jordan 37). One of Athena’s biggest personality traits is her pride, which is best shown in the tale of Arachne (D’Aulaire 36). Arachne is a mortal who is skilled at weaving and claims that she is even better than the goddess Athena. Athena confronts her and they …show more content…
Her distinguishing features are striking gray eyes, dark hair, and casual yet fashionable clothes (Meet the Greek Gods). Athena is extremely cautious and relentless, which makes her a formidable enemy. Percy once said that Athena would make a “terrible enemy” and that “if she made a plan to destroy you, it would not fail” (The Titans Curse 299). On the other hand, Athena also has a big temper and is exceptionally prideful (Meet the Greek Gods). Athena’s pride is also a trait that can be seen through her daughter Annabeth, whose fatal flaw is hubris (The Sea of Monsters 199). Athena is described as cold and calculating when devising plans, saying what she believes is the best course of action even if it may cause controversy, such as when she said that Percy and Thalia posed a “security risk” (The Titans Curse 289). Hermes also refers to Athena as Zeus’ “number one strategist” (The Last Olympian …show more content…
Physically, Athena’s piercing gray eyes are highlighted in both the series and the myths and in the series, her gray eyes are often what make her recognizable. Personality wise, Athena’s pride is often a major device and is emphasized throughout the myths. While Riordan explicitly states that Athena is tremendously prideful, this trait is not notable in the series. Athena also tends to be one of the more restrained gods in the myths, imposing strict standards against the unruly gods. This is also true in Riordan’s series since she is often fed up with the other gods, or their children’s, antics. This trait is also visible in her daughter Annabeth, who is also often exasperated with the children of the other gods’
While working, there were people who would come from remote areas and watch her weave skillfully. On page 19, the text says, “If Athene herself were to come were to come down and compete with me, she could do no better than I.” Her bold action was challenging Athene, a goddess, to a weaving competition. Additionally, on page 19, “Arachne herself flushed red for a moment, for she had really believed that the goddess would hear her.” Arachne took an action that could possibly embarrass herself. During their competition, Arachne had designed “a pattern of which showed evil or unworthy actions of the gods, how they had deceived fair maidens, resorted to trickery, and appeared on earth from time to time in the form poor and humble people.” and Athene had designed “a border of twined branches of the olive, Athene’s favorite tree, while in the middle, figures began to appear. As they looked at the glowing colors, the spectators realized that Athene was weaving into her pattern a last warning to Arachne.” Athene had created that embroidery to warn Arachne, and Arachne made an embroidery to disgrace the goddess. Arachne’s bold action caused Athene to be angry and then turned Arachne into a spider. Arachne’s consequence for her bold action was her descendants and herself to turn into
...the god based upon conflicting traits of fear, deceit, and lust. Zeus' main characteristic is power in both Greek and Roman mythology. However, when Ovid's Metamorphoses is compared to Hesiod's Theogony, Juno's power is limited. Ovid's lack of respect and belief about Jupiter is apparent in his writings, which portray Jupiter as fearful, cunning, deceitful, and lustful. In opposition, Hesiod views Zeus as fearless, intelligent, and certainly not lustful. Zeus' characteristics in the Theogony are reflected from Hesiod's belief about the god to be much more than a worthless myth to the Greeks. Instead of mocking and disrespecting the all-powerful god of Greek and Roman mythology, Hesiod respects Zeus as the most powerful god.
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
She places in people the desire to have sexual relations and causes fear in men of the power of seduction by women. Her marriage to her husband was ignored as she had affairs with immortal and mortal men. Her infidelity in her marriage places her on the side with Greek men, rather than Greek women because only Greek men were able to cheat on their wives; not the other way around. In conclusion, the three important rules discussed in this paper that Greek women were required to obey, can be seen in the myths of the goddesses Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Whether or not the Greek goddesses obeyed or did not obey these rules, their importance to the Greek culture is ever strong.
...and fire an arrow through a row of twelve axes, a feat that only Odysseus has ever been able to accomplish. This trick results from her awareness that only her husband can win it. She may even recognize her husband before she admits it to him. Athena does not become fully involved in the battle, she prefers instead to watch Odysseus fight and prevail on his own. Athena is confident, practical, clever, a master of disguises, and a great warrior.
Her tactics finally pay off at the end of the epic, when Odysseus returns from his voyage and she once again proves her intelligence by hosting the archery contest to prove Odysseus is home. The character that arguably plays the largest role in The Odyssey is Athena, daughter of Zeus. According to Mark Cartwright, Athena is,” Goddess of wisdom, war and the crafts, and favorite daughter of Zeus, Athena was, perhaps, the wisest, most courageous, and certainly the most resourceful of the Olympian gods” (www.ancient.eu). When hearing of her son’s departure, Penelope becomes extremely distraught.
Athena was the virgin daughter of the great god Zeus and she was also one of the great
The goddesses such as Hera, Thetis and Athene are strong, powerful, and elegant. Aside from powerful, in Iliad the goddess Hera represents a nurturing and motherly side, and Homer writes, “I have come down to stay your anger but will you obey me? from the sky; and the goddess of the white arms Hera sent me, who loves both of you equally in her heart and cares for you” (7). In the Odyssey we have the two goddesses, Calypso and Circe whom Odysseus has extended affairs with and they are beautiful and embraced sexuality. Calypso had an egocentric and dominative character because she wanted Odysseus as her immortal husband (Bauschatz, 22). Women gods in the Odyssey and Iliad are elegant, strong, and wise while mortal women are property and subordinate as written in Hesiod’s Works and
On the other hand if you look at a goddess like Athena, "the gray eyed
Women 's roles in the Iliad and Odyssey the seem to differ from the roles of men. Women were depicted as possessions to the men. Athena seems to stand out the most when it comes to both of these books Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. Not only was Athena the goddess of wisdom and war, she played the role of the protector. Athena is one of the main female characters that truly show out throughout the Iliad and the Odyssey. An ancient history website states that “Athena was a major protagonist in Homer’s account of the Trojan War in the Illiad where she supports the Achaeans and their heroes, especially Achilles, to whom she gives encouragement and wise counsel." Athena beings to first show in the Illiad when Agamemnon threatens to go to Achille’s
Ares was known for being a cruel god, and a bloodthirsty one at that (Alys 148). Most gods hated him, but Ares shared a special form of hatred between Athena and himself. They were both war gods, but each of them had a different view on war itself. As goddess of wisdom, Athena was a master strategist in battles, winning efficiently without much bloodshed. Ares on the other hand, used his brute strength and physical prowess to triumph in battle. He was not known for his brains, and because of that he was ridiculed frequently by Athena, who didn’t consider him strong or savvy. While Athena frequently won battles, Ares frequently lost. Strategy was never his strong suit, and it certainly wasn’t on his side (Hathaway 221). He was widely regarded as a weakling, and his frequent defeat certainly didn’t help out his image. Two sons of Poseidon known as Ephialtes and Otus overpowered Ares, and trapped him in a bronze jar,...
Annabeth daughter of Athena is smarter than most people. She is not like everybody else. Annabeth is half-mortal and half God. She has these stormy gray eyes, that repel her opponents. Annabeth has many friends and protects everyone of them. She likes to drink nectar shots with her friends and the demigod comes across many different creatures that can take her
In fact, there are some goddesses that are the opposite of those characteristics. “The Iliad” explains different types of heroines and the most essential goddess is Athena. Athena is important to a variety of things. She is the goddess of wisdom and war. Athena is the daughter of Zeus and she doesn’t have a mother. In the epic, it states that Athena vaulted from Zeus’s head, mature and dressed in armor. According to Homer, Athena was a fierce and coldhearted warrior. Another goddess that shows strength is Artemis. Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, chastity, virginity, the moon and environment. “But his sister, Artemis of the wild, the lady of wild beasts, scolded him bitterly and spoke a word of revilement: You run from him, striker from afar...Fool, then why do you wear that bow, which is wind and nothing.”-Homer, The
What makes the depiction between Athena and Aphrodite interesting is the different ways they are portrayed even sharing the similarity of being born strictly from male only. Athena from the all-powerful king of the gods Zeus and Aphrodite from Ouronos. Though they were both born from man alone, the content of these births caused Athena to be expressed in a more dignified, respected, and superior way. Hesiod’s recount of the births of Athena and Aphrodite in his Theogony reveals the source of Athena’s superiority. According to the Theogony, Ouranos’ genitals are thrown into the sea where they mix with the sea foam to result in Aphrodite (Hesiod 180-192). Aphrodite is said to be called, by Hesiod, “Philommedes, fond of a man’s genitals” ( Hesiod, 200-201). In contrast, Hesiod writes that Athena is born from Zeus’ head (Hesiod 924) after Zeus consumes her mother Metis, the goddess whose name means wisdom, for fear of her giving birth to someone who was destined to be his match in wisdom (Hesiod 894-900).
Athena plays the role of a goddess of great guidance and wisdom. Throughout the entire play she is consistently providing some form of assistance. She aids Odysseus and his son Telemachus the most. In one situation Athena disguises herself as a friend of Odysseus in order to talk to Telemachus. She