More handpicked essays just for you.
What impact did Athena have on ancient Greece
Athenas impact in greek mythology
Essay info about athena the goddess
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Athena
Athena was the virgin daughter of the great god Zeus and she was also one of the great
Olympian deities.
Not only was she the goddess of wisdom but she was also the goddess of war and the patroness of arts and crafts. Which led her to be a great leader
Athena was born beside the river Triton where she was nurtured by 3 nymphs. One of the nymphs
Was her playmate, Pallas. When she was just a girl, Athena accidentally killed Pallas. As a token of her grief Athena put the nymphs name before her own, so she was often know as Pallas Athena.
Athena was endowed with much wisdom from her mother Metis, which means cunning.
Because she enjoyed war and was a fierce warrior she used her intelligence for military strategy
I will
…show more content…
Athena inspired Odysseus to build a hollow wooden horse. He was to make the horse taller and
Wider than the main gate of Troy so the Trojans had to destroy their own wall to bring
In the gift from the gods, so they thought.
The next example was when the hero Perseus was forced to fight the
Terrible Gorgon Medusa. Nobody was able to kill her because if you looked directly at her
You would turn to stone. Athena gave Perseus a highly polished shield so he could look at her
Since he was looking at her reflection and not her face he did not turn to stone stone and was able to kill her.
The 3rd example was when Hercules was forced to clean the filthy Augean stables.
He was so overwhelmed by the filth that he couldn't do it. Athena then guided him into
Changing the course of the Alpheus and Peneus rivers so that they would flow through the stables
And thus wash them for him. She also had a city that she was the patron goddess of.
Athens, the city named after her to this day. She competed with Poseidon, god of the sea, to become the patron god of Athens. Their contest took place on the Acropolis. which is
Athena was the Greek Goddess of many ideas, but she was famous mostly for her superior wisdom, her cunning skills in times of war, and her implausible talent for household tasks, such as weaving and pottery. She was celebrated more than any other God in ancient mythology, was the supposed inventor of countless innovations, and her figure gave reason for Greek woman to gain rights long before others of their time. The goddess of war, the guardian of Athens, and the defender of Heroes; Athena’s impact on the lives of Ancient Greeks is outstanding.
When asked how they Greeks would invade Troy, Tiresias spoke of a hollow horse capable of holding many men. Furthermore, Tiresias prophesied that if Hera allowed for the Greeks to continue with her bidding, it would ultimately lead to her downfall. Hera, full of confidence, assured herself that she would not be undone by one of her husband’s bastard children. For that reason, she ordered the construction of the hollow, horse statue and, once it was finished, offered it to Athena as a peace offering.
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
In other words, Athena is telling Odysseus to trust her to help him kill all of the suitors because she is a great goddess and they are only mere humans. Odysseus no longer has to come up with tactics and strategies to help him defeat an enemy that has greater strength than he because he will have the greater strength with Athena fighting by his side. Athena takes away the possibility that Odysseus will come up with a strategy like the Trojan horse or tactics similar to the ones he used to defeat the Cyclopes.
The Greeks believed the deities provided the city protection and allowed them to be successful in their endeavors while in time of war. Phidias, a master bronze worker, was commissioned to create the sculpture of Athena Parthenos, the goddess of wisdom to show tribute to the gods by creating a large scale sculpture in Acropolis. The Acropolis was the most important site in the city of Athens, and was well recognized as the hilltop of protection. It is also the most significant reference point of ancient Greek culture as well as the symbol of the city of Athens. Some of the greatest architectural masterpieces of the period were erected on its ground.
Athena, the grey-eyed goddess of wisdom and battle, has a soft spot for Odysseus and Telemachos. The action begins with a meeting of the gods, where Athena makes a plea on behalf of Odysseus, asking her father, “Why, Zeus, are you now so harsh with him?” (I, 62). This action, paired with another intervention into a meeting of the gods, shows Athena’s initiative and nerve, two traits which would have been greatly admired by Homer’s audience. Athena also shows cleverness and ingenuity when she disguises herself and others on several occasions: The goddess first appears as Mentes, and then later as Mentor, Telemachos himself, Penelope’s sister, a friend of Nausikaa’s, and various servants. Not only is she a master of disguises, but Athena has an incredible sense of when it is necessary to appear as someone else in order to achieve her goals. While possibly just a product of Athena’s goddess status, her ability to view the “big picture” is quite a highly regarded trait. Athena also has the virtue of restraint which she demonstrates when she does not take part in the final battle between Odysseus and Telemachos and the suitors.
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).
When people hear the words “Greek gods” they immediately think of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. While those three play a big role in Greek mythology, there are many other gods and goddesses who are also very important and highly worshipped (C. Hemingway, S. Hemingway). Another highly worshipped goddess is the goddess of wisdom, Athena. Born from the head of Zeus, Athena is his favorite daughter and is highly respected by the other gods. She is one of three virgin goddesses and has many temples dedicated to her worship (“The Goddess Athena”). As the goddess of wisdom, Athena was not only the goddess of logic, but also the goddess of arts, crafts, and battle strategy; her cool logic helped her to aid heroes such as Odysseus and Hercules, as well as invent many items including the flute and the plow.
Athena's appearance was like she had grey eyes, black hair, she had an full armour, she was tall and slim, she always done some hard work, but most of all she was a brave warrior & was peace keeping & was more wiser than the others. Athena's spirit animals were just like todays, she had an Owl (which stood for Wisdom), dove (which was for victory), a ram, an eagle, tiger as well, leopard as I should say, and so many other cats. She has three other symbols that represents her it’s a clock, a lance (whatever that is), and an olive tree. She became the patron goddess of Athens after winning a contest against Poseidon by offering the olive tree to the Athenians. It is evident that Athena and Athens derive from the same root; Athens is in plural form, because it represents the sisterhood of the goddess that existed there. Similarly Athena was called Mykene in the city of Mycenae, and Thebe in the city of Thebes Athena Is also called Minerva, Athina, Athene. Athena was the Greek virgin goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts and literature. According to Homer’s account in the Iliad, Athena was a fierce and ruthless warrior. In the Odyssey, she was angry and unforgiving. In the course of
He narrowed it down to the final three contestants, which were Athena, Hera, and Aphrodite. The goddesses knew that they had to do something to convince Paris they were worthy of the prize, so they each bribed hm. Athena, the goddess of war, promised Paris she would make sure he was declared victorious in battle. Hera, the Queen of Olympus told Paris she would help him on the journey to making him ruler of the world. Aphrodite quickly realized that Paris would be much more impressed if she could guarantee him a life with the most beautiful woman in the world, which was
Before Athena’s time, her father Zeus took Metis to be his first wife. Metis became pregnant with Athena soon after that. It was then when Zeus heard a prophecy that the next child Metis bore would grow to over power him. To prevent this from happening, Zeus swallowed his wife while she was still pregnant. When Athena was to be born, Zeus acquired a splitting headache, and he ordered the smith god Hephaestus to split his head open to relieve his pain. As soon as Hephaestus did so, Athena stepped out of Zeus’ head, dressed in full armour (“Athena, Goddess of Wisdom”).
As the goddess of war, Athena also took part in various of battles. One of the many battles she
Although she only took part in battles that defended the state and home from enemies, she was a very fierce fighter. Athena would often help other heroes, for example, she would help Jason and Perseus. Her outfit was an aegis, which is a goatskin shield which was decorated by a fringe of snakes. The short story I decided to share is called Athena, Arachne, and the weaving contest, and it goes like this. In Ledia, which is a small town in Northern Greece, there was a maid who was very beautiful, her name was Arachne. In her town, she was known for being a talented weaver and spinner. The only problem was that Arachne was self- obsessed and couldn’t stop bragging about herself. She claimed that there was no one else in the world who could weave as delicately as her and that she even felt that she was better than Athena, the goddess of skill. When Athena heard Arachne say this she felt very disappointed and angry so she decided to change her appearance to an old lady, she told Arachne, that she was old and gave her the advice to never mess with a goddess and that she should ask for her
Family time for Athena was very hectic. Her father was Zeus, who had over 140 kids (Bryant, 30). It’s thought that she is Zeus’ favorite child though because he trusted her with his lightning bolt (“Athena”). Her half-brother,
In most depictions of Athena 's birth, she was given birth from Zeus 's holy head, "arrayed in her armor of war, all-gleaming in gold, and every one of the immortals was gripped with awe as they watched" CITATION. In birth she is a symbol