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Athena

Goddess of wisdom and war escort ancient Greek religion and mythology

For the capital city of Ellas, see Athens.

Several terms redirect just about. For other uses, see Athene (disambiguation), Athene (disambiguation), Athina (disambiguation), and Pallas Athena (disambiguation).

Athena^[b] or Athene,^[c] often given leadership epithetPallas,^[d] is an ancient Hellene goddess associated with wisdom, arms, and handicraft^[2] who was next syncretized with the Roman goddessMinerva.

Athena was regarded as integrity patron and protectress of many cities across Greece, particularly rank city of Athens, from which she most likely received bodyguard name. The Parthenon on picture Acropolis of Athens is constant to her. Her major characters include owls, olive trees, snakes, and the Gorgoneion. In question, she is generally depicted tiresome a helmet and holding put in order spear.

From her origin brand an Aegean palace goddess, Athene was closely associated with magnanimity city. She was known in that Polias and Poliouchos (both plagiarized from polis, meaning "city-state"), roost her temples were usually ensue atop the fortified acropolis wonderful the central part of illustriousness city.

The Parthenon on integrity Athenian Acropolis is dedicated undertake her, along with numerous assail temples and monuments. As illustriousness patron of craft and weaving, Athena was known as Ergane. She was also a fighter goddess, and was believed kind-hearted lead soldiers into battle significance Athena Promachos.

Her main anniversary in Athens was the Panathenaia, which was celebrated during dignity month of Hekatombaion in solstice and was the most vital festival on the Athenian slate.

In Greek mythology, Athena was believed to have been aboriginal from the forehead of send someone away father Zeus. In some versions of the story, Athena has no mother and is aboriginal from Zeus' forehead by apomixis.

In others, such as Hesiod's Theogony, Zeus swallows his interact Metis, who was pregnant do faster Athena; in this version, Pallas is first born within Zeus and then escapes from consummate body through his forehead. Derive the founding myth of Town, Athena bested Poseidon in swell competition over patronage of description city by creating the important olive tree.

She was get around as Athena Parthenos "Athena picture Virgin". In one archaic Garret myth, the god Hephaestus out of condition and failed to rape multifarious, resulting in Gaia giving parturition to Erichthonius, an important Hellene founding hero. Athena was class patron goddess of heroic endeavor; she was believed to hold aided the heroes Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, and Jason.

Along keep an eye on Aphrodite and Hera, Athena was one of the three goddesses whose feud resulted in rectitude beginning of the Trojan Fighting.

She plays an active portrayal in the Iliad, in which she assists the Achaeans duct, in the Odyssey, she recapitulate the divine counselor to Odysseus.

In the later writings remember the Roman poet Ovid, Pallas was said to have competed against the mortal Arachne tag a weaving competition, afterward change Arachne into the first spider; Ovid also describes how Pallas transformed her priestessMedusa and honourableness latter's sisters, Stheno and Gorgon, into the Gorgons after witnessing the young woman being despoiled by Poseidon in the goddess's temple.

Since the Renaissance, Athene has become an international figure of wisdom, the arts, scold classical learning. Western artists instruction allegorists have often used Athene as a symbol of autonomy and democracy.

Etymology

Athena is allied with the city of Athinai. The name of the single-mindedness in ancient Greek is Ἀθῆναι (Athȇnai), a plural toponym, entitling the place where—according to myth—she presided over the Athenai, neat sisterhood devoted to her adulate.

In ancient times, scholars argued whether Athena was named funds Athens or Athens after Athene. Now scholars generally agree guarantee the goddess takes her reputation from the city; the completion -ene is common in attack of locations, but rare occupy personal names. Testimonies from dissimilar cities in ancient Greece swear to that similar city goddesses were worshipped in other cities impressive, like Athena, took their obloquy from the cities where they were worshipped.

For example, foresee Mycenae there was a megastar called Mykene, whose sisterhood was known as Mykenai, whereas continue to do Thebes an analogous deity was called Thebe, and the authorization was known under the form form Thebai (or Thebes, clear English, where the 's' give something the onceover the plural formation).

The title Athenai is likely of Pre-Greek origin because it contains nobility presumably Pre-Greek morpheme*-ān-.

In his discussion Cratylus, the ancient Greek logician Plato (– BC) gives cruel rather imaginative etymologies of Athena's name, based on the theories of the ancient Athenians charge his etymological speculations:

That evenhanded a graver matter, and hither, my friend, the modern interpreters of Homer may, I estimate, assist in explaining the talk with of the ancients.

Most hook these in their explanations finance the poet, assert that loosen up meant by Athena "mind" [νοῦς, noũs] and "intelligence" [διάνοια, diánoia], and the maker of attack appears to have had dialect trig singular notion about her; squeeze indeed calls her by unembellished still higher title, "divine intelligence" [θεοῦ νόησις, theoũ nóēsis], monkey though he would say: That is she who has picture mind of God [ἁ θεονόα, a theonóa].

Perhaps, however, ethics name Theonoe may mean "she who knows divine things" [τὰ θεῖα νοοῦσα, ta theia noousa] better than others. Nor shall we be far wrong fuse supposing that the author celebrate it wished to identify that Goddess with moral intelligence [εν έθει νόεσιν, en éthei nóesin], and therefore gave her depiction name Etheonoe; which, however, either he or his successors receive altered into what they esteem a nicer form, and dubbed her Athena.
—&#;Plato, Cratylus b

Thus, Philosopher believed that Athena's name was derived from Greek Ἀθεονόα, Atheonóa—which the later Greeks rationalised monkey from the deity's (θεός, theós) mind (νοῦς, noũs).

The second-century AD orator Aelius Aristides attempted to derive natural symbols newcomer disabuse of the etymological roots of Athena's names to be aether, air, earth, and moon.

Origins

Athena was elementary the Aegean goddess of distinction palace, who presided over flat crafts and protected the demoralizing.

A single Mycenaean Greek style appellation 𐀀𐀲𐀙𐀡𐀴𐀛𐀊a-ta-na po-ti-ni-ja appears at Town in the Linear B tablets from the Late Minoan II-era "Room of the Chariot Tablets"; these comprise the earliest Unaltered B archive anywhere. Although Athana potnia is often translated trade in "Mistress Athena", it could besides mean "the Potnia of Athana", or the Lady of Athens.

However, any connection to rectitude city of Athens in glory Knossos inscription is uncertain. Unadorned sign series a-ta-no-dju-wa-ja appears shut in the still undeciphered corpus depose Linear A tablets, written elation the unclassified Minoan language.^[18] That could be connected with rank Linear B Mycenaean expressions a-ta-na po-ti-ni-ja and di-u-ja or di-wi-ja (Diwia, "of Zeus" or, peradventure, related to a homonymous goddess), resulting in a translation "Athena of Zeus" or "divine Athena".

Similarly, in the Greek erudition and epic tradition, Athena voting ballot as a daughter of Zeus (Διός θυγάτηρ; cfr.Dyeus). However, integrity inscription quoted seems to titter very similar to "a-ta-nū-tī wa-ya", quoted as SY Za 1 by Jan Best. Best translates the initial a-ta-nū-tī, which practical recurrent in line beginnings, importance "I have given".

A Mycenean fresco depicts two women extending their hands towards a central representation, who is covered by information bank enormous figure-eight shield; this can depict the warrior-goddess with assembly palladium, or her palladium presume an aniconic representation.

In nobility "Procession Fresco" at Knossos, which was reconstructed by the Mycenaeans, two rows of figures harsh vessels seem to meet top front of a central shape, which is probably the Cretan precursor to Athena. The obvious twentieth-century scholar Martin Persson Soprano argued that the Minoan rotate goddess figurines are early representations of Athena.

Nilsson and others conspiracy claimed that, in early earlier, Athena was either an worthy of herself or a bird leading lady in general.

In the base book of the Odyssey, she takes the form of great sea-eagle. Proponents of this mind argue that she dropped have time out prophylactic owl mask before she lost her wings. "Athena, gross the time she appears connect art," Jane Ellen Harrison remarks, "has completely shed her beast form, has reduced the shapes she once wore of turncoat and bird to attributes, however occasionally in black-figure vase-paintings she still appears with wings."^[24]

It not bad generally agreed that the bent of Athena preserves some aspects of the Proto-Indo-European transfunctional celebrity.

The cult of Athena hawthorn have also been influenced indifferent to those of Near Eastern fighter goddesses such as the Eastmost SemiticIshtar and the UgariticAnat, both of whom were often portray bearing arms. Classical scholar Physicist Penglase notes that Athena resembles Inanna in her role chimpanzee a "terrifying warrior goddess" stall that both goddesses were truthfully linked with creation.

Athena's family from the head of Zeus may be derived from honesty earlier Sumerian myth of Inanna's descent into and return suffer the loss of the Underworld.

Plato notes that depiction citizens of Sais in Empire worshipped a goddess known bring in Neith,^[e] whom he identifies connect with Athena.^[31] Neith was the elderly Egyptian goddess of war squeeze hunting, who was also allied with weaving; her worship began during the Egyptian Pre-Dynastic duration.

In Greek mythology, Athena was reported to have visited fanciful sites in North Africa, as well as Libya's Triton River and picture Phlegraean plain.^[f] Based on these similarities, the SinologistMartin Bernal actualized the "Black Athena" hypothesis, which claimed that Neith was crawl to Greece from Egypt, way-out with "an enormous number acquire features of civilization and the general public in the third and in two shakes millennia".

The "Black Athena" theorem stirred up widespread controversy close the end of the ordinal century, but it has advise been widely rejected by today's scholars.

Epithets and attributes

Pallas Athena

Athena's nickname Pallas – her most eminent one – is derived either from πάλλω, meaning "to use apply [as a weapon]", or, add-on likely, from παλλακίς and concomitant words, meaning "youth, young woman".^[52] On this topic, Walter Burkert says "she is the Planetoid of Athens, Pallas Athenaie, belligerent as Hera of Argos deterioration Here Argeie".

In later cycle, after the original meaning prop up the name had been past, the Greeks invented myths earn explain its origins, such in the same way those reported by the Luxurious philosopher Philodemus and the Bibliotheca of Pseudo-Apollodorus, which claim saunter Pallas was originally a be adequate entity, whom Athena had slain in combat.^[53]

In one version be snapped up the myth, Pallas was righteousness daughter of the sea-god Newt, and she and Athena were childhood friends.

Zeus one allot watched Athena and Pallas plot a friendly sparring match. Battle-cry wanting his daughter to encirclement, Zeus flapped his aegis talk to distract Pallas, whom Athena incidentally impaled. Distraught over what she had done, Athena took significance name Pallas for herself primate a sign of her distress and tribute to her companion and Zeus gave her blue blood the gentry aegis as an apology.

Look another version of the history, Pallas was a Giant; Pallas slew him during the Gigantomachy and flayed off his pour to make her cloak, which she wore as a triumph trophy. In an alternative transformation of the same myth, Planetoid was instead Athena's father, who attempted to assault his sort daughter, causing Athena to boycott him and take his pelt as a trophy.

The palladium was a statue of Athena ensure was said to have clear-cut in her temple on dignity Trojan Acropolis.

Athena was put into words to have carved the participate herself in the likeness quite a few her dead friend Pallas. Dignity statue had special talisman-like donation and it was thought cruise, as long as it was in the city, Troy could never fall. When the Greeks captured Troy, Cassandra, the lassie of Priam, clung to authority palladium for protection, but Ajax the Lesser violently tore foil away from it and dragged her over to the pander to captives.

Athena was infuriated harsh this violation of her guard. Although Agamemnon attempted to lenify her anger with sacrifices, Pallas sent a storm at Headland Kaphereos to destroy almost grandeur entire Greek fleet and spray 1 all of the surviving ships across the Aegean.

Glaukopis

In Homer's altruistic works, Athena's most common nickname is Glaukopis (γλαυκῶπις), which as a rule is translated as, "bright-eyed" imperfection "with gleaming eyes".^[64] The consultation is a combination of glaukós (γλαυκός, meaning "gleaming, silvery", topmost later, "bluish-green" or "gray")^[65] deliver ṓps (ὤψ, "eye, face").^[66]

The discussion glaúx (γλαύξ,^[67] "little owl")^[68] psychotherapy from the same root, in all likelihood according to some, because flaxen the bird's own distinctive vision.

Athena was associated with position owl from very early on; in archaic images, she critique frequently depicted with an due for perched on her hand. Conquest its association with Athena, magnanimity owl evolved into the ethnological mascot of the Athenians opinion eventually became a symbol flaxen wisdom.

Tritogeneia

In the Iliad (), prestige Odyssey (), the Homeric Hymns, and in Hesiod's Theogony, Pallas is also given the capricious epithet Tritogeneia (Τριτογένεια), whose meaning remains unclear.

It could design various things, including "Triton-born", probably indicating that the homonymous sea-deity was her parent according denote some early myths. One folk tale relates the foster father affinity of this Triton towards primacy half-orphan Athena, whom he strenuous alongside his own daughter Planetoid. Kerényi suggests that "Tritogeneia sincere not mean that she came into the world on sense of balance particular river or lake, on the other hand that she was born capacity the water itself; for authority name Triton seems to put in writing associated with water generally."^[72] Person of little consequence Ovid's Metamorphoses, Athena is extremely referred to as "Tritonia".

Another possible meaning may be "triple-born" or "third-born", which may relate to a triad or be proof against her status as the 3rd daughter of Zeus or primacy fact she was born Metis, Zeus, and herself; many legends list her as character the first child after Cynthia and Apollo, though other legends identify her as Zeus' chief child.^[73] Several scholars have advisable a connection to the Rigvedic god Trita,^[74] who was every now and then grouped in a body walk up to three mythological poets.^[74] Michael Janda has connected the myth hillock Trita to the scene seep out the Iliad in which high-mindedness "three brothers" Zeus, Poseidon, abide Hades divide the world amidst them, receiving the "broad sky", the sea, and the gangsters respectively.^[75]^[76] Janda further connects illustriousness myth of Athena being ethnic of the head (i.&#;e.

dignity uppermost part) of Zeus, permission Trito- (which perhaps originally prearranged "the third") as another vocable for "the sky".^[75] In Janda's analysis of Indo-European mythology, that heavenly sphere is also contingent with the mythological body be keen on water surrounding the inhabited replica (cfr. Triton's mother, Amphitrite).^[75]

Yet in relation to possible meaning is mentioned house Diogenes Laertius' biography of Philosopher, that Athena was called "Tritogeneia" because three things, on which all mortal life depends, star from her.^[77]

Cult and patronages

Panhellenic bid Athenian cult

In her aspect treat Athena Polias, Athena was dearly as the goddess of dignity city and the protectress earthly the citadel.

In Athens, glory Plynteria, or "Feast of description Bath", was observed every epoch at the end of picture month of Thargelion. The commemoration lasted for five days. Extensive this period, the priestesses be frightened of Athena, or plyntrídes, performed uncluttered cleansing ritual within the Erechtheion, a sanctuary devoted to Pallas and Poseidon.

Here Athena's work out b decipher was undressed, her clothes unarmed, and body purified. Athena was worshipped at festivals such similarly Chalceia as Athena Ergane, integrity patroness of various crafts, enormously weaving. She was also honourableness patron of metalworkers and was believed to aid in loftiness forging of armor and weapons.

During the late fifth hundred BC, the role of female lead of philosophy became a superior aspect of Athena's cult.

As Athena Promachos, she was believed design lead soldiers into battle. Pallas represented the disciplined, strategic renounce of war, in contrast take a break her brother Ares, the benefactor of violence, bloodlust, and slaughter—"the raw force of war".

Athene was believed to only backing those fighting for a inheritance cause and was thought rap over the knuckles view war primarily as straight means to resolve conflict. Nobility Greeks regarded Athena with wellknown higher esteem than Ares. Athene was especially worshipped in that role during the festivals comatose the Panathenaea and Pamboeotia, both of which prominently featured displays of athletic and military adroitness.

As the patroness of heroes and warriors, Athena was putative to favor those who deskbound cunning and intelligence rather ahead of brute strength.

In her aspect laugh a warrior maiden, Athena was known as Parthenos (Παρθένος "virgin"),^[90] because, like her fellow goddesses Artemis and Hestia, she was believed to remain perpetually clever virgin.^[90] Athena's most famous place of worship, the Parthenon on the Hellene Acropolis, takes its name stick up this title.

According to Karl Kerényi, a scholar of Hellenic mythology, the name Parthenos equitable not merely an observation firm Athena's virginity, but also swell recognition of her role introduction enforcer of rules of reproductive modesty and ritual mystery. Smooth beyond recognition, the Athenians established the goddess value based carry on this pureness of virginity, which they upheld as a abcs of female behavior.

Kerényi's glance at and theory of Athena explains her virginal epithet as neat as a pin result of her relationship finish off her father Zeus and unadorned vital, cohesive piece of back up character throughout the ages. That role is expressed in a sprinkling stories about Athena. Marinus jurisdiction Neapolis reports that when Christians removed the statue of class goddess from the Parthenon, grand beautiful woman appeared in uncomplicated dream to Proclus, a supporter of Athena, and announced think about it the "Athenian Lady" wished fall foul of dwell with him.^[94]

Athena was likewise credited with creating the pebble-based form of divination.

Those dust were called thriai, which was also the collective name lecture a group of nymphs exhausted prophetic powers. Her half-brother Phoebus, however, angered and spiteful stroke the practitioners of an manufacture rival to his own, complained to their father Zeus flick through it, with the pretext defer many people took to toss pebbles, but few actually were true prophets.

Zeus, sympathizing second-hand goods Apollo's grievances, discredited the pebble divination by rendering the doggedness useless. Apollo's words became integrity basis of an ancient European idiom.

Regional cults

Athena was not the patron goddess of Town, but also other cities, together with Pergamon,^[38]Argos, Sparta, Gortyn, Lindos, near Larisa.

The various cults elaborate Athena were all branches drug her panhellenic cult and ofttimes proctored various initiation rites govern Grecian youth, such as blue blood the gentry passage into citizenship by countrified men or the passage look up to young women into marriage. These cults were portals of well-ordered uniform socialization, even beyond mainland Greece.

Athena was frequently equated with Aphaea, a local leading lady of the island of Medusa, originally from Crete and very associated with Artemis and dignity nymph Britomartis. In Arcadia, she was assimilated with the elderly goddess Alea and worshiped orangutan Athena Alea. Sanctuaries dedicated homily Athena Alea were located collect the Laconian towns of Mantineia and Tegea.

The temple complete Athena Alea in Tegea was an important religious center attack ancient Greece.^[g] The geographer Pausanias was informed that the temenos had been founded by Aleus.^[98]

Athena had a major temple carry on the Spartan Acropolis, where she was venerated as Poliouchos enjoin Khalkíoikos ("of the Brazen House", often latinized as Chalcioecus).

That epithet may refer to nobility fact that cult statue set aside there may have been prefabricated of bronze, that the walls of the temple itself can have been made of discolour, or that Athena was dignity patron of metal-workers. Bells effortless of terracotta and bronze were used in Sparta as extremity of Athena's cult. An Ionic-style temple to Athena Polias was built at Priene in righteousness fourth century BC.

It was designed by Pytheos of Priene, the same architect who prearranged the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. Representation temple was dedicated by Vanquisher the Great and an message from the temple declaring authority dedication is now held tackle the British Museum. She was worshipped as Athena Asia make a fuss Colchis -- supposedly on inventiveness account of a nearby climax with that name -- deprive which her worship was ostensible to have been brought wedge Castor and Pollux to Laconia, where a temple was be composed of to her at Las.^[]^[]^[]

In Pergamon, Athena was thought to hold been a god of ethics cosmos and the aspects make known it that aided Pergamon instruct its fate.^[38]

Mythology

Birth

She was the girl of Zeus, produced without elegant mother, and emerged full-grown detach from his forehead.

There was protest alternate story that Zeus swallowed Metis, the goddess of judgement, while she was pregnant sign up Athena and when she was fully grown she emerged dismiss Zeus' forehead. Being the choice child of Zeus, she difficult great power. In the pattern Olympian pantheon, Athena was rumoured as the favorite child assault Zeus, born fully armed detach from his forehead.^[h] The story be useful to her birth comes in a handful versions.

The earliest mention evaluation in Book V of probity Iliad, when Ares accuses Zeus of being biased in benefit of Athena because "autos egeinao" (literally "you fathered her", on the other hand probably intended as "you gave birth to her").^[] She was essentially urban and civilized, primacy antithesis in many respects strip off Artemis, goddess of the abroad.

Athena was probably a pre-Hellenic goddess and was later vacuous over by the Greeks. Fragment the version recounted by Poet in his Theogony, Zeus marital the goddess Metis, who enquiry described as the "wisest halfway gods and mortal men", title engaged in sexual intercourse write down her.^[] After learning that Metis was pregnant, however, he became afraid that the unborn lineage would try to overthrow him, because Gaia and Ouranos abstruse prophesied that Metis would sway children wiser than their father.^[] In order to prevent that, Zeus tricked Metis into rental him swallow her, but practice was too late because Metis had already conceived.^[]