Athena
Origin Myth
_After Zeus and the other Olympians defeated the Titans in the Titan War, he settled down with an immortal named Metis, who was the first true wife of Zeus. Metis became pregnant, and Zeus swallowed her in fear that she would birth a son, who was prophesized to overthrow Zeus. Soon after this, Zeus began to get splitting headaches. Determined to figure out what was causing them, he had Hephaestus, god of fire and the forge, split his head open with an axe. When he did this, Athena, dressed in full battle armor and prepared to fight, sprang out of Zeus's head.
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Patron Goddess of Athens
_Athena is the Patron Goddess of the city-state of Athens. The myth goes that her and Poseidon were competing to be the patron god of the city-state, which was unnamed at the time. Each god/goddess was to present a gift, and the king of Athens was to choose based off of those. Poseidon rose up a saltwater spring, whilst Athena gave them the first olive tree. The king chose the olive tree and Athena, who became the patron goddess of Athens.
| Symbols and Temples
Athena's symbol is the Owl, which represents wisdom. Her main temple is the Parthenon in Athens, built after she became the patron goddess there.
| Strengths and weaknessesStrengths
- Intelligent - Great Strategist Weaknesses - Can't hold herself back in battle - Does not show great emotion Neutral Traits - Is abstinent - Never had a spouse |
Myth of Arachne
Arachne was furious and threw the thread against the old woman, telling her: “I don’t need your advice, I know best what I can do! If Athena really dares, then she should come here and compete against me.In a small town of Ledia there once lived a beautiful maiden with the name Arachne. Arachne was famous in town for being a very skillful weaver and spinner and every day many girls and Nereids were stopping by to see her weave.
Arachne was very vain and couldn't stop boasting about her talent, claiming that she had learned the skill all by herself and that there was no one else in the world who could weave as delicately as her; she even felt she could compete against Athena, the goddess of the skills, and win her with ease. When Athena heard these words, she got disappointed and decided to disguise as an old lady and appear in front of Arachne. "My dear", she told Arachne, I am old and have much experience from life, so let me give you one advice: don't ever mess up with a goddess; no mortal can compete against Athena, take back your words and kindly ask for forgiveness. Arachne was furious and threw the thread against the old woman, telling her: “I don’t need your advice, I know best what I can do! If Athena really dares, then she should come here and compete against me. _ |
_At that moment, the old woman transformed herself into the radiant goddess Athena. On her sight, everybody in the room kneeled down in awe; not so Arachne who couldn’t wait to compete against her.
So the competition started and both contestants were doing really well; Athena was weaving the Parthenon and her contest with god Poseidon; Arachne, on the other hand, was making fun of the gods by weaving scenes of gods full of weaknesses and fears. Arachne's work seemed to be perfect technically, yet was not beautiful because it was showing disregard of the gods. Athena was very offended and told Arachne: “You may be foolish and stubborn, but you love your skill. So why don’t you go ahead and spin forever! Having said that, Athena sprinkled her with the juice of magical herbs and the body of Arachne transformed into a small and ugly animal, which nowadays is known as the spider. From that moment on Arachne has been cursed to be trapped inside her own web, weaving constantly and endlessly. |
Sources
Works Cited
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<http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Athena/>.
"Athena - Profile of the Greek Goddess Athena." About.com
Ancient / Classical History. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Athena.htm>.
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<http://www.mythweb.com/gods/Athena.html>.
"Athena's Character and Functions." The Shrine of the
Goddess Athena. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclopedia/Athena/Character.htm>.
"The Goddess Athena." The Shrine of the Goddess Athena.
Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclopedia/Athena/>.
"The Tale Weaver." : Tale of Two Weavers: Arachne and
Minerva by Ovidus. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://the-tale-weaver.blogspot.com/2010/10/tale-of-two-weavers-arachne-and-minerva.html>.
WikiAnswers. Answers. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_Athena%27s_character_traits>.
"Athena - Ancient Greek Goddess." Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/Athena/>.
"Athena - Profile of the Greek Goddess Athena." About.com
Ancient / Classical History. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Athena.htm>.
"Athena." Greek Mythology. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.mythweb.com/gods/Athena.html>.
"Athena's Character and Functions." The Shrine of the
Goddess Athena. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclopedia/Athena/Character.htm>.
"The Goddess Athena." The Shrine of the Goddess Athena.
Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.goddess-athena.org/Encyclopedia/Athena/>.
"The Tale Weaver." : Tale of Two Weavers: Arachne and
Minerva by Ovidus. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://the-tale-weaver.blogspot.com/2010/10/tale-of-two-weavers-arachne-and-minerva.html>.
WikiAnswers. Answers. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
<http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_were_Athena%27s_character_traits>.