Athena

[[File:Mattei Athena Louvre Ma530 n2.jpg|thumb|right|165px|The goddess herself.]]
{{religion}}{{paganism}}
'''Athena''' (ancient Greek: '''Ἀθηνᾶ'''), often known with the epithet '''Pallas''' (in anckent Greek: '''Παλλάς'''), is a [[goddess]] (arguably one of the most famous ones if not '''the''' most) of [[Classical mythology|Greek religion and mythology]], later known by the [[Roman Empire|Romans]] as '''Minerva''', associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft<ref name="Merriam-Webster">{{cite book |title=Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature |date=1995 |publisher=Merriam-Webster |isbn=9780877790426 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=eKNK1YwHcQ4C&pg=PA81 81]}}</ref> and with the city of {{wpl|Athens}} (she's named after the city, not the opposite way<ref name=burkert/>) where she got the famous {{wpl|Parthenon}} dedicated to her. She's typically depicted wearing an {{wpl|aegis||,}} in the company of a {{wpl|Little owl}} (whose scientific name, ''Athene noctua'',<ref>[https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/little-owl/ Little owl]</ref> precisely comes after such goddess) and/or snakes, and armed with a spear and a shield, having associated with the olive tree too.

==Origin==
Athena is considered to have been originated as the {{wpl|Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean}} goddess of the palace, being in charge of protecting both handicrafts and the [[king]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Nilsson|first=Martin Persson|title=Die Geschichte der griechischen Religion|publisher=C. F. Beck|location=München, Germany|date=1967}}</ref><ref name=burkert>{{cite book|last=Burkert|first=Walter|date=1985|title=Greek Religion|publisher=Harvard University Press|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|isbn=978-0-674-36281-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Puhvel|first=Jaan|title=Comparative Mythology|date=1987|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore, Maryland|isbn=978-0-8018-3938-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Kinsley|first=David|date=1989|title=The Goddesses' Mirror: Visions of the Divine from East and West|location=Albany, New York|publisher=New York State University Press|isbn=978-0-88706-836-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=82oFlfs3MpwC&q=Athena%20pallas%20goddess&pg=PA142}}</ref> with some having suggested she could have been around from {{wpl|Minoan civilization|Minoan times}} even if as a rather different [[Sun]] goddess who was associated with snakes and fertility.<ref>[http://www.anistor.gr/english/enback/e023.htm Minoan Origins of Athena]</ref> It's also possible that some elements of the Athena cult may have been influenced by [[Middle Eastern]] goddesses, with Athena sharing striking parallels with [[Inanna]] as a "terrifying warrior goddess."<ref>{{cite book|last=Penglase|first=Charles|date=1994|title=Greek Myths and Mesopotamia: Parallels and Influence in the Homeric Hymns and Hesiod|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U4mFAgAAQBAJ&q=Ninurta&pg=PA42|location=New York City, New York|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-15706-3}}</ref>{{rp|235}} The story of Athena's violent birth from Zeus' head may be in part derived from the [[Sumer]]ian  of ''Inanna's Descent to the Underworld''.<ref name="dearcy">{{cite book|last=Deacy|first=Susan|title=Athena|location=London and New York|publisher=Routledge|date=2008|isbn=978-0-415-30066-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kIiCAgAAQBAJ&q=Athena%20and%20Ares%20Darmon&pg=PA163}}</ref>{{rp|20-21, 41.}}

==Mythology==
{{main|Mythology}}
Myths describe her as {{wpl|Zeus||'}} favourite daughter, having been born from his head fully armed and armored giving him a ''very'' bad headache before his skull was splitted open with an {{wpl|Labrys|axe|,}}{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=120}} after the former had [[Cannibalism|eaten his pregnant wife]] {{wpl|Metis (mythology)|Metis|,}} due to [[prophecies]] that claimed the latter would give Zeus offspring wiser than him who would try to overthrow the King of the Gods,<ref name="HesiodTheogony929e929t">Hesiod, ''Theogony'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D886 885-900], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D901 929e-929t]</ref> even if other myths claim she was born by basically {{wpl|parthenogenesis}} from Zeus himself,<ref>{{cite book|last=Kerényi|first=Karl|title=Die Jungfrau und Mutter der griechischen Religion. Eine Studie uber Pallas Athene|location=Zurich|publisher=Rhein Verlag|date=1952}}</ref> thus having no mother. She is described as the protector of heroes such as {{wpl|Heracles}}<ref name="dearcy"/> and {{wpl|Odysseus||,}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Jenkyns|first=Richard|date=2016|title=Classical Literature: An Epic Journey from Homer to Virgil and Beyond|location=New York City, New York|publisher=Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group|isbn=978-0-465-09797-5}}</ref> who favored cleverness over brute force, and being not just intelligent, cunning, very good at weaving, and the Greek equivalent of a bookworm, but also as an all-around badass, having curb-stomped {{wpl|Ares}} in the {{wpl|Illiad||}} and having been often depicted as brawny instead of sylph-like as so many other Greek goddesses. However, this would not be Greco-Roman mythology without even the goddess of wisdom, one of the most level-headed and arguably nicest to mortals Olympic deities, often behaving like a spoiled brat:

* In one of the myths that explain the origin of {{wpl|Medusa||,}} she was originally a [[priest|priestess]] of Athena who got raped by {{wpl|Poseidon||,}} the god of the sea, despite her vow of chastity. When the goddess found out what had happened in her temple, she transformed the unfortunate woman into the monster, [[Blaming the victim|seemingly without caring about the helpless situation the priestess had been in]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Phinney| first=Edward Jr. |date=1971|title=Perseus' Battle with the Gorgons|journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association|volume=102|pages=445–463|doi=10.2307/2935950|location=Baltimore, Maryland|publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Seelig|first=Beth J.|date=August 2002|title=The Rape of Medusa in the Temple of Athena: Aspects of Triangulation in the Girl|journal=The International Journal of Psychoanalysis|volume=83|issue=4|pages=895–911|doi=10.1516/3NLL-UG13-TP2J-927M|pmid=12204171|s2cid=28961886}}</ref> (It should be noted, however, that this is a {{wpl|Medusa#Mythology|later myth}} by the [[Roman Empire|Roman]] poet {{wpl|Ovid||,}} said to have depicted the gods such way due to {{wpl|Exile of Ovid|his beef}} with the Emperor of these days, and in the original versions, Medusa was a monster since she had been born, without either Athena or Poseidon having to say something on such regard.)
* In the myth of {{wpl|Arachne||,}} Athena angered at a mortal being as good a weaver as her ''and'' at the latter's tapestry depicting Zeus and other gods' unjust and discrediting behavior towards mortals. The goddess transformed Arachne into a spider after the latter had hanged herself in despair.<ref>{{cite book|last=Powell|first=Barry B.|date=2012|orig-year=2004|chapter=Myths of Aphrodite, Artemis, Athena|title=Classical Myth|edition=Seventh|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dqOSAgAAQBAJ|location=London, England|publisher=Pearson|pages=211–235|isbn=978-0-205-17607-6}}</ref> (To be fair, in this myth, she warned Arachne not to mess with the gods under the guise of an old woman before revealing herself as a goddess (not to mention the behaviour of such mortal is a textbook example of {{wpl|Hubris#Mythological_usage|hubris}}), and transformed Arachne into such an animal (neither some sort of {{wpl|Drow#Drider|drider|,}} nor an 
[https://wiki.starcontrol.com/index.php?title=Ilwrath Ilwrath]
 oversized, intelligent, and of course evil spider as in some modern retellings) out of pity. It's also noteworthy how {{wpl|Arachne|this myth}} is thought to have been created by Ovid too and for the above reasons, not existing previously in Greek mythology, or at least not that way.)
* When {{wpl|Tiresias}} caught Athena [[Nudity|skyclad]] and was blinded by her.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hansen|first=William F.|date=2004|chapter=Athena (also Athenê and Athenaia) (Roman Minerva)|title=Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-NmaO-kM2UC&q=satyr+mythology&pg=PA280|location=Oxford, England|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-530035-2|pages=121–126}}</ref> Tiresias at least received in exchange the ability to foretell the future as the goddess could not restore her sight, which was different then {{wpl|Actaeon||'s}} fate at the hands of {{wpl|Artemis}} after the former had seen the latter also going skyclad having been in the wrong place at the wrong time.
* In the {{wpl|Judge of Paris||,}} when as she and {{wpl|Hera}} did not get the apple of [[Eris]], to be considered the fairest, became enemies of Troy.<ref>{{cite book|last=Walcot|first=P.|date=April 1977|title=The Judgement of Paris|journal=Greece & Rome|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge University Press|volume=24|issue=1|pages=31–39|doi=10.1017/S0017383500019616}}</ref>. Remember that Greek mythology hath no fury like that of a goddess, or even worse two goddesses, scorned.

Like the already mentioned Artemis and also {{wpl|Hestia||,}} Athena also chose to stay [[virgin]], perpetually having been said {{wpl|Aphrodite}} had no power over the three goddesses, some describing the three as [[asexual]] and presenting as proof the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, where it's stated the latter had no power over these three goddesses.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hansen|first=William F.|date=2004|chapter=Athena (also Athenê and Athenaia) (Roman Minerva)|title=Classical Mythology: A Guide to the Mythical World of the Greeks and Romans|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a-NmaO-kM2UC&q=satyr+mythology&pg=PA280|location=Oxford, England|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-530035-2|pages=121–126}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|citation|last=Goldhill|first=S.|title=Reading Greek Tragedy (Aesch.Eum.737)|location=Cambridge, England|publisher=Cambridge University Press|date=1986}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Herrington|first=C.J.|title=Athena Parthenos and Athena Polias|location=Manchester, England|publisher=Manchester University Press|date=1955|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FaHnAAAAIAAJ}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/59339816 |title=The Homeric hymns |date=2003 |publisher=Penguin Books |others=Jules Cashford |isbn=0-14-043782-7 |location=London}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Athena_Statue.jpg|thumb|left|125px|A modern statuette of Athena reading this article (the goddess, not the statuette)]]
Athena got luckier than other Greco-Roman deities, being considered a patroness of arts and human endeavour, appearing in a lot of works of [[art]] from the [[Renaissance]] onwards in such a way as well as in her original roles of goddess of wisdom and warfare, and later on in a similar way in a lot of popular culture works where she's also typically depicted in a positive way. She's also present, of course, in [[Neopaganism]] where besides for example [[Wicca]] as an aspect of the [[The White Goddess|Goddess]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Gallagher|first=Ann-Marie|date=2005|title=The Wicca Bible: The Definitive Guide to Magic and the Craft|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VvvWkpnHXl4C&q=Athena%20and%20Wicca&pg=PA109|location=New York City, New York|publisher=Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.|isbn=978-1-4027-3008-5}}</ref> she's held in high regard for quite obvious reasons in [[Greece#Hellenism|Hellenism]] and [[Polytheistic reconstructionism#Hellenistic reconstructionism|similar movements]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Alexander|first=Timothy Jay|date=2007|title=The Gods of Reason: An Authentic Theology for Modern Hellenismos|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6qnCa6Wk1E8C&q=Hellenismos%20and%20Athena&pg=PA31|edition=First|publisher=Lulu Press, Inc.|isbn=978-1-4303-2763-9}}</ref>

==External links==
*{{wpl|Athena|Athena and her owl at the other wiki}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Religion]]
[[Category:Deities]]
[[Category:Mythology]]
[[Category:Greek mythology]]

Categories: Religion, Deities, Mythology, Greek mythology