Goddess Athena, daughter of Zeus and Metis. Goddess Athena: what role was assigned to her in ancient Greek mythology? What goddess was Athena

The goddess Pallas Athena was born by Zeus himself. Zeus the Thunderer knew that his wife, the goddess of reason, Metis, would have two children: a daughter, Athena, and a son of extraordinary intelligence and strength.
Moira, the goddess of fate, revealed to Zeus the secret that the son of the goddess Metis would overthrow him from the throne and take away his power over the world. The great Zeus was afraid. To avoid the formidable fate that the moiras promised him, he, having put the goddess Metis to sleep with affectionate speeches, swallowed her before her daughter, the goddess Athena, was born.
After a while, Zeus felt a terrible headache. Then he called on his son Hephaestus and ordered to cut his head to get rid of the unbearable pain and noise in his head. Hephaestus waved an ax, with a powerful blow he split the skull of Zeus without damaging it, and a mighty warrior, the goddess Pallas Athena, came out of the head of the Thunderer.

Gustav Klimt, Pallas Athena, 1898, Vienna

Fully armed, in a brilliant helmet, with a spear and a shield, she appeared before the astonished eyes of the Olympian gods. She shook her gleaming spear menacingly. Her war cry resounded far across the sky, and bright Olympus shook to its very foundation. Beautiful, majestic, she stood before the gods. Athena's blue eyes burned with divine wisdom, all of her shone with marvelous, heavenly, powerful beauty. The gods praised his beloved daughter born from the head of Zeus, the protector of cities, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, the invincible warrior Pallas Athena.

Birth of Athena from the head of Zeus. Drawing from a black-figure ancient Greek vase

Athena (Άθηνά) (among the Romans Minerva) is one of the most revered goddesses of Greece. She is equal in strength and wisdom to Zeus. She is honored after Zeus and her place is closest to Zeus.
She is called “gray-eyed and fair-haired”, descriptions emphasize her large eyes, Homer has the epithet “glavkopis” (owl-eyed) ..
Unlike other female deities, she uses male attributes - dressed in armor, holding a spear in her hands; she is accompanied by sacred animals:

Helmet (usually Corinthian - with a high crest)

Virgil mentions how the Cyclopes in the forge of Vulcan polished the armor and the aegis of Pallas, on them the scales of snakes and the head of the snake-haired Gorgon Medusa

- appears accompanied by the winged goddess Nike

Attributes of an owl and a snake (also a symbol of wisdom), in the temple of A. in Athens, according to Herodotus, there lived a huge snake - the guardian of the acropolis, dedicated to the goddess.

Numerous information about the cosmic features of the image of Athena. Her birth is accompanied by a golden rain, she holds the thunderbolts of Zeus

Athena Pallas. Preparatory cardboard by I. Vedder for a mosaic in the Library of Congress, Washington, 1896

Athena. A statue. Hermitage. Hall of Athena.

Statue of Athena Giustinian

Athena Algardi, it was found in 1627 in fragments at the Campus Martius, restored by Alessandro Algardi.
Palazzo Altemps, Rome, Italy.

The dispute between Athena and Poseidon for power over Attica. Italian cameo, 13th century

The scene of the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for power over Attica was depicted on the pediment of the Parthenon temple in Athens by the famous Greek sculptor Phidias (5th century BC); in a badly damaged form, the pediment has survived to our time.

Myron (copy). Athena and Marsyas. The original statue was made in the 5th century. BC e. The goddess was portrayed as dropping her flute, and Marsyas as finding
Athena is credited with inventing the flute and teaching Apollo to play it.

Battle of Athena with the giant Alcyoneus. pergamon altar
Athena directs her power to fight the titans and giants. Together with Hercules, Athena kills one of the giants, she piles the island of Sicily on the other, peels off the skin from the third and covers her body with it during the battle.

Clay figurine of Athena, 7th c. BC e.

"Athena Varvakion" (copy of the famous "Athena Parthenos")

Statue of Athena (Pallada Giustiniani type) in the Pushkin Museum

"Battle of Athena with Enkelad". Fragment of painting of a red-figure kylix. 6th c. BC e., the Louvre

Pallas and the Centaur, painting by Sandro Botticelli, 1482, Uffizi

Athena is the guardian of cities, her main epithets are Poliada (“city”) and Poliuhos (“city-holder”), protector of Greek cities (Athens, Argos, Megara, Sparta, etc.) and a constant enemy of the Trojans, although her cult also existed there: in Homeric Troy was a statue of Athena, allegedly fallen from the sky, the so-called palladium

I. G. Trautmann. "The Fire of Troy"

Athenian Parthenon

Athens Parthenon 3D reconstruction

Descriptions of the Parthenon have always abounded only in superlatives. This Athenian temple, with its 2500-year history dedicated to the patroness of the city - the goddess Athena Parthenos, is rightfully considered one of the greatest examples of ancient architecture, a masterpiece of world art and plasticity. It was built in the middle of the 5th century BC. e.

A huge statue of Athena Promachos ("front fighter") with a spear shining in the sun adorned the Acropolis in Athens, where the Erechtheion and Parthenon temples were dedicated to the goddess.

A monument to the glorification of the wise ruler of the Athenian state, the founder of the Areopagus, is the tragedy of Aeschylus "Eumenides".

Athens enjoyed special patronage bearing her name. The Athenians believed that they owed their well-being to Athena.

There is a legend saying that the cult of Athena in her city was strengthened by the son of the Earth Erechtheus. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, raised him in her sacred grove, and when the boy grew up, she rewarded him with royal power.

Jacob Jordanes. The daughters of Cecrops find the infant Erichthonius
Athena was identified with the daughters of Kekrop - Pandrosa ("all-moist") and Aglavra ("light-air"), or Agravla ("field furrow")

The image of an owl, an attribute of Athena, was minted on silver Athenian coins, and everyone who accepted an “owl” in exchange for goods seemed to be paying tribute to Athena herself.

Silver Athenian tetradrachm depicting an owl, the symbol of the goddess Athena. 5 or 4 in. BC

"Athena". Relief image on a silver dish, 1st c. n. e., Berlin, State Museums

Not a single more or less important event could not do without the intervention of Athena.
Athena helped Prometheus steal fire from the forge of Hephaestus.
Her one touch was enough to make a person beautiful (she elevated Odysseus with a camp, endowed her with curly hair, clothed her with strength and attractiveness;). She endowed Penelope on the eve of the meeting of the spouses with amazing beauty.

Gustav Klimt
Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, Austria, 1890-91

Athena patronized warrior heroes and craftsmen-potters, weavers, needlewomen, and after all, she herself was called Ergana (“worker”) - her own products are genuine works of art, such as, for example, a cloak woven for the hero Jason.

Athena Pallas. 1898 Franz von Stuck.

Agricultural holidays were dedicated to her: procharisteria (in connection with the germination of bread), plintheria (the beginning of the harvest), arrhephoria (giving dew for crops), callinteria (fruit ripening), skyrophoria (drought aversion).

A special place in Greek mythology was occupied by the goddess Athena (Ἀθηνᾶ), she was ranked among the 12 main Olympic gods.

The Greeks respected and loved the goddess, believed that Athena was always next to them, wanting to help. Athena was the goddess of wisdom, strategy, war, knowledge, was the patroness of Athens, art, culture, philosophical thought and martial arts.

Birth of Athena

The appearance of Athena happened in an unusual way. The first wife of Zeus was Mitida (Μήτιδα), who was wiser than gods and people. After she became pregnant, Moira, the goddess of fate, predicted to her that Mitida would give birth, first to a daughter, and then to a son who would overthrow Zeus from the throne. To avoid this, Zeus swallowed his pregnant wife. Then he called Hephaestus and ordered him to cut his head. He complied with his will and hit the skull with an ax. A beautiful Athena jumped out of there, in full uniform and with sparkling weapons.

Athena became the favorite child of Zeus. She fought next to him in the fight against the giants, and after he drove the giant Enceladus away, Athena chased him in her chariot, who threw a stone with her killed the giant and became the island of Sicily.
The cult of Athena began at the time of Kekrops (Κέκροπα) in ancient Athens and from there spread throughout Greece. Endless celebrations and holidays in all cities were dedicated to the goddess Athena, but the brightest were in Athens. Pericles dedicated the entire Citadel to Athena.

Symbols of the goddess Athena: oak, owl, olive, shield.

The goddess Athena had many names, the ancient Greeks at various times added divine and sacred names to their beloved Goddess:

Pallas (Παλλάδα) was given to Athena at birth when she was born from the head of Zeus with a new sparkling spear. According to another version, Athena killed the giant Pallantus (Πάλλαντα).
Promachos (Πρόμαχος) Warrior, refers to the goddess's fighting nature and her status as brave in battle, her "strategic" plans are to support her heroes.
Virgin (Παρθένα) intact, Athena was a virgin, the Parthenon temple on the Acropolis is dedicated to Athena the Virgin.
Blue-eyed (Γλαυκώπις) light-eyed. The sacred bird of the goddess Athena, the owl (γλαυξ), comes from the same root, perhaps because of the large and bright eyes.

Athena and the owl

Since ancient times, the owl has been identical with wisdom. The ancient Greeks considered it a symbol of the goddess Athena.

The owl flies, does not walk, does not crawl. The gods of Olympus also flew, they took the form of birds when they appeared among people. Owls are special birds, predators, they see very well at night. The owl has a large round head, a disk-shaped face, large eyes that provide stereoscopic vision. This ruthless predator captures prey with sharp claws and kills on the move, hitting the head with a hard and strong beak.

Such features of an owl seemed cult to the ancient Greeks.
The owl has the ability to see "the far sides of things", where others, due to darkness, are not able to see, thus the owl symbolizes wisdom.

Maybe for this reason the owl became the companion of the wisest Greek goddess Athena.

ATHENA - in Greek mythology, the goddess of wisdom and just war. The myth of the birth of Athena from Zeus and Metis ("wisdom", Greek metis - "thought", reflection) - the period of formation of classical Olympic mythology.

The birth of Athena is depicted in this myth from the standpoint of the heroic mythology of the patriarchy period, in which the male organizing principle was especially prominent. Athena is, as it were, a direct continuation of Zeus, the performer of his plans and will. She is the thought of Zeus, carried out in action. Gradually, the motherhood of Metis takes on an increasingly abstract, and even symbolic character, so that Athena is considered the offspring of one Zeus and assumes the functions of the deity of wisdom, just as Zeus took them from Metis. There.

Zeus, knowing from Gaia and Uranus that his son from Metis would deprive him of power, swallowed his pregnant wife and then, with the help of Hephaestus (or Prometheus), who split his head with an ax, he himself gave birth to Athena, who appeared from his head in fully armed. Since this event allegedly took place near the lake (or river) Triton in Libya, Athena received the nickname Tritonides or Tritogenei. There.

Athena is one of the most important figures not only in Olympic mythology, in her significance she is equal to Zeus and sometimes even surpasses him, rooted in the most ancient period in the development of Greek mythology - matriarchy. She is equal in strength and wisdom to Zeus. She is honored after Zeus and her place is closest to Zeus. Along with the new functions of the goddess of military power, Athena retained her matriarchal independence, manifested in the understanding of her as a virgin and protector of chastity. http://www.5ballov.ru/referats/preview/19024/4

The origins of Athena's wisdom go back to the image of the goddess with snakes of the Crete-Mycenaean period. The image of the goddess with a shield of the Mycenaean time is a prototype of the Olympic Athena. Among the indispensable attributes of Athena is the aegis - a shield made of goatskin with the head of a snake-haired Medusa, which has tremendous magical power, frightens gods and people. There.

Numerous information about the cosmic features of the image of Athena. Her birth is accompanied by a golden rain, she holds the thunderbolts of Zeus. Her image, the so-called. palladium fell from the sky (hence Pallas Athena). There.

According to Herodotus, Athena is the daughter of Poseidon and the nymph Tritonis. Athena was identified with the daughters of Kekrop - Pandrosa ("all-moist") and Aglavra ("light-air"), or Agravla ("field furrow"). There.

The sacred tree of Athena was the olive. The olive trees of Athena were considered "trees of fate", and Athena herself was thought of as fate and the Great Mother Goddess. There.

A powerful archaic goddess, the owner of the aegis, Athena during the period of heroic mythology directs her strength to fight the titans and giants. Together with Hercules, Athena kills one of the giants, she piles the island of Sicily on the other, peels off the skin from the third and covers her body with it during the battle. There.

She is the slayer of the gorgon Medusa and bears the name "gorgon slayer". Athena demands sacred reverence, no mortal can see her. There is a myth about how she deprived the young Tiresias (the son of her favorite Chariklo) of her sight when he accidentally saw her ablution. http://www.5ballov.ru/referats/preview/19024/4

Classical Athena is endowed with ideological and organizing functions: she patronizes heroes, protects public order, and so on. Zeus sent Athena to help Hercules, and he brought the dog of the god Hades out of Erebus. Athena's favorite was Odysseus, an intelligent and courageous hero. In Homer's poems (especially the Odyssey), not a single important event is complete without the intervention of Athena. She is the main protector of the Achaean Greeks and a constant enemy of the Trojans, although her cult also existed in Troy. Athena is the protector of Greek cities (Athens, Argos, Megara, Sparta, etc.), bearing the name of "city protector". There.

A huge statue of Athena Promachos ("front fighter") with a spear shining in the sun adorned the Acropolis in Athens, where the Erechtheion and Parthenon temples were dedicated to the goddess. There.

A monument to the glorification of the wise ruler of the Athenian state, the founder of the Areopagus, is the tragedy of Aeschylus "Eumenides". There.

Athena is always considered in the context of artistic craft, art, craftsmanship. She helps potters, weavers, needlewomen, and working people in general. Athena helped Prometheus steal fire from the forge of Hephaestus. There.

Athena is credited with inventing the flute and teaching Apollo to play it. Her one touch is enough to make a person beautiful (she raised Odysseus with a camp, endowed her with curly hair, clothed her with strength and attractiveness). She endowed Penelope on the eve of meeting with her husband with amazing beauty. http://www.5ballov.ru/referats/preview/19024/4

Athena is the goddess of wisdom. She is characterized by wisdom in public affairs. For late antiquity, Athena was the principle of the indivisibility of the cosmic Mind and the symbol of the universal wisdom of the world. As the legislator and patroness of the Athenian statehood, Athena was revered - Phratria ("brotherly"), Bulaya ("council"), Soteira ("savior"), Pronoia ("seer").

Although the cult of Athena was spread throughout mainland and island Greece (Arcadia, Argolis, Corinth, Sikion, Thessaly, Boeotia, Crete, Rhodes), Athena was especially revered in Attica, in Athens (the Greeks associated the name of the city of Athens with the name of the patron goddess of the city) . Agricultural holidays were dedicated to her. During these festivities, the washing of the statue of Athena took place, the young men took an oath of civil service to the goddess. There.

In Rome, Athena was identified with Minerva. Roman festivities of Minerva are devoted to two large passages from Ovid's "Fast". Throughout antiquity, Athena remains evidence of the organizing and guiding power of the mind, which streamlines cosmic and social life, glorifying the strict foundations of a state based on democratic legislation. There.

The image of Athena is reflected in many significant monuments of Greek sculpture. The giant statue of "Athena Parthenos" by Phidias, erected in Athens in the Parthenon in 438 BC, has not survived and is known to us from several smaller copies. Numerous statuettes of the goddess have survived. Separate scenes of the myths about Athena are reflected in the relief plasticity of the temples, for example, a multi-figure group on the eastern pediment of the Parthenon depicts the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus, on the western pediment the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for possession of the land of Attica is embodied. http://www.5ballov.ru/referats/preview/19024/4

Scenes dedicated to the birth of Athena, her participation in the Trojan War, and the dispute with Poseidon were common in Greek vase painting. There are images of Athena on the Pompeian frescoes. There.

In the Renaissance, Athena is depicted in accordance with the ancient artistic tradition - in a shell and a helmet. In a number of scenes, Athena appears as the personification of wisdom and symbolizes the triumph of reason ("Minerva conquers ignorance" by B. Spranger, "The Kingdom of Minerva" by A. Elsheimer), virtue and chastity ("Pallas and the Centaur" by S. Botticelli, "Victory of Virtue over Sin" A . Mantegna), the world ("Minerva and Mars" by J. Tintoretto, P. Veronese and others). There.

Ancient Greek Athena is the goddess of war, wisdom, crafts, knowledge and arts. Such a spectrum is due to the nature and activity that the Hellenes attributed to the deity.

Athena - the fifth child of Zeus, according to legend, was born in an unusual way. The chief, secretly from Hera, married Metis. But soon Zeus learned that his son would overthrow him from the throne. This was reported to him by moira (or Uranus and Gaia - according to other sources). The angry god, in order to prevent the loss of power, swallowed the pregnant wife. After that, his head ached badly, and he asked Hephaestus to cut it. From the head of Zeus emerged a new deity - Athena.

The goddess of war differs in character from Ares, who also patronizes battles. The latter embodies reckless aggression and unreasonable courage, while Athena is associated with strategic planning. She is also called the goddess of just war. In contrast to Aphrodite - the personification of femininity and love - the patroness of battles has the features of masculinity. Athena rescued her admirers in difficult times - thanks to the right strategy, they managed to overcome the most serious difficulties and defeat enemies. Therefore, Nika (Victory) became a frequent companion of the goddess.

According to legend, from childhood she was distinguished by curiosity and showed interest in the sciences, so her father decided to make her the patroness of knowledge. Athena - the goddess of war, wisdom and crafts - more than once suggested to the ancient Greeks non-standard, but effective solutions. She taught Erichthonius the art and Bellerophon the taming of the winged horse, Pegasus. Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, helped Danae construct a huge ship on which he got to Greece. Some myths attribute to the deity patronage of peace and prosperity, marriage, family and procreation, urban development, as well as healing abilities.

According to legend, two contenders fought for the right to give their name to the capital of Hellas: Poseidon (patron of the seas and oceans) and the goddess Athena. Photos of archaeological finds and other data indicate that in ancient times the city was an architectural masterpiece: white-stone palaces, giant stadiums and temples decorated with carvings. The god Poseidon promised that the Greeks would never need water if they named the capital after him. And the patroness of wisdom offered the Hellenes an eternal supply of food and money and presented the townspeople with an olive sapling as a gift. The Greeks made their choice, and today the capital of Greece bears the name of the goddess, and is considered her sacred symbol.

The temple of the goddess Athena - the Parthenon - is located in the Acropolis at an altitude of approximately 150 m above sea level, it is a giant white stone structure, a masterpiece of architecture. Inside it is a statue of the goddess, made of gold plates and ivory. From all sides the temple is surrounded by 46 huge slender columns.

Ancient Greek mythology is very bright, due to the many gods and goddesses represented in it. One of the extraordinary representatives is the beautiful fair-haired goddess Pallas Athena. Her father, none other than the supreme god Zeus himself, the lord of heaven. In its significance, Athena is not inferior, and sometimes surpasses her imperious father. Her name is immortalized in the name of the Greek city - Athens.

Who is Athena

The appearance of Athena is shrouded in secrets, from the text of the ancient source of Theogony it follows that Zeus learned that his wise wife Metis should give birth to a great daughter and son. The ruler did not want to give his reins of government to anyone, and swallowed his pregnant wife. Later, feeling a severe headache, Zeus asked the god Hephaestus to hit him on the head with a hammer - this is how Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, appeared in all her weapons. Possessing the strategies and tactics of waging just wars, Athena succeeded and also became the patroness of many types of crafts:

• public order - Athena in public affairs, established the highest court in Athens;
• shipbuilding and navigation - the architects Ferekl, Arg and Danai, under the mentorship of Athena, created their own ships, one of which Argo was sent by the goddess to heaven;
• metal craftswoman - the statue of Aphrodite is considered the work of Athena herself;
• weaving and spinning craft - she made clothes for herself and other goddesses. Athena taught women to weave. The spinning wheel is a symbol of Athena;
• music - a trumpet and a two-horned flute, the invention of Athena;
• healing - healed and resurrected with the blood of the Gorgon medusa;
• patroness - in many other positive aspects. Athena is loved for her timely assistance. Hercules, Odysseus, Perseus, Achilles, Jason, Telemachus are the heroes of ancient Greek mythology who called Athena in difficult moments.

What does Athena look like?

The Greek goddess Athena is traditionally depicted in military attire, with a majestic bearing in her hand a spear shining in the sun. Homer, the ancient narrator of the epic poem The Iliad, describes Athena as a bright-eyed, sharp-eyed, full of power in golden armor, a beautiful, but "not soft-hearted" Virgin. The artists depicted the goddess with a stern, thoughtful face, in a long hoodie (peplos) or shell.

Symbol of Athena

In mythology, each piece of clothing, the background around the deity is replete with various symbols that have a sacred meaning. These archetypes are the link between humans and gods. Knowing these symbols, images arise with the help of which one or another character can be identified. The symbolism of Athena is easily recognizable:

• Athena's helmet - made of iron, decorated with 4 horses, or a monster with a snake tail;
• spear - one of the statues of the goddess adorned the ancient acropolis in Athens, her shining golden spear, the first thing sailors saw when returning to the city;
• aegis - a shield made of goatskin, with the image of the Gorgon Medusa;
• Nike - a figurine of the goddess of Victory in the hand of Athena;
• the owl is a symbol of wisdom;
• the snake is a gift of foresight.

Children of Athena

The ancient Greek goddess Athena was considered a chaste virgin, Eros himself ignored the request of his mother, the goddess Aphrodite, to shoot an arrow of love at Athena, as he was afraid to even fly past because of the goddess’s menacing gaze. Nevertheless, the joys of motherhood were not alien to Athena and she raised adopted children:

• Hygieia - the goddess of health, is considered by one source the daughter of Asclepius (healer) and Athena;
• Erichthonius is the son of Gaia and Hephaestus, according to legend, Hephaestus chased Athena and dropped the seed on the ground, Gaia considered this a shame for herself and refused to raise her son. Athena secretly raised Erichthonius. The goddess Athena is often depicted with a snake; researchers believe that this is a symbol of Erichthonius.

The myth of the goddess Athena

Ancient Greek mythology describes gods who are like people: they love, they hate, they strive for power, they crave recognition. The myth about Athena is interesting, in which Kekrops, the first Athenian king, could not decide who should be the patron of the city. Athena and Poseidon (the god of the ocean) began to argue, Kekrops suggested that the gods resolve the dispute as follows: invent the most useful item. Poseidon carved a source of water with a trident, Athena hit the ground with a spear and an olive tree appeared. Women voted for Athena, men for Poseidon, so Athens had two patrons.