Once upon a time, many centuries ago, the ancient Greeks lived on our beautiful planet. They were engaged in a variety of things: they established the basic laws of economic activity, respected the beauty of the body, invented the standards of world art, and at their leisure organized the Olympic Games, in which the strongest had to win. The ancient Greeks believed in a variety of things, and in the literal sense of the word - the ancient pantheon is so diverse that there are not many people in the world who are able to randomly list at least half of mythological creatures.
There were titans and gods, heroes and nymphs, sphinxes and sirens in their picture of the world, not to mention cyclops and other more extravagant creatures, whose names are not so deeply and firmly settled in the memory of mankind.
In the same article, we will find out who Athena is.
Variety of interpretations
Since to our days, unfortunately, not a single ancient Greek was able to survive, researchers have to build their theories on archaeological finds, written monuments and other heritage of history. Perhaps this is due to the variety of interpretations regarding who Athena is.
The most common point of view is the positioning of this representative of the Greek pantheon as the
goddess of wisdom. It is this understanding of the goddess that we are taught in educational institutions and in popular publications such as "I Know the World." In fact, everything is much wider, more diverse and interesting, which will be discussed in this article. So, let's get down to business: who is Athena?
The mysterious birth of a goddess
In Greek mythology , nothing is ever simple - everything is shrouded in some mystery, mystery and full of surprises. The birth of this Greek goddess is far from an exception. To begin with, there is simply no consensus on this matter. In this regard, it all depends on the time frame of the interpreter. According to early reports, the Greek goddess Athena triumphantly left the head of Zeus himself, causing him with simply unbearable pain. Later historians turned out to be somewhat more merciful and, according to their interpretation, the place from which this representative of the pantheon was born was the Thunderer’s beard.
In any case, the birth of a goddess can be regarded as one more confirmation that the ancient Greeks liked everything unusual: either they appeared from the foam of a sea goddess, or they got out of their heads ...
Why is this so
According to the most common interpretation, the story of the goddess Athena begins with the desire of the supreme god to maintain his position and prevent his own son from overthrowing the throne. That is why, according to the myth, Zeus swallowed the pregnant at that time Metis. And everything would be fine if the unexpected had not happened. Soon the Thunderer began to experience unbearable pain and, to ease this suffering, Hephaestus had to hit the head of the pantheon with an ax on the head. That Athena triumphantly emerged from the hole formed - the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, military strategy, the patroness of cities and entire states, skill, ingenuity and dexterity.
Importance in the mythological picture of the world
At first glance, it may seem that this representative of the ancient Greek pantheon is not one of the key figures, but this opinion can safely be called erroneous. The goddess of war is one of the twelve main representatives of Olympus. According to some myths, it was Athena that remained in Greece when everyone else fled to Egypt. Many researchers associate with this the subsequent name of the capital of the country in her honor.
Appearance
Since this is the goddess of war, outwardly she is significantly different from the rest. First of all, it should be noted that she is traditionally portrayed in men's armor and with a shield, which can not be said even about Artemis, whose constant attributes are considered to be a bow and quiver with arrows.
As for the more characteristic features, in the evidence that has survived to this day, Athena is called “scoop”, gray-haired and fair-haired, so we can say that the goddess had something in common with Slavic girls.
If we talk about the symbols of this representative of the Olympic pantheon, then traditionally in this respect an owl or a snake is depicted as the oldest symbols of wisdom.
Also, the olive branch, which even today in the world consciousness is associated with Greece, is considered to be the invariable attribute of this goddess from ancient times.
The feminist goddess?
Despite the fact that not all written monuments contain references to Athena’s participation in gigantomakhia, they still exist and there’s no getting around it. According to Gigin's texts, the overthrow of the titans in Tartarus is partly the merit of this goddess. According to this myth, Athena managed to accomplish this feat thanks to the help of Zeus, Artemis and Apollo.
Despite the fact that the birth of the goddess of war, according to the main myths, was after the battle of the titans, there is other evidence of her participation in this event of a literally global scale. An example is the shield of the statue of Athena Parthenos, which depicts other details of the battle.
Connection with the Trojan horse
Oddly enough, the name of this Olympic warrior is also associated with this war. In general, Athena is a goddess whose myths are quite diverse. So, according to the available written monuments, it was she who owned the idea of creating a Trojan horse. There is also evidence that this manipulation was done in her honor.
Who is Athena in this story? This is not only the author of the idea with a Trojan horse. This is also the goddess who managed to save the Achaeans from hunger at a time when they needed to sit in anticipation of action. According to the plot of the myth, Athena brought them the food of the gods so that they would not starve to death.
She secretly helped to drag the horse into the besieged city and gave signs in the form of snakes and earthquakes when someone objected to this.
Inventions
Not only is this mentioned, but it is to this representative of the Greek pantheon that the idea of the state, the invention of a chariot and even a ship, belongs in itself. Most household items like ceramic pots or a plow were invented by Athena. She is generally considered the patroness of artisans. According to some myths, it was this goddess who once taught the Phoenicians weaving, and the spinning wheel is referred to in many sources as a gift from Athena.
She also patronized many heroes and exceptionally fair wars, which differed from Ares, for whom the battles themselves were the goal and the patronage in them brought him exceptional pleasure.