See all the legends of the mythical God of War Athena

Athena

The goddess symbolizing wisdom and war

Athena is one of the twelve main gods of Olympus in Greece, with the Roman name Mene Minerva. In ancient mythology, Athena is the goddess of the sky, the ruler of dark clouds and thunder and lightning, the goddess of fertility, and the protector of peaceful labor. She taught people to tame cattle and horses, and make cars and boats; she gave the world plows and harrows, spindles and looms, so she is considered the protector of women's labor, especially weaving technology. She has a nickname called Ergane, which means female worker. She is also the protector of science and the goddess of wisdom; she bestows laws on the world and maintains social order.

Legend has it that she was born to Zeus and Metis, the goddess of wisdom. Because Achai prophesied that the children born to Metis would overthrow Zeus, Zeus swallowed her whole. Zeus had a severe headache. All the mountain gods, including Apollo, the god of medicine, tried to administer an effective treatment to him, but in vain. Zeus, the father of gods and men, had no choice but to ask Hephaestus, the god of fire, to open his head. Vulcan did that. To the surprise of the gods of Mount Olympus, a graceful and sturdy goddess walked out of the split head, radiant and graceful. It is said that she has the power of Zeus. If coupled with the power of the innate Aegis Aegis, her strength exceeds all the gods of Olympus. She is the wisest goddess, the perfect combination of wisdom and strength. She is Athena, the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, and the patron saint of Athens.

Athena's name in Greek is shortened from Athenaa or Athenaia, and is written in the Ionian dialect as Athene, Athenaie (this name can be seen on the "Relief Drawing of the Siege of Troy" The name of the mark), written Athana, Athanaia in Dorian dialect, and Athenaa in Aeolian dialect. (In a painting of "Odysseus Returning Home" by the French painter Bouguereau, we can also see another way of writing her name: Athhnh.) This word has no etymological origin in Greek. explain. Since Athena's name has the same origin as the name of the city of Athens, people have been arguing since ancient times whether the goddess was named after the city or the city was named after the goddess.

In Greek place names, there are many city names ending in -ene, such as Mykene (Mycenae), which means -ene is a typical place name suffix. But Athena has another nickname: Pallas Athene, which is how Athena is often called in Homer's epic poems1. This shows that the goddess originally had a name of Pallas. Later, as the Athenians' worship of her developed, she was called Pallas Athena, which means "Palas of Athens". Later, Athena can be used alone as the name of the goddess. So figuring out the meaning of Pallas is key to figuring out the origins of Athena. Unfortunately, people have not yet figured out the meaning of this word. Some people interpret it as "maiden", and others interpret it as "the weapon-brandishing", but there is insufficient evidence. If it cannot gain the general approval of people, it can only be regarded as a possibility and cannot be regarded as a final conclusion. In this way we must go to mythology to find the origin of Athena.

Athena was widely worshiped in the Hellenistic world, centered in Athens. The city houses the Parthenon, a typical symbol of Greek religious art. The name means Maidens’ Apartment, the residence of the goddess’s maids. But Athena has been an important deity since ancient times. Her name already appears in Linear B. There are also a large number of descriptions of mythological stories that preserve elements of ancient legends. Athena is also called "mistress" on Mycenaean tablets.

According to the Pilaski people, the goddess Athena was born on the shores of Lake Tritonis in Libya. Three Libyan Nymphs discovered her, dressed her in goatskin and nursed her to growth. When she was a girl, she accidentally killed her little friend Pallas during a play. As a sign of condolence, she placed Pallas's name before her own. She later came to Athens via Crete. (See "Apollonius")

Since this material is recorded based on the legend of the ancient people of Pilaski, it has led many scholars to connect the origin of Athena with the Libyan goddess stand up. There are several supporting materials for this view:

“It seems that the clothes worn by the statue of Athena and the Aegis shorts were learned by the Greeks from Libyan women. Because except for the Libyan women’s Except that their clothes were made of leather, and that their goatskin aegis had tassels not of snakes but of straw, in all other respects their costumes were identical, and the name itself proved that Pallas. ·The clothes of the statue of Athena came from Libya.

..." (Herodotus's "History")

"Adjacent to the Macroethians are the Oseasians; there is a Tori Pass between them and the Macroethians. River (Triton), they lived on the shores of Lake Trionis. ... They hold a sacrifice to the god Athena once a year. During the sacrifice, their maidens divide into two teams and fight with each other with stones and sticks. According to them, this is to follow the way of their ancestors to worship the monotony, which we call monotonous. The goddess Athena. "(Herodotus "History")

Greek archaeological discoveries show that Libyan immigrants had entered Crete as early as 4000 BC. Historical records and archaeological discoveries are basically consistent. .

So what kind of god is Pallas? The opinions in Greek mythology are very inconsistent, but the most common ones are: Athena was born by Zeus and was born by the river god Triton. ), Pallas was the daughter of Turidon and the playmate of Athena. Unfortunately, he was accidentally killed by Athena. However, it is also said that Pallas was one of the Titans - Eurybia and Cleos. The son of the moon goddess, etc. However, Fustelde Coulanges also mentioned in "Ancient City-States" written in 1885: "Whenever a warship goes to sea, the tablet of the sea god Pallas must be painted golden. "In this way, it seems that Athena has a certain relationship with the God of the Sea. But in general, different accounts indicate that after the Libyan goddess was introduced to Greece, she was closely related to Pallas, whom the original residents of Greece worshiped. The connection occurred, resulting in various theories.

When Athena became the object of worship in many city-states, the work of describing an orthodox divine origin for this goddess began. The following is related. A story about the birth of Athena:

“Now Zeus, king of the gods, first married Metis, the wisest of gods and mortals. When she was about to give birth to the bright-eyed goddess Athena, according to the advice of the starry Uranus and Gaia, Zeus deceived Metis and swallowed her into his belly. ...because he was afraid that she might give birth to a child with a weapon more powerful than a thunderbolt. …But Metis immediately conceived Pallas Athena, the daughter whom the father of men and gods conceived from his own mind on the banks of the Turitone. ...Athena received the aegis there, and with it she became more powerful than any of the gods who lived in Olympus. When Zeus gave birth to Athena, she held an aegis and was covered in weapons. ”

In this way, through the story of Athena’s “rebirth” from the mind of Zeus, she had a noble birth and became a member of the Holy Family. Although this story of Athena’s birth is not the only one, This statement was regarded as the most accurate by the ancients, because it was believed to have been spoken by the priest of Athena himself.

There is also such a record in the "Theogony":

< p>"...the reason why they suggested Zeus to do this is to prevent other gods from taking the throne of the immortal gods instead of Zeus; because Metis is destined to give birth to several extremely smart children, the first of which is the bright-eyed girl Tritogenia (i.e. Athena), equal to her father in both strength and wisdom. But after this, Metis will give birth to a proud son who will be the king of gods and humans. However, Zeus swallowed her into his belly first, so that the goddess could advise him and turn danger into disaster. …Metis, the mother of Athena, the righteous mastermind, wiser than gods and mortals, remained in the belly of Zeus. There the goddess Athena received the aegis, with which she became more powerful than all the gods who lived in Olympus. [This aegis becomes a terrible weapon for Athena. ] When Zeus gave birth to Athena, she was holding an aegis and fully armored.

From this description, we seem to be able to see some symbol of the evolution of ancient Greek history. Zeus represents the religious beliefs of the Achaeans, the ancestors of the real Greeks who created the Mycenaean civilization and the later Cretan civilization and moved into Greece around 2000 BC, while Metis symbolizes the original Greek The spiritual beliefs of native indigenous peoples. Regarding Metis as the goddess of wisdom may mean that the native Greek civilization at that time was superior to the civilization of later immigrants; when Zeus swallowed her, it was the different cultures of the indigenous people, Achaeans and West Asian immigrants. The fusion of religion and civilization formed a new Greek classical civilization system - "Athena" - of course this word is just a metaphor, the symbol of Greek orthodox religion is still Zeus rather than Athena, because she is not in the "prophecy" "Son", so in the end he could not really replace Zeus. This more or less represented the submission of the conquered peoples at that time; but although Metis was swallowed, she still remained in Zeus's belly, which also symbolized that these peoples still retained their own traditions to some extent.

The legend that Athena became the patron saint of Athens is related to the battle between the goddess and Poseidon. When Athens was first founded by a Phoenician, Poseidon vied with Athena for the honor of naming it. Finally an agreement was reached; the person who could provide the most useful things to mankind would become the patron saint of the city. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and conjured a war horse. Athena conjured an olive tree - a symbol of peace and prosperity. Because war horses were considered to represent war and sorrow, Athens was named after the goddess. The goddess soon took the city under her protection.

On the Acropolis of Athens, one of the most famous buildings in ancient Greece still remains - the Parthenon, which worshiped the goddess Athena.

Athena is the goddess of arts, crafts, and women's handicrafts. She is dexterous with her hands and cannot stand challenges from others. A Lydian girl named Arachne seemed to despise Athena's abilities and often boasted that she could defeat the goddess Athena if given the chance. In anger, the goddess disguised herself as an old woman and advised Arachne to be more modest. But the ignorant craftswoman bravely challenged her. The goddess took off her disguise and accepted the challenge. Both women immediately set to work on their respective works. The goddess designed patterns that told the story of her battle with Poseidon, while Arachne weaved a delicate web. Later, Arachne was surprised to find that she had lost, for the goddess's work was much better. She was so ashamed that she hanged herself with a piece of silk thread. But before dying, the goddess turned her into a spider and let her weave forever.

Athena is also the goddess of war. Because of Athena's active performance in the Trojan War, her reputation as the God of War even surpassed Ares. Her support was one of the main reasons for the Greeks' eventual victory. But Athena is different from Ares. Ares was war-loving, while Athena, although the god of war, loved peace. This is why Athens is called the "peace-loving city."

Athena also helped many Greek heroes: with her help: Jason built the Argos ship and completed the voyage to find the wool of the golden sheep

; Perseus cut off the head of the enchantress Medusa; Heracles accomplished many great feats; Odysseus, a participant in the Trojan War

, drifted on the sea for 10 years Later, it was with her protection that he returned to his hometown.