Athena :: essays research papers

Athena The god to be the topic of discussion in this report is Athena. Athena was an important member of the Olympic pantheon. She was born fully armed from the forehead of Zeus, the chief god. Athena was Zeus's favorite child. He entrusted her with the Aegis, his breastplate, and with his thunderbolt. Athena's role as a goddess varied. She was a major warrior and most images depict her dressed in armor and holding a spear. In Homer's Iliad, she is described as a fierce battle goddess who continually intervened on the side of the Greeks. She also took an interest in handicrafts and agriculture. The olive tree, which she said to have created, is sacred to her. She was noted for her wisdom which explains her close association with the owl, an ancient symbol of wisdom and reason. The most famous temple to Athena was the Parthenon (5th century BC) which was named for Parthenos ("the Maiden"), which still stands atop the Acropolis in Athens. The interior of the Parthenon stands a statue of Athena Parthenos, sculpted by Phidais. When I was reading through myths, I decided I would talk about "The Gift of Athena" which, in my opinion, best illustrates Athena's colorful personality. Here is how "The Gift of Athena" goes: Long, long ago, when this old world was a very young place, and when the few people there were had just begun to live together in groups for their own protection, the great gods selected the places for humans to build the cities. They looked down upon the earth, through the clouds that shrouded their home on the very peak of the high mountain called Olympus, and they chose the sites they thought would provide everything mortals needed to live and prosper. Now, each god and goddess was eager to have a great city built in his or her honor, and so the prime locations-the very best places for the great cities to be built came to cause much bickering and jealousy among the many deities for all wanted a great city built in their honor, a city whose people would worship that particular god or goddess above all others. It happened that great Zeus, the king and ruler of all the gods, had found a spot on earth that appeared absolutely ideal for the building of a noble city; indeed, he foresaw that the city that would be built there would someday become the noblest city on earth. Well, you can imagine that all the gods and goddesses wanted this city for their own, and you would be right.