Athena: Goddess of Wisdom
Athena was a Greek goddess who symbolized wisdom and war. Her Roman equivalent was Minerva. She was the daughter of Zeus solely and did not have a mother. She came out of Zeus’s head and was born full grown and wearing armor. She was Zeus’s favorite child and he trusted her to carry his weapon, the thunderbolt. When Athena was growing up she had a mortal friend named Pallas. When they were practicing fighting skills Athena accidentally wounded her and she died. Athena felt horrible and asked to be called Pallas Athena in honor of her friend. (Athena-Minerva) Athena was a virgin goddess and everyone admired her purity. She was called the Maiden and her temple was the Parthenon. Athens was her special city and she was its protector. (Hamilton p. 24-25) There was a competition to be the benefactor of Athens and Poseidon tried to win by using his trident to bust a rock open so water flowed. Athena made even a bigger impact when she made an olive tree grow out of that rock. The olive tree was very useful to the people of Athens and it brought a lot of wealth to the city. The city of Athens was given to Athena. (Hamilton p. 395-396) Athena had many rivals including Poseidon and Aphrodite. She helped protect Hercules during his test of 12 labors. At the end he gave her the golden apples he cut from the garden of Esperides. (Athena-Minerva) She also protected Persues and helped him kill Medussa. (Hamilton 202-203) Athena also helped Odysseus during his journey. She protected Odysseus and Achilles during the Trojan War. She gave Odysseus the idea of the Trojan horse. (Athena-Minerva) Athena had the power to change into a soldier and she would use this strategy to help the Greeks win wars. Athena was also known as the protector of all artisans and craftsmen. She knew how to weave and play the flute. Athena was known as the goddess of wisdom, war, and craftsman. She was a true renaissance woman.
Hamilton, Edith (Mythology): Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York & Boston: Grand Central Publishing, 2011. Print.
Athena-Minerva (http://www.greek-mythology-pantheon.com/athena-minerva-greek-goddess-of-wisdom-and-war/)
By: Robert Rodriguez
Hamilton, Edith (Mythology): Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York & Boston: Grand Central Publishing, 2011. Print.
Athena-Minerva (http://www.greek-mythology-pantheon.com/athena-minerva-greek-goddess-of-wisdom-and-war/)
By: Robert Rodriguez
Athena the Goddess of Wisdom, Battle Strategy and Crafts has a lot of cultural effect on this world. Today they use her in many ways; one way is through the military. In the Military, they use Athena by having her helmet on the Military Coat Of Arms. Recently, two new coins have been added by the US Congress. These two coins are the highest United States personal decoration coins, the Medal of Honor.
Another way Athena or Athene has culturally impacted us is by being in a form of a statue or logos. There are many different statues of Athena across the world. One is in La Sapienza in Rome, which is one of the most important universities in Rome. Another form of Athena or Minerva is in the Lincoln University’s logo. They also have a rugby team that identify themselves as the “Knights of Minerva” every time they win they dedicate it in Minerva’s honor. In New York, Potsdam University has an original sculpture of Minerva since 1892 right in front of the entrance of the student and faculty’s Minerva Café. Finally, one of the most recognized statues is in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the Parthenon, the Athena sculpture was created by Alan Lequiren. It took eight years to build a thirty-eight foot tall sculpture. In the sculpture, she wears an aegis, helmet, a tunic, and holds Nike the goddess of victory on her right hand.
Athena is also seen in popular culture, one way is through a movie. She is seen as her Roman counterpart, “Minerva.” In the movie and book series, “Harry Potter” Minerva is used as a name for a deputy headmistress of the school that Harry Potter goes to “Hogwarts School of Wizardry.” Minerva is the head of Gryffindor house. The author J.K. Rowling, describes her as a tall, rather severe- looking woman, with black hair. She wears emerald green robes, a pointed hat, and is very witty. Another way Athena has impacted popular culture is by toys and collectors’ items. She is a collectors’ item for Matte’s Barbie doll. She has five-thousand-three-hundred dolls made worldwide, which was inspired by a character “Pallas Athena” and as of right now can’t be found on any treasure website.
https://wikis.nyu.edu/display/owag/Athena+as+a+Female+Goddess
By: Kimber Cruz
Another way Athena or Athene has culturally impacted us is by being in a form of a statue or logos. There are many different statues of Athena across the world. One is in La Sapienza in Rome, which is one of the most important universities in Rome. Another form of Athena or Minerva is in the Lincoln University’s logo. They also have a rugby team that identify themselves as the “Knights of Minerva” every time they win they dedicate it in Minerva’s honor. In New York, Potsdam University has an original sculpture of Minerva since 1892 right in front of the entrance of the student and faculty’s Minerva Café. Finally, one of the most recognized statues is in Nashville, Tennessee. Located in the Parthenon, the Athena sculpture was created by Alan Lequiren. It took eight years to build a thirty-eight foot tall sculpture. In the sculpture, she wears an aegis, helmet, a tunic, and holds Nike the goddess of victory on her right hand.
Athena is also seen in popular culture, one way is through a movie. She is seen as her Roman counterpart, “Minerva.” In the movie and book series, “Harry Potter” Minerva is used as a name for a deputy headmistress of the school that Harry Potter goes to “Hogwarts School of Wizardry.” Minerva is the head of Gryffindor house. The author J.K. Rowling, describes her as a tall, rather severe- looking woman, with black hair. She wears emerald green robes, a pointed hat, and is very witty. Another way Athena has impacted popular culture is by toys and collectors’ items. She is a collectors’ item for Matte’s Barbie doll. She has five-thousand-three-hundred dolls made worldwide, which was inspired by a character “Pallas Athena” and as of right now can’t be found on any treasure website.
https://wikis.nyu.edu/display/owag/Athena+as+a+Female+Goddess
By: Kimber Cruz
Athena Art
The artwork on a vase that uses attic red figure. The shape of the vase is called a kylix. A kylix is a Greek work for a drinking cup. The artist that did this artwork went by the name of Douris, and his last name is unknown. Douris was a very famous vase painter and potter. Most of Douris’ work was done in the theme of Athenian red figure. His career began painting for the potters Kleophrades and Euphronios. And Douris stayed painting with these people for most of his life. The last person who Douris ended off painting for was Python. During Douris’ career he made about two hundred and fifty to three hundred vases. Also of course his vases had the same theme that was popular for the time which was during the archaic period. This vase dated back to 490-470 BC. An example of an archaic period vase painting was a painting of the Golden Fleece, but changed it up a little so it would be more relevant to his time. In the painting that is shown Athena is depicted with a snake trimmed aegis cloak and a small owl in her hand. Athena is also holding a spear in her hand to represent that she is the goddess of war strategy, and strength. Hercules is the other person in the painting shown with his usual attire a lion skin cape and a club. This vase can be found in a museum in Munich, Germany. Only some of Douris’ famous work is still around because over time they started to break or get lost so only a select few were found which makes his work more valuable. Not many vase painters could do what Douris did. Some believe that he did around 75,000 vases in his whole life, because that I all he would do.
http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K8.2.html
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Douris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena
By: Brent Reed
The artwork on a vase that uses attic red figure. The shape of the vase is called a kylix. A kylix is a Greek work for a drinking cup. The artist that did this artwork went by the name of Douris, and his last name is unknown. Douris was a very famous vase painter and potter. Most of Douris’ work was done in the theme of Athenian red figure. His career began painting for the potters Kleophrades and Euphronios. And Douris stayed painting with these people for most of his life. The last person who Douris ended off painting for was Python. During Douris’ career he made about two hundred and fifty to three hundred vases. Also of course his vases had the same theme that was popular for the time which was during the archaic period. This vase dated back to 490-470 BC. An example of an archaic period vase painting was a painting of the Golden Fleece, but changed it up a little so it would be more relevant to his time. In the painting that is shown Athena is depicted with a snake trimmed aegis cloak and a small owl in her hand. Athena is also holding a spear in her hand to represent that she is the goddess of war strategy, and strength. Hercules is the other person in the painting shown with his usual attire a lion skin cape and a club. This vase can be found in a museum in Munich, Germany. Only some of Douris’ famous work is still around because over time they started to break or get lost so only a select few were found which makes his work more valuable. Not many vase painters could do what Douris did. Some believe that he did around 75,000 vases in his whole life, because that I all he would do.
http://www.theoi.com/Gallery/K8.2.html
http://www.britannica.com/biography/Douris
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena
By: Brent Reed