Athena

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Cryptonomicon and Enoch Root reverberate with Athena's echoes

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Community entry: Wikipedia: Athena

0434011770.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Cover of The System of the World (UK)
is a collage with a detail from
"The Goddess Athena Diguissing Ulysses
as a Beggar" by Giuseppe Bottani
and "London landscape" by Jan Griffier. Athena (also transliterated Athene), goddess of wisdom, associated by the Romans with their Etruscan goddess Minerva, was attended by her owl, Bubo, carried the goatskin armor called the aegis and was accompanied by the goddess of victory, Nike. Athena is an armed warrior goddess, never a child, always a virgin, (parthenos). The Parthenon at Athens is her most famous shrine. She never had a consort or lover.

Minerva was a Goddess in Roman mythology. Her name may have originally meant "thought". Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter and Juno. She was considered to be the virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and the inventor of music. She was the equivalent of the Greek goddess Athena (more details can be found there). As Minerva Medica, she was the goddess of medicine and doctors. She may be based on the Etruscan Menrva. In Etruscan mythology, Menrva was the Etruscan Athena from Greek mythology. Like Athena, Menrva was born from the head of her father, Tinia. She was associated with the Roman goddess Minerva. Menrva, Tinia and Uni were part of a triumvirate. Ovid called her the "goddess of a thousand works." Minerva was worshipped throughout Italy, though only in Rome did she take on a warlike character. Minerva is usually depicted wearing a coat of mail and a helmet, and carrying a spear. The Romans celebrated her worship from March 19 to 23 during the Quinquatria, the artisans' holiday and a lesser version, the Quinquatrus was held on June 13. Minerva was worshipped on the Capitoline Hill as one of the Capitoline Triad along with Jupiter and Juno. In the early 20th century, Manuel José Estrada Cabrera, President of Guatemala, tried to promote a "Cult of Minerva" in his country; this left little legacy other than a few interesting Hellenic style "Temples" in parks around Guatemala. In Greek mythology, Nike (Greek Νικη, pronounced Nee-kay, meaning "Victory") (Roman equivalent: Victoria), was a goddess who personified triumph and victory. She was a companion of Athena. She was capable of running and flying at great speeds. Nike was the daughter of Pallas and Styx and the sister of Cratos, Bia, and Zelus. She was depicted as having wings and wearing a billowing robe, carrying a wreath and a staff. Nike and her siblings were all companions of Zeus. The most famous representation of Nike is the Winged Victory of Samothrace, in the Louvre, Paris. The name given in English to a statue found on the island of Samothrace (Greek Samothraki) in 1863 by the French archaeologist Charles Champoiseau. In Greek it is called the (Νίκη της Σαμοθράκης) and in French La Victoire de Samothrace ). There are numerous copies around the world. The Greeks would like it back. The Victory is considered one of the great surviving masterpieces of Greek sculpture, even though it is missing its head and arms. It is by an unknown artist and is thought to date from about 190 BCE (though some scholars date it as early as 250 BCE or as late as 180 BCE). A partial inscription on the base of the statue includes the word "Rhodhios" (Rhodes), indicating that the statue was commissioned to celebrate a naval victory by Rhodes , at that time the most powerful maritime state in the Aegean . The Samothrace Archaeological Museum, however, says that the statue was an offering donated by the Macedonian general Demetrius I Poliorcetes after his naval victory at Cyprus. This would date the statue to 288 BCE at the latest.

The statue originally stood on the prow of a stone ship, probably as part of an outdoor altar, and was intended to represent the goddess as she descended from the skies to bring victory to the fleet. Before losing her arms she had been blowing a victory paean on a trumpet. In 1950 one of the statue's hands was found on Samothrace and is now in a glass case in the Louvre next to the podium on which the statue stands. The statue shows a mastery of form and movement which has impressed critics and artists since its discovery.

The Victory is one of the Louvre's great treasures, and it is displayed in the most dramatic fashion, at the head of the sweeping Daru Staircase. The loss of the head and arms, while regrettable in a sense, is held by many to enhance the statue's depiction of the supernatural.

History

Athena was already a goddess in the Aegean before the coming of the Greeks. Her name derives from a pre-Greek language layer earlier than the Mycenaeans and its real meaning is lost. Athena is associated with Athens, a plural name because it was the place where she presided over her sisterhood, the Athenai, in earlest times.

In the Olympian pantheon, Athena was remade as the favorite daughter of Zeus, born from his head, the culmination of his Olympian ascendancy over the matriarchal Great Goddess of the earlier culture. Her birth is told in other versions. In one, Zeus lay with Metis, the goddess of crafty thought, but immediately feared the consequences. It had been prophesied that Metis would bear children more powerful than Zeus himself. In order to forestall these dire consequences, Zeus transformed Metis into a fly and swallowed her immediately after lying with her. He was too late: Metis had already conceived a child. Metis immediately began making a helmet and robe for her fetal daughter. The hammering as she made the helmet caused Zeus great pain and Prometheus, Hephaestus, Hermes or Palaemon (depending on the sources examined) cleaved Zeus's head with the double-headed Minoan axe (" labrys "). Athena leaped from Zeus's head, fully grown and armed, and Zeus was none the worse for the experience.

Athena was patron of the art of weaving and other crafts, wisdom and battle. Unlike Ares, who was hot-headed and undependable in battle, Athena's domain was strategy and tactics. Having taken the side of the Greeks in the war against Troy, Athena assisted the wily Odysseus on his journey home.

Athena In Art

Athena is classically portrayed wearing full armor, carrying a lance and a shield with the head of the gorgon Medusa mounted on it. It is in this posture that she was depicted in Phidias's famous gold and ivory statue of her, now lost to history, in the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis. Athena is also often depicted with an owl (a symbol of wisdom) sitting on one of her shoulders.

In earlier, archaic portraits of Athena in vase-paintings, the goddess retains some of her Minoan character, such as great birdwings.

Appellations

Helmeted Athena, of the Velletri type.
Roman copy (1st century CE) of a Greek original by Kresilas
dating from 430 BC (Louvre Museum) It is interesting to note that, while Homer's epithet ("glaucopis") for Athena is usually translated "grey-eyed," "owl-visaged" suggests her archaic images with the bird of night perched on her head.

In her role as judge at Orestes' a trial on the murder of his mother, Clytemnestra (which he won), Athena won the epithet "Athena Areia."

Athena was often associated with the local Aeginian goddess, Aphaea. She had the epithet "Athena Ergane" as the patron of craftsmen and artisans. She was often referred to with the epithet "Pallas Athena". Pallas was an ambiguous figure, sometimes male sometimes female, never imagined apart from Athena. She killed Pallas in a mistake, and ever after wore her/his goatskin fringed with chthonic serpents, as the protective aegis.

Aegis (Gr. Aigis ), in Homer, is the shield or buckler of Zeus, fashioned for him by Hephaestus, furnished with tassels and bearing the Gorgon's head in the centre. Originally symbolic of the storm-cloud, it is probably derived from aisso, signifying rapid, violent motion. When the god shakes it, Mount Ida is wrapped in clouds, the thunder rolls and men are smitten with fear. He sometimes lends it to Athena and (rarely) to Apollo. In a later story (Hyginus, Poet. Astronom. ii. 13) Zeus is said to have used the skin of the goat Amalthea (aigis=goat-skin) which suckled him in Crete, as a buckler when he went forth to do battle against the giants. Another legend represents the aegis as a fire-breathing monster like the Chimera, which was slain by Athene, who afterwards wore its skin as a cuirass (Diodorus Siculus iii. 70). Still others say it was the skin of Pallas. Another version describes it to have been really the goat's skin used as a belt to support the shield. When so used it would generally be fastened on the right shoulder, and would partially envelop the chest as it passed obliquely round in front and behind to be attached to the shield under the left arm. Hence, by transference, it would be employed to denote at times the shield which it supported, and at other times a cuirass, the purpose of which it in part served. In accordance with this double meaning the aegis appears in works of art sometimes as an animal's skin thrown over the shoulders and arms, sometimes as a cuirass, with a border of snakes corresponding to the tassels of Homer, usually with the Gorgon's head in the centre. It is often represented on the statues of Roman emperors, heroes and warriors, and on cameos and vases.

With the epithet "Athena Parthenos" ("virgin"), Athena was worshipped at the Parthenon . With the epithet "Athena Promachos" she led in battle. With the epithet "Athena Polias" ("of the city"), Athena was the protectress of Athens and the Acropolis. (giving us the origin of the word parthenogenesis or virgin birth)

Episodes

Erichthonius

According to Apollodorus, Hephaestus attempted to rape Athena but was unsuccessful. His semen fell on the ground, and Erichthonius was born from the earth. Athena then raised the baby as a foster mother. Alternatively, the semen landed on Athena's leg, and she wiped it off with a piece of wool which she tossed on the ground. Erichthonius arose from the ground and the wool. Another version says that Hephaestus wanted Athena to marry him but she disappeared on his bridal bed; he ejaculated onto the ground instead. Athena gave three sisters, Herse, Pandrosus and Aglaulus the baby in a small box and warned them to never open it. Aglaulus and Herse opened the box which contained the infant and future-king, Erichthonius. The sight caused Herse and Aglaulus to go insane and they threw themselves off the Acropolis.

An alternative version of the same story is that while Athena was gone to bring a mountain to use in the Acropolis, the two willful sisters opened the box. A crow witnessed the opening and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain (now Mt. Lykabettos). Once again, Herse and Aglaulus went insane and threw themselves to their deaths off a cliff.

Erichthonius later became King of Athens and implemented many beneficial changes to Athenian culture. During this time, Athena frequently protected him.

Athens

Athena competed with Poseidon to be the patron deity of Athens. They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift and the Athenians would choose whichever gift they preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a spring sprung up; the water was salty and not very useful, whereas Athena offered them the first domesticated olive tree. The Athenians (or their king, Cecrops) accepted the olive tree and along with it Athena as their patron, for the olive tree brought wood, oil and food. This is thought to remember a clash between the inhabitants during Mycenaean times and newer immigrants. It is interesting to note that Athens at its height was a significant sea power, defeating the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis near Salamis Island in 480 BCE. Athena was also the patron goddess of several other cities, notably Sparta.

Arachne

A woman named Arachne once boasted that she was a superior weaver to Athena, the goddess of weaving. Athena appeared to her disguised as an old woman and told Arachne to repent for her hubris but Arachne instead challenged Athena to a contest. The old woman threw off her disguise and the contest began. Athena wove a depiction of the conflict with Poseidon over Athens, while Arachne wove a depiction of Zeus' many exploits. Athena was furious at her skill (the contest was never decided), and her choice of subject, and, with a touch, struck Arachne with terrific guilt. Arachne hanged herself and Athena turned her into the first spider.

Perseus and Medusa

Athena guided Perseus in eliminating Medusa, a dangerous unreformed relic of the old pre-Olympian order, and she was awarded the grisly trophy that turned men to stone, for her shield.

Heracles

Athena instructed Heracles how to remove the skin from the Nemean Lion, by using the lion's own claws to cut through its thick hide. The lion's hide became Heracles' signature garment, along with the olive-wood club he used in the battle. Athena also assisted Heracles on a few other labors. She also helped Heracles defeat the Stymphalian Birds, along with Hephaestus.

Tiresias and Chariclo

Athena blinded Tiresias after he stumbled onto her bathing naked. His mother, Chariclo, begged her to undo her curse, but Athena couldn't; she gave him prophecy instead.

Miscellaneous

Athena (Minerva) is the subject of the $50 1915-S Panama-Pacific commemorative coin. At 2 1/2-oz. gold, this is the largest (by weight) coin ever produced by the U.S. mint. This was the first $50 coin issued by the U.S. mint and no higher was produced until the production of the $100 platinum coins in 1997. Of course, in terms of face-value in adjusted dollars, the 1915 is the highest denomination ever issued by the U.S. mint.

Aegis is also the name given to the US Navy's surface combat system - capable of engaging multiple targets at once, the Aegis combat system was developed to meet the threat of anti-ship missiles that arose in the mid-20th century.

Aegis International is the name of a civil defence journal published in English and German in the 1980s. It contained articles on things such as siren systems, shelters, and protective clothing. (Vol 2 No.3 Apr/May 1983, for instance, features a color cover photo of a family dressed head to foot in chemical/radiation protection suits, fleeing across an open field.)