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Goering 1
Leah Goering
Ms. Sara Pohl
English 9
9 May, 2013
Athena
When most people think of a newborn, they think of a cute little baby. As told by
Hamilton, Athena was not quite that. Born from Zeus’s head in full armor, filled with knowledge
was how Athena came into this world (See picture in the appendix). This immediately set her up
to be special, but over the years she became so much more than that. Athena’s status as the
goddess of wisdom has made a big impact on the world since the day she was born, and
continues to show up in the world now, just in different ways.
In ancient times, Athena (Minerva in Rome) was perceived as the god of wisdom and war
strategy. She had piercing grey eyes and was always documented wearing full battle armor.
Athena was worshipped by the village of Athens, for her generous gift of the olive tree. The
Athenians even built her temple called the Parthenon that can still be found in Greece today. Her
virginity was a huge part of her life, though she did have one child. This child was conceived
because Athena was the victim of rape. Athena was so powerful, that she rarely had time for her
one child. Athena even used her power to turn a woman named Arachne into the first spider (see
appendix for story). She could always be found leaned over a table, using her stubborn war-like
point of view to create detailed plans not even the toughest of monsters could withstand. For this
reason, and the fact that she was Zeus’s child alone, Athena was heavily favored by Zeus, the
king of gods and her father. She was the only one allowed to possess his all-powerful lightning
bolt at any given time, and was allowed to hold Aegis as well. She definitely didn’t let this power
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get to her head; she was very stubborn, but down to earth at the same time. Using her knowledge
and words, she could talk to anyone. In ancient times Athena was very wise and portrayed in
ways that showed her true personality and values.
Athena is still seen as the wisdom goddess now days, but her original stories and
personalities have been modified to fit modern day beliefs. No longer is Athena really associated
with being a war goddess. She is strictly known as the goddess of wisdom to people in modern
society, even though she does still make some of the battle strategies and battle plans. She is far
less favored by Zeus, and even believed in some myths to be the daughter of Zeus and Metis, not
just Zeus. Another aspect of Athena that has changed with modern day perception is her
virginity. She has many children common day with regular mortals. As according to Percy
Jackson and the Olympians, Athena had lots of demigod children, and that her virgin status did
not mean anything to her. Some of her ideas are still important to her though. For instance, she
created the bridle for horses, and domesticated them so people could use then for work. People
still use horses for work and many other things to this day. In ways like this, Athena’s gifts to the
people lasted forever. Even with these developments, Athena is still looked to and worshipped
for the goddess she is seen as today.
With the change in Athena’s personality and being, people saw her differently. These
new changes meant that her stories would be altered forever. The gods and stories are changed as
the years go on to fit what people at that time believe to be socially acceptable. Anything else is
slowly changed and pushed out of the picture. For instance, Athena in ancient times was war
oriented and all devoted to battle, but in common time she is looked to only for her wisdom. This
is because people want life to be less war filled. They wanted to believe that war could go away,
so they changed their beliefs to make Athena’s personality less devoted to war. She has also been
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changed to not be strictly virgin, which could be because virginity is not seen as such an
importance in modern day, at least not like how it used to be. Athena in modern times has
become less war oriented, and is no longer strictly virgin. I believe that this could be a great
example of how what people value can alter what they believe, and how they perceive the world
as a whole.
Athena is the goddess of wisdom, since ancient times. People have changed their ideas of
her and altered her original stories, but she will forever remain the goddess of ultimate wisdom
in our minds. She is knowledge. So just remember, the next time you are taking a test and forgot
to study, look to Athena for guidance.
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Work Cited
“Athena - Ancient Greek Goddess." Athena - Ancient Greek Goddess. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May
2013.
Donn, Lin. “Athena & Minerva- Ancient Greek & Roman Gods for kids.” Athena and MinervaAncient Greek and Roman Gods for kids. N.p, n.d. Web. 16 May 2013.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heros. New York City: New American
Library, 1969
Hazitsinidou, Evangelia. “Geek-gods.info” Athena, Arachne and the Weaving Contest, N.p, 28
February 2013. Web. 5 May, 2013
O’Connor, George. Athena: Grey- eyed goddess. New York: First Second. 2010
"Webpage.pace.edu - /nreagin/tempmotherhood/spring02h/." Webpage.pace.edu /nreagin/tempmotherhood/spring02h/. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2013.
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Appendix
“In a small town of Ledia, in Northern Greece, there once lived a beautiful maid with the name
Arachne. Arachne was famous in town for being a very skillful weaver and spinner and every
day many girls and nymphs were stopping by to see her weave.
However, Arachne was a very vain girl and couldn’t stop boasting about her talent. She claimed
that she had learned the skill all by herself and that there was no one else in the world who could
weave as delicately as her... she even felt that she could compete against Athena, the goddess of
skill, and win her with ease.
When Athena heard these words, she got disappointed and decided to disguise as an old lady and
appear in front of Arachne.
"My dear", she told Arachne, "I am old and have much experience from life, so let me give you
one advice: don’t ever mess up with a goddess! No mortal can compete against Athena. Take
back your words and kindly ask for forgiveness..." Arachne got furious and threw the thread
against the old woman, telling her:
"I don’t need your advice, I know best what I can do! If Athena really dares, then she should
come here and compete against me!"
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At that moment, the old woman transformed herself into the radiant goddess Athena. On her
sight, everybody in the room kneeled down in awe... not so Arachne, who couldn't wait to
compete against her.
Soon the competition started and both contestants were doing really well. Athena was weaving
the Parthenon and her contest with god Poseidon. Arachne, on the other hand, was making fun of
the gods by weaving scenes of gods full of weaknesses and fears.
Arachne’s work seemed to be perfect technically, yet it was not beautiful because it was showing
disregard of the gods. When she saw this, Athena became very offended and told Arachne:
"You may be foolish and stubborn, but you seem to love your work. So why don’t you go ahead
and spin forever!"
Immediately, Athena sprinkled her with the juice of magical herbs and the body of Arachne
transformed into a small and ugly animal, which nowadays is known as the spider”.
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“In ancient Greece, each town had a special deity, a god that looked after them. Poseidon
was Zeus' brother. He was Athena's uncle. He was also Lord of the Sea. Poseidon was a very
powerful god. He loved attention. He loved having towns build temples to worship him. He
loved the gifts people brought him.
Poseidon was always on the lookout for towns that had not yet been claimed by a god. He
wanted as many towns as possible to call his own. Although towns could only have one god to
watch over them, gods could watch over as many towns as they chose.
One day, Athena, goddess of wisdom, and Poseidon, lord of the sea, both claimed the village of
Athens. Back then, Athens was pretty small. Normally, the people would have been thrilled to be
selected by a god to watch over them. But two gods at once? A town could have only one
guardian, and they did not want to choose. They did not want to anger either god.
Athena, who was wise as well as beautiful, understood their worry. She suggested that both gods
should give the town a gift. The townspeople could decide which gift was better. Poseidon loved
the idea. The townspeople, if possible, were even more nervous than before.
Poseidon tapped the side of the mountain. Water flowed out in a beautiful stream. Fresh water
was so important. The people were sure Poseidon had won. When they tasted the water, they
tried to smile, but they had to spit the water out. It was salt water!
Then Athena waved her hand. An olive tree began to grow. The people tasted the olives. Smiles
broke out. The olives were delicious. The olive tree would provide food, shelter, and oil for
cooking. It was a magnificent gift indeed.
But no coastal town in their right mind would risk angering the lord of the sea, the mighty
Poseidon. Fortunately, for the people of Athens, they did not have to choose.
Poseidon threw back his head and laughed his hearty roar. "Yours is a far better gift than mine,
my lovely niece. I award you Athens."
And that is how Athena became the guardian of the city-state of Athens. Even today, Athena's
special tree is the olive.”
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