Download Athena, maenads

Women in Myth & Religion
Athena & the Maenads
Lecture outline
• Beginning of the Athens – foundation myth of
masculine citizenship
• The First Woman, Pandora
• Athena – representations of, myths, religious
practice – what type of a woman and goddess
was Athena? Look at a selection of images
Maenads – who were these woman? What
are there most famous actions? How are these
females represented?
The Beginning of the Athenians
Athenian myth of autochtony
Erichthonios
The Birth of Erichthonios, red-figure
stamnos
The Race of Women
The race of women and all femininity come from
her (the first woman)
From her comes that cursed race, the tribes of
women.
Theogony, 590-591
Pandora
Born out of revenge
Not a natural being, created by Hephaestus
Athena gives her beauty and makes her
dangerous
The Birth of Pandora, Redfigure krater
Who is Athena?
Daughter of Zeus
Parton Goddess of Athens
The goddess of wisdom, courage,
inspiration, civilization, law and
justice, just warfare, mathematics,
strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and
skill
Virgin goddess
The Parthenon
Victory Monument – on the
Acropolis at Athens, highest point
Began in 447 BC, completed in
438, decorations finally finished in
432 BC
Project tainted by corruption
Erected to honour Athena
How does this monument reflect
Athena?
Athena v. Poseidon: West pediment
Reconstruction of the West Pediment
Depicting the conflict between Athena and Poseidon
The olive tree against seawater
Greeks and Amazons
West Metopes
Athena is similar but significantly different to the Amazons!
The Consequences…
• Three fold penalty imposed upon women to
appease Poseidon:
– Women were deprived of the vote,
– of their ability to pass on their names to their
children
– and of their right to be addressed as Athenian
women
Birth of Athena: East pediment
Reconstruction of East pediment
East Frieze
Festival preparations and
Athena sitting with
Hephaestus
Girl and maiden
Colossal Athena of Pheidias
Representing Athena
• Decide upon one image to discuss
• What is the most important characteristic of
Athena displayed here?
• How does the type of representation effect
this?
Thesmorphoria
In honour of Demeter Thesmophoros
Held throughout the Greek world, most well
documented in Athens
Main features: secrecy, pig sacrifice, and promoting
agricultural fertility
Who killed the pigs?
Maenads: Worshippers of Dionysus
Abandon, without control
Possessed by Dionysus
The Bacchae
• Performed in 405 BC
• The consequences of banning the worship of
Dionysus to the King of Thebes
• Play involves transvestism and aggression
Maenads of the mountains
• “ To the mountain, to the mountain”
– Ritual cry in the Bacchae
Dancing on the mountain, beating their drums –
dancing with abandon, but not necessarily alcoholic
and sexual excess!
Drawing wine in Athens: ‘Lenaea
vases’
Drawing wine during the Lenaea festival?
Comparing Athena and a maenad