By Kayla Maedche HIS 325 The Birth of a Goddess Parents Zeus and Metis Zeus swallowed his wife Hephaestus split Zeus head Fullygrown and armed Wisdom head of Zeus Basic Info Characteristics ID: 361756
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Slide1
Athens and Its Goddess
By Kayla Maedche
HIS 325Slide2
The Birth of a Goddess
Parents: Zeus and Metis
Zeus swallowed his wife
Hephaestus split Zeus’ headFully-grown and armedWisdom: head of ZeusSlide3
Basic Info - Characteristics
Origins in Neolithic times
Roman equivalent = Minerva
Goddess of war, wisdom, the state, weaving, and fertility
www.theoi.com/Cult/AthenaTitles.html#Cult
War goddess (
promachos
)
Grants victory in battle as Nike or Nikephoros
Aegis was a battle charm
Injured Ares in the Trojan War
Worshiped in Libya as Neith
Glaukopis:
“bright-eyed,” association with owl’s (
glaux
) eyes
Tritogeneia:
“water-born” or reared by Triton; also means third-born
Pallas Athena
killed Pallas, daughter of Triton, while practicing the art of war
Refers to virginity in contrast to her fertility epithets
Potnia:
Homer recorded this epithet which means queenSlide4
Basic Info – Human Interaction
Trojan War &
The Odyssey
Libya: how to tame horsesAthens: infantry tactics
King Erichthonius: how to harness a chariot
Present during the building of Jason’s
Argo
Welcomed Hercules to Olympus
Guided Perseus against the GorgonsSaved the heart of DionysusInvented the potter’s wheel and the fluteSlide5
Patroness of Athens – Contest
Chose Attica as her special place
Athena vs. Poseidon on the Acropolis
Gifts: olive tree vs. salt springAttica becomes AthensSlide6
Patroness of Athens – Customs
Spousal: Athena’s virginity (pallas) was upheld as proper female behavior in patriarchal society
the maiden’s parents offered a sacrifice for the fruitfulness of the marriage
Fertility: priestess would bear the aegis to a couple’s home
the priestess received a payment for each birth and death of an Athenian
Amphidromia
Naming ceremony when it was believed the child would survive
Olive braches = boy
garlands of wool = girlNurse carried the child around the fireAlliances: a tablet was made with a representation of Athena holding the hand of the other city’s patron god
Military: the aegis was hung over the walls of the city to prevent defeatSlide7
Patroness of Athens – Festivals
Arrephoria: young, noble girls descended from Athena’s temple to take sacred objects underground near Aphrodite’s sanctuary
Scirophoria: priests and priestesses form a procession under a large parasol (
sciron)
Panathenaea: procession to the Acropolis with the sacred robe (
peplos
) and olive branches; included many events and ceremonies
Greater Panathenaea was held every 4
th year where other city-states participated at AthensSlide8
Athens - Characteristics
Plain of Attica
Triangular tract in the Aegean Sea
Basin area that is surrounded by hills and mountainsTheater of Dionysus
Plato’s Academy; “Athens is the city hall of Wisdom”
Aristotle’s Lyceum
Cradle of western civilization and the birthplace of democracy
Important center of early Hellenistic Greece
Nicknamed “the glorious city”Athenians were the most pious and religious of all GreeksSlide9
Athens – Brief Timeline
3000 BC: first settlement on the Acropolis
566 BC: Panathenaic festival established
534 BC: first tragedy performed at Dionysian festival508 BC: Became a democracy under Kleisthenes
5
th
Century BC: Golden Age of Athens under the reign of Pericles
431-404 BC: Peloponnesian War
387 BC: Plato founds the Academy44 AD: Apostle Paul visits Athens Acts 17: 21 – locals interested in the latest ideas
132 AD: Emperor Hadrian’s library is built
476 AD: Roman Empire falls; Athens declines
529 AD: became a Byzantine provincial town
13
th
Century AD: invaded by the Crusaders
15
th
Century AD: occupied by Turks
1833: became the Greek capital
1896: first modern Olympic gamesSlide10
Acropolis
Citadel stands 150ft. above the Athenian plain
Fortified along the Cecropian rock
Strongest area in the cityPersians set it on fireSlide11
Parthenon
Parthenos:
Maiden; also known as “Virgin’s House”
447 -438 BC: construction time438-432 BC: Phidias’ creates its’ sculptures
Built with 230,000 metric tonnes of marble from Mt. Pentelicon
Architects: Ictinus and Callicrates
Western end: held the bank
Eastern end: statue of Athena
Emperor Hadrian’s reign: repaired and beautifiedTransformed into a church for Mary1687- destroyed by a Venetian battery when used by the TurksSlide12
ParthenonSlide13
44 AD: Paul in Athens
Acts 17:16 – greatly distressed (
paroxysm)
to see the city full of idols in 44 ADParoxysm means sudden, violent emotion
Acts 17:18 – spoke with Epicurean and Stoic philosophers
Was called a
spermalog
(babbler, courtier, or buffoon)
Acts 17:22 – saw their religious nature (deisidaimones)Vague word meaning cowardice towards the divine, or deep superstitionActs 17:24 – Paul preached to the Athenians on Mars Hill (
Areopagus
)
Civic place to hear new ideas; also used for trials before the Council of the State
Truth that God is not man-made and will raise His believers into everlasting Life
Acts 17:34 – mixed responses, but many accepted the faith Slide14
Symbolism – The OwlOwl perched on Zeus’ wrist
Glaux:
a small, strictly nocturnal owl
Shorthand mark for AthensAgathocles let out owls among his troops so that they would gain courage
Representation of wisdom, death, and destruction
Owl’s cry: impending doomSlide15
Symbolism – The Olive
Sacred olive tree beside the temple; represented the fate (
moira
) of the cityCustomary to plant one at the birth of each citizen
Blessings of prosperity and good fortune
Eiresione: olive branch hung annually over every family’s door
Victors at athletic games were crowned with branchesSlide16
Symbolism – The Spindle
Spinning: as early as Homer; “spinner of fate”
Protective care over the peaceful arts of the city
The Peplos (sacred robe)
Wove one for herself and for Hera
Given in special occasions like the Panathanaea
Sign of sovereignty
“net of destiny”
Arachne, the princess of LydiaSlide17
Symbolism – The SnakeLegendary snake guarded the Acropolis
Snake’s absence in the Persian attack
Erichthonios was the foster son of Athena
Sign of agricultural fertilityProphetic animal (Tiresias)
Anyone who ate a snake became wiseSlide18
Representation in Art
Two general classes: standing with weapons; sitting without weapons (
potnia
)Palladium: Standing pose without weapons
originally at the city of Troy; the city could not be defeated while it had the image
Promachos: Standing with feet apart striding forward; dates to the Bronze AgeSlide19
Modern HomageState seal of California
US Women’s Navy
US Military Academy
Athens of the SouthOver 30 USA locationsSlide20
Modern Homage