What type of people worshiped athena

Athena was also the goddess of wisdom, which in her case meant the technical skill of artisans and craftsmen as well as practical sense and cunning. As the goddess of arts and crafts, Athena received credit for inventing many useful tools and arts. Athena introduced the plow, rake, yoke, and bridle to farmers. She also invented the chariot and designed the first ship. Her other inventions included the earthenware pot, the flute, and the trumpet. In addition, Athena first taught the science of mathematics as well as such household arts as spinning, weaving, and cooking.

Zeus did not fear Athena, though it was foretold that her wisdom and strength would match his own. But he dared not risk the birth of a second child by Metis: a son destined to usurp his dominion. Brave Tydeus? She might have made Tydeus?

But Tydeus slew his own slayer and began gorging on his enemy's brains. Athena recoiled in disgust at the sight, leaving him to die. After swallowing Metis, Zeus didn't give a second thought to the child she was carrying. But one day as he walked along the shore of Lake Tritonis, Zeus was suddenly racked with a splitting headache.

He suffered from so much pain that he roared in agony. Unable to bear the pain, Zeus called upon either Hephaestus or Prometheus, who brought an ax down upon his head, splitting open his skull. Dressed in full armor, an adult Athena emerged from her father's head with a shout that echoed throughout the world.

The birth of Athena completed the evolution from a mother-dominated mythology to one dominated by a supreme patriarch: Zeus. Through two generations, mothers had controlled the power structure of the immortals.

In league with their sons, these mothers had toppled their mates. First, Gaia had conspired with her son Cronus to castrate Uranus. Next, Rhea? Zeus ended this pattern, however, by swallowing Metis and the unborn Athena. In appropriating the female function of giving birth, Zeus ended the line of female supremacy. For Athena, born out of Zeus's head, owed no loyalty to any mother. The goddess of war, unlike her aggressive half-brother Ares, the god of war, had little taste for blood.

Though often depicted in full armor? Athena derived more pleasure from peaceful resolutions of disputes than from battle. In keeping with her aversion to bloodlust, Athena was also merciful. When seated on the tribunal that tried Orestes for murdering his mother after she had murdered his father, for example, Athena voted for acquittal see All's Not Fair in Love and War: The Fall of Troy. Athena hid the infant Erichthonius in a basket and presented it to the three daughters of King Cecrops of Athens.

She warned them not to open the lid of the basket. But two of the girls disobeyed. Shocked to see a child with a snake's tail instead of legs, the two sisters ran off a cliff and died. So Athena took him back and reared him with great love and tenderness in her shrine on the Acropolis. If she did have to fight, she did so with a sense of purpose and effectiveness. According to the stories, both Athena and Poseidon wanted to be the main patron deity of Athens. To resolve this, they had a competition.

Each would present Athens with a gift. The Athenians would then vote and choose which gift they preferred, making the winner the Patron. Athena gave the people the olive tree, which provided both nourishment and trade. There are two main ways Athena is typically depicted in artwork.

She is either seen wearing a full-length gown, called a chiton, or as wearing a full suit of armor while bearing a shield. In a popular sculpture, called Mourning Athena, she is depicted weary from battle and resting on her staff. Athena is one of the most popular of the Olympic goddesses, mainly because she represented wisdom and intellectual thought, traits that were highly valued to the Ancient Greeks. She was also the goddess of war, or more specifically, military strategy. Her influence can still be found today at the Parthenon in Athens.

Wikipedia — Athena. Tufts University. Categorized in: Greek Mythology. Share this Greek Mythology Article:.