Athena and Athens

Who is Athena?

I asked this question at the start of this blog, thinking it would result in a clear, definite answer. But what I discovered is that Athena cannot be summed up in a sentence. She is masculine and feminine, the virgin warrior, Zeus’s single parented or ‘third born’ daughter, ugly and sexual, the vengeful punisher and the leader of heroes. Athena is a contradiction; she breaks social and gender specific boundaries, but is venerated as the patron and role model of Athenian citizens.

With regard to Athena and Athens, their shared name illustrates a shared history; they can be studied together in a way that other gods and cities cannot. I would argue that, despite being largely considered an outsider to Greece[1] and being widely venerated in other cities, for example Athena Poliouchos (city protector) of Sparta, she was much more closely linked to Athens than other places, and of more importance to Athens  than other patrons to their cities. Athens was unusual in Greece; it was monocentric – the Acropolis was the physical centre of the city, and was both the political and religious centre. In comparison, Hera’s cult site in Argos - the Argive Heraion – was situated on the outskirts of the city; religion and politics was kept separate.



Contest between Athena and Poseidon to become
Patron of Athens
West pediment of Parthenon,
440-432 BC

Eller reflects on Athena and Athens’ shared name, and links the myth of Athena and Poseidon’s battle to be patron deity, referred to in my last post, with the notion of pre-history matriarchal leadership, something we touched upon in class. Because of the vote of one more woman, Athena was victorious. But Poseidon was furious and ‘Apollo recommended that (…) to assuage Poseidon’s anger (…) men should take away women’s right to vote, refuse to call them Athenians and stop the practice if naming children after their mothers.’[2]  So the female goddess won over a male figure, but with her victory came the oppression of mortal women. I called Athena the vengeful punisher and leader of heroes; this can be seen throughout my blog – in my introduction I referred to the punishment of Arachne for claiming to be more skilled at weaving than Athena, and in my last entry I included an image of Athena guiding Heracles to heaven. Despite her own female victory over a male, Athena punishes women and glorifies men.

So who is this changeable goddess? In my first entry for this blog, I talked about Zaidman’s idea that the gods were creations, not creators. Athena was not an omniscient, perfect ruler of the cosmos, she had humanlike flaws, is one of a collection of deities and was subject to fate.  I mentioned that some myths and cultures consider her an outsider to Greece; Athena Xenia (protector of strangers) is other, different and she protects those like her. [3] Her masculine roles further emphasise her otherness – she is Athena Ariea (of war), Promachos (champion) and Eryma (defender.) She does not fit the Athenian stereotype, but as Athena Parthenos (maiden), Athena Nike (victory) and Athena Polias (of the city) they venerated her as she was.  

Through my study of this complex goddess and her epithets in relation to topics arising from my Ancient Greek Religion lectures, I have seen that her diverse nature encompasses more than I originally thought, and through this diversity, she is intertwined with the myths, roles and relationships of other deities; she is at the heart of Athenian culture and highly significant in the Olympic Pantheon.

For an extensive list of Athena’s epithets, I have included a link to this website: http://www.theoi.com/Cult/AthenaTitles.html

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[1] Farnell, L. R. (2010) The Cults of the Greek State, Volume 1, UK: Cambridge University Press, 268..

[2] Eller, Cynthia. (2011) Gentlemen and Amazons: the Myth of Matriarchal Pre-history, UK: Cambridge University Press, 16.  

[3] Chrimes, K. M. T. (1949) Ancient Sparta: A Re-examination of the Evidence, UK: Manchester University Press, 155.