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Pallas Athena, the goddess
Content:
The Birth of Pallas Athena from the head of Zeus
Athena the goddess of War
Athena the goddess of Wisdom
The Virginity of Pallas Athena
Myths about Pallas Athena
Panathenaea holidays in honor of Athena
The Birth of Pallas Athena from the head of Zeus
The goddess Pallas Athena, according to the myths of ancient Greece, was born from the head of Zeus.
Zeus knew that the goddess of reason, Metis (Metis), would have two children: a daughter, Athena, and a son of extraordinary intelligence and strength.
The goddesses of fate Moira informed Zeus that this son would take away his power over the world.
To avoid this, Zeus put Metis to sleep with affectionate speeches and swallowed her before the birth of children.
Soon Zeus felt a terrible pain in his head.
To get rid of her, he called his son Hephaestus and ordered his head to be cut off.
With an axe blow, Hephaestus split the skull of Zeus, and from there, to the amazement of the other Olympian gods, a powerful and beautiful warrior, the goddess Pallas Athena, came out in full armor.
Athena's blue eyes glowed with divine wisdom.
The birth of Athena from the head of Zeus.
Drawing on an amphora of the second half of the VI century BC.
Athena – the goddess of war
Athena is the "blue eyed virgin", the goddess of the clear sky, dispersing the clouds with her sparkling spear, attaching to her shield, the Aegis, the serpent haired head of the terrible Gorgon Medusa, the black daughter of the night, at the same time the goddess of victorious energy in every struggle: she is armed with a shield, a sword and a spear.
The goddess Pallas Athena was considered by the Greeks to be the inventor of the art of war.
She is always accompanied by the winged goddess of victory (Nika).
Athena is the guardian of cities, the goddess of the acropolis; in honor of her, the goddess of the Athenian Acropolis, the Athenians celebrated the great and small Panathenaic holidays.
Being the goddess of war, Athena, however, did not experience joy in battles, like the gods Ares and Eris, but preferred to resolve disputes in peace.
In peaceful days, she did not carry weapons, and during wars she received them from Zeus.
However, when Pallas entered the battle, she never lost it – even to the god of war Ares himself.
Athena the goddess of Wisdom
Pallas Athena keeps order in the changes of the weather, so that after a thunderstorm that gave rain, the sky clears up again: but she is also the goddess of fertility of fields and gardens; under her protection the olive tree grew in Attica, which was so important for this land; she gives prosperity to the house and family.
Under the patronage of Pallas Athena is the civil system, tribal institutions, state life; the goddess of the all pervading and clear ether, the goddess Athena became in the myths about the gods of Ancient Greece the goddess of discernment of the mind, prudence, the goddess of all inventions of art, the goddess of artistic activity, intellectual pursuits, the goddess of wisdom.
It gives wisdom and knowledge, teaches people arts and crafts.
The girls of ancient Greece honored Pallas Athena as a teacher of home crafts – culinary art, weaving and spinning.
No one can surpass the goddess Athena in the art of weaving.
The ancient Greek myth said that it was very dangerous to compete with her in this – Arachne, the daughter of Idmon, who wanted to surpass Athena in this art, paid cruelly for her arrogance.
The ancient Greeks believed that the goddess of wisdom Pallas Athena made a great many useful inventions: she created a flute, a trumpet, a ceramic pot, a plow, a rake, a yoke for oxen, bridles for horses, a chariot, a ship, the art of counting.
Therefore, the ancient Greek generals always tried to get useful advice from Athena.
Pallas Athena was famous for her kindness, and therefore, when the judges disagreed at the trials in the Athenian Areopagus, she always gave her vote for the acquittal of the accused.
The goddess Athena fills the cup of Hercules with wine.
An ancient Greek vessel of about 480-470 BC.
Little by little, Pallas Athena became the goddess of all that the Athenians were proud of: the clear sky of Attica, its olive groves, the state institutions of the Athenians, their prudence in war, their courage, their science, poetry, art – everything entered into their idea of their patroness, the goddess "The Virgin of Athens".
The whole life of the Athenians was closely connected with their service to the goddess Pallas Athena, and before they put up her statue in the Parthenon temple, they had already honored her for many centuries in her mythical symbol, the olive tree.
The Virginity of Pallas Athena
Virginity was the most characteristic and integral part of the cult of the goddess Athena.
According to Greek myths, many gods, titans and giants wanted to enter into marital relations with Pallas, but she rejected all courtship.
Once, during the Trojan War, not wanting to ask for weapons from Zeus, who did not support either the Hellenes or the Trojans, Athena asked Hephaestus to make her own armor.
Hephaestus agreed, but said that he would do the work not for money, but for love.
Not understanding the meaning of what was said, Athena came to the forge of Hephaestus for armor.
He rushed to the goddess and tried to take her.
It is claimed that Hephaestus was encouraged to do this by Poseidon, who lost a dispute to Athena for the possession of Attica: the sea god convinced the Olympic blacksmith of Pallas ' secret desire for someone to take her by force.
Athena, however, escaped from the hands of Hephaestus, but at the same time his seed spilled on her just above the knee.
Pallas wiped herself with a piece of wool and threw it.
The seed of Hephaestus fell on mother earth Gaia and fertilized her.
Gaia, dissatisfied with this, said that she would not raise her unborn child from Hephaestus.
Athena then announced that she would raise him herself.
Statue of the Virgin Athena in the Parthenon.
The sculptor Phidias
When the child was born, he was named Erichtony.
It was one of the mythical ancestors of the Athenians.
After taking Erichtony from Gaia, Pallas Athena put him in a sacred casket and gave him to Aglavra, the eldest daughter of the Athenian king Cecrops.
The sad fate of Aglavra, her mother and two sisters is told in the myth of Erichtonia.
All four were killed, because Aglavra tried to deceive the god Hermes.
Hearing about their sad fate, the upset Athena dropped a huge rock that she was carrying to the Acropolis of Athens in order to better strengthen it.
This rock was named Mount Lycabetta.
The crow, who gave Pallas Athena the sad news about the death of the women of the Cecrops family, was turned black by the goddess from white.
Since then, all crows are black.
Pallas forbade them to appear on the acropolis of Athens.
The goddess Pallas Athena hid Erichtonia in her aegis and raised it.
Later he became the king of Athens and introduced the cult of his named mother in this city.
After his death, Erichtony was ascended to heaven, becoming the constellation of the Charioteer, because he, with the help of the goddess Athena, was the first to learn how to use a chariot drawn by four horses.
For the Athenians, the idea of the virginity of their main goddess symbolized the inaccessibility of their city.
Some scientists believe that in the most ancient myths, Pallas Athena was not a virgin, but had children from Hephaestus, Poseidon and the god of the winds Boreas.
Some vague memories of these myths have been preserved in historical Hellas – at least in the above story about Athena and Hephaestus.
Erichtony, most likely, was initially considered the son of Athena and Poseidon.
The rest of this myth is preserved in the legend that Erichtony was the first to ride the quadriga chariot, which in the ancient Greek religion was an invariable attribute of Poseidon.
Myths about Pallas Athena
The most famous myths about Athena (except for the above story about Erichtonia) are the legends about the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the possession of Attica, about the sculptor Pygmalion, about Athena and the satyr Marcia, about Arachne and about Athena's participation on the side of the Greeks in the Trojan War.
Panathenaea holidays in honor of Athena
Of the many festivals that ancient Athens celebrated in honor of its patron goddess, and which were mostly agricultural in nature, the most important were the "small Panathenaea" and "great Panathenaea".
The small ones were celebrated every year, in the summer; the great ones once every four years.
According to ancient Greek myths, the Panathenaea were established by the son of Cecrops Erechtheus, a pupil of Athena, the personification of a fertile field.
Competitions of runners during the Panathenas.
The vase is about 530 BC.
On the great Panathenaea, the entire population of Attica converged in Athens; a solemn procession carried to the Acropolis a mantle (Peplos) embroidered by Athenians for the ancient statue of the goddess Pallas Athena, which stood in her Acropolis temple.
This robe was saffron in color; the embroidery on it was gold, and represented scenes from the victorious battles of the goddess Athena with the titans.
The priests went first with sacrificial animals; the priests were followed by the Meteks (foreigners who lived in Athens); they carried sacrificial vessels and other accessories.
The Meteks were followed by girls, the daughters of respected families of Athenian citizens, and carried on their heads a harvest wreath, baskets with sacred barley, honey, sacrificial loaves; the daughters of the Meteks held umbrellas over them to protect them from the hot summer sun.
Further on, there was a platform mounted on wheels; a mast was fixed on it; the peplos of the goddess Pallas Athena was tied to the mast.
Behind the platform were musicians, followed by young men in myrtle wreaths; some were on foot and sang hymns in honor of the goddess, others were on horseback, armed with a shield and a spear.
Then cheerful old men walked through the streets of Athens with olive branches in their hands; behind them they carried awards intended for the winners at the games: olive wreaths, vessels with olive oil; they carried gifts to the temple.
They were followed by adult horses and chariots that would compete in running at the games in honor of the goddess Athena.
At the end of the procession, young people belonging to the two first classes of citizens rode on horses.
Parthenon the temple of Athena the Virgin in the Acropolis
The procession was made of Ceramics, through the best streets decorated with oak branches; the people standing in the streets were all in white clothes, men and women.
The path of the procession led through the People's Assembly square, past the temples of Demeter and Apollo.
Pythian.
The Acropolis was resplendent with decorations.
The procession entered there, and the divine service was performed, sacrifices were made while singing hymns to the glory of the goddess Pallas Athena.
Lost Worlds: The ancient city of the goddess Athena, video
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