The Story of Athena

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was a small village. Each morning, you could see the men, in their heavy animal skin coats, herding the sheep up to the mountain pastures. These rugged men, with their long beards and fierce eyes would be accompanied by their half tamed dogs. The men would stay up in the mountain pastures for the day, with only their dogs as companions. When their sons were old enough, the sons would take part of the herd to a different pasture to graze.

Down in the small village, the women, dressed in their drab clothing, would tend the garden, do chores and prepare the evening meal. When the girls were old enough, they would help with the chores around the small house. The girls fed the chickens, collected the eggs, helped wash the clothes in the small stream that meandered by the village.

Sometimes there was a conflict with neighboring villages, as all the men wanted the best pasture land for their herds. None of these people had any idea of weapons. When there was a fight, it was usually with fisticuffs.

Men from another place invaded this small pastoral land. These other men had weapons. They used bows and arrows, killed some of the villagers and stole some of their herds. Then these invaders demanded payment for leaving the villages alone. Some of the young girls were taken as prizes for these roving bands of marauders.

This situation went on for a long time. One day, a woman appeared in this village. She was tall, had black hair and green eyes just as fierce as the men of the village. The villagers immediately did not trust this newcomer. They had never seen anyone with green eyes before.

The men gathered to challenge her as they believed she was really a spy the invaders had sent. When one of the men went to strike her, she immediately set him on his hindquarters. When another man tried to strike her, she did the same to him. The men were taken back. A woman could best them was a shock to them. After all, women were weak and belonged in the home. They were not supposed to know how to fight. The men demanded answers from this strange woman.

She told them she came from a far off land. When her home was destroyed, she became a wanderer. As she liked mountains, she decided to come to their area. The men decided she would be allowed to stay for a little while. When asked her name, she simply said my name is Attene.

Attene had been in the village for a few days, when the marauders returned. She watched, but said nothing as they took part of the herd, and two young girls. After the marauders left, she questioned why the villagers allowed this to occur. The villagers told her about the weapons the marauders had and how they had already killed some of the men of the village. Attene told them all the invaders had were bows and arrows. She would teach the men how to use these weapons also. The men were shocked. This woman not only knew how to use these new weapons but was also willing to teach them. The men accepted her offer.

The next time the villagers saw the marauders advancing to their village, they quickly went to Attene and told her. She positioned the men around the village, in various hiding spots. They could see the marauders, but the invaders could not see them. Attene stood in the middle of the village and waited. The marauders rushed up to her, demanding to know where the men were and where their payment was. Attene told them the payment had stopped and they should leave immediately. When the chief of the marauders made a threatening gesture toward her, she pulled out a knife and killed him. The men of the village saw this, gained courage and used the bows and arrows she had taught them to make and use. They felled most of the marauders and the rest scattered, never to return to that village.

Attene stayed in the village, and taught them many things. She showed the women how to use herbs as cures. She gave counsel to disagreements that occasionally occurred. She became the wise woman of the village. Surrounding villages heard of her and came to learn also. Soon the length and breath of that far away land knew of Attene and her wisdom.

Attene was a very old woman when she died. The villagers buried her in a place of honor. Many generations from that time on, bowed in respect as they passed her resting place. The story of Attene was handed down from generation to generation, of her wisdom, and her ability to win battles. Of course, over time the stories became more and more exaggerated.

Her resting place was forgotten, but not the story of Attene. The story became legend, and the legend became myth. Her name changed over time, and she began to be called Athene. Athene gradually changed to Athena.

This is why the Greek goddess Athena is the goddess of wisdom and of war.

She is the only one of the Greek gods that sprang full grown from the head of Zeus. Mythology tells us she had no mother. This is because she was once a real person who had gone to Greece after her home was destroyed.

Athena was a high priestess in Atlantis. She carried the knowledge of that ancient civilization with her when she left. She was safely away when her home sink beneath the sea.

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The Temple of Athena Nike

This jewel of Attic architecture, better known (though incorrectly so), as the Temple of Apteros Nike, or Wingless Victory, is the work of the celebrated Callicrates. Standing on a 9.50 m. high bastion, it was erected by order of Pericles in the fifth century BC and dedicated by him to the goddess Athena in commemoration of the great Athenian victories over the Persians.

In prehistoric times this rocky pedestal, on which the with Boeotians, allies of the Persians, at the Battle of Plataea.

The entrance to the sanctuary, through the east portico, was formed by two pillars connected with the antae by a balustrade. Here stood the cult statue, a very ancient wooden image (xoanon) representing the goddess Athena holding a pomegranate, symbol of fertility, in her right hand and her helmet in the left.

The Temple of Athena Nike embodies the ethereal beauty and noble austerity that is characteristic of Attic art. It was still standing as late as 1676 but was demolished in 1687 by the Turks, who used the material to strengthen their defenses against the Venetians with whom they were at war. Its reconstruction was carried out between 1834 and 1838 by Ross, Schaubert, and Hansen, largely from fragments built into the Turkish fortifications. Later, in 1936, and recently more accurate reconstructions were carried out.

In antiquity the three sides of the bastion were surmounted by a marble balustrade with a bronze rail, and the outer surfaces of the large marble slabs forming this balustrade were ornamented with bas-reliefs depicting Winged Victories setting up trophies and leading sacrificial animals into the presence of the goddess. The grooves into which the slabs were bedded are still visible on the west and north edges of the platform.

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Athena - The Greek Deity

Unlike many current religions, the ancient Greeks invoked numerous deities for different subjects and needs. Athena, the Greek deity, served in the role of war queen similar to Ares.

Among the many deity, deity-like and mythical figures of ancient Greece, males were not the only ones that were revered and seen as important. Often, deities were worshiped even more furiously, because their powers were seen to gift followers with much needed power and talents. One of the most highly regarded and famous of these was Athena, the Greek deity of wisdom, war, weaving and crafts.

Athena's father was Zeus, the king of all the deities, and it is said that she sprang fully formed and completely armed from his forehead. Her mother was said to be Metis, the deity of wisdom and cunning, whom Zeus slept with and then regretted it, fearing that a child begotten of Metis would grow to be more powerful than he was. So he transformed Metis into fly and swallowed her, but it was too late; she was pregnant and began creating a helmet and robe for her daughter while she was inside Zeus. The hammering Metis caused while making the helmet disturbed Zeus, so he had Prometheus cleave his head in two with an axe to stop it, and Athena sprang out.

Athena, the Greek deity, probably came from a deity already worshiped in the area of Greece before they arrived. Her name may mean "the Lady of Athens" or possibly "mother". Most often she is described with the epithet "bright eyed", and in earlier times Athena may have been a bird deity associated with the owl. Many other names were used in conjunction with Athena, some to connote her artistic abilities, others to show her virginity.

Athena is usually pictured in full armor, holding a spear, and she is also seen with an owl perched on her shoulder. Her face is depicted as having a long smooth neck, a strong profile, with a long nose and features. She is seen as being extremely beautiful, but aloof. Athena also plays a major role in many other myths involving major and minor deities and mythical creatures; one of the most known is the story in which she changes a weaver Arachne, into a spider.

As Greek religious figures go, Athena is definitely seen as one of the most important and powerful. Her status as the favorite daughter of Zeus, combined with the fact that she governed an important part of Greek life, war, meant that Athena was one of the most worshiped deity-figures in ancient Greece.

Richard Monk is with FactsMonk.com - a site with facts about everything.