The tree also gave the city its most important resource and commodity for trade. The olive tree would give the city wood and food. She tapped her spear against the ground and grew a simple olive tree.īut Cecrops, the king of the new city, and the gods were all impressed. Shipping would allow the city to become a great center of trade and make the residents wealthy.Īthena’s gift seemed less impressive next to Poseidon’s great sea. He brought down his mighty triton and created a great sea at the edge of the city. Both Poseidon and Athena wanted the people of the city to pray to them. When Athens was a new city, the gods bickered over who would be its patron. The story of how Athens got its name illustrates the wisdom of its patron goddess. Athens was one of the greatest city-states in the ancient world and today is the capital of the Greek nation. One of the most enduring legacies of Athena is the city that took her name. In those stories, Hera created Hephaestus afterward out of jealousy that her husband had fathered a child without her. Some legends say that it was another god, not Hephaestus, who split open Zeus’s skull. Hera’s annoyance would play a role in many of the stories concerning Athena. Since swallowing Metis, Zeus had married his sister and Hera’s reputation as a jealous wife had already emerged. Hera, however, was less pleased with the newest goddess. The Homeric hymns say that Helios was so in awe of Athena that he stopped the sun in the sky. The other gods were nearly as impressed with Athena’s birth as Zeus. Zeus’s love of his daughter was such a common theme that in The Iliad Ares accuses the king of being biased in her favor when the two disagreed. The people of Rhodes claimed that Zeus caused showers of gold to rain down on the island on the day Athena was born, ensuring the land’s prosperity for ages to come. Her shield and cloak were edged with snakes and the crest of her helmet reached far into the heavens. Her battle-cry and armor impressed him.įrom birth Athena wore gleaming armor that flashed with Zeus’s own lightning. Zeus was immediately filled with joy at the birth of his daughter. From it sprang Athena, fully grown and already dressed in shining armor.Īt her birth, Athena was said to have given so great a war-cry that Gaia and Uranus themselves quaked with fear. #Who was the greek goddess of strategic war crackWhen Hephaestus brought his hammer down on Zeus’s head, a great crack formed in the god’s skull. He begged the smith to break his head open with his hammer to release the cause of the pain. The pain grew to be more than he could bear.īlinded by pain, Zeus turned to Hephaestus for help. Several months after destroying his wife, Zeus began to suffer from headaches. What he didn’t know is that the first part of the prophecy had already been fulfilled – Metis was already pregnant with her first child. Horrified, Zeus turned Metis into a fly and swallowed her. The second child would be a son with the strength to overthrow Zeus and take his place. The first child would be a gray-eyed girl. Gaia and Uranus told the new king that Metis would bear two children. #Who was the greek goddess of strategic war freeMetis had helped him free his siblings from their father, Cronus, so that Zeus could overthrow him.Īfter he married her, however, Zeus received a disturbing prophecy about his bride. While several of the Greek gods and goddesses had unusual origins, the story of Athena’s birth is undoubtedly one of the strangest.Īfter he defeated the Titans and cemented his place as the king of the gods, Zeus had married the Titaness Metis. So how did Athena become one of the most popular members of the Greek pantheon? Athena’s Unusual Birth A patroness of war, she was also known for mercy and moderation. In Rome she was called Minerva, and her popularity continued.įull of contradictions, Athena was a female deity overseeing traditionally male domains. In every city and village in ancient Greece Athena, the goddess of war and wisdom, was one of the most venerated beings in the entire pantheon. One goddess in Greece stands out among the great beauties and loving mothers, though. These deities were often seen as distinctly feminine, and attracted little worship from rulers and soldiers. Almost every culture had goddesses of love and family.
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