Palas Atenea

Pallas Athena (Parthenos or Athena)

Fragment of 'Pallas tames the Minotaur' of Botticcelli, now in Uffizi, Firenze.

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Greek goddess of wisdom, she was also praised as goddess of justice and skill. In Athens she was praised as greatest goddess of War and strategy though Ares was who had that role in the great majority of the Greek polis. In spite of all this, she hated violence and was taken as the goddess of diplomacy (Ares and Eris only seeked it); Athena ordered that- if the number of votes for and against a condemn were equal, a freeing one was to be issued in her name. In Rome, she was identified with Minerva.
She was the only daughter of Zeus and Metis- goddess of wisdom. Zeus had been warned by her mother, the Mother Earth, not to marry, but he raped her and started an endless chain of affairs. One of them was the one with the titanide Metis. She adopted various shapes to escape from him but Zeus was- finally- able to take her and she started being a sort of wife for him. Mother Earth oracles said that Metis was expecting a girl and that- if he had a second child with her, it would be a boy that would overthrown Zeus as it had happened with Chronus and his grandfather.

Trying to avoid this just as his father had made with him, he ate Metis adopting her wisdom. In his insides, Metis made arms and clothing for her daughter and, getting near the day of the goddess' birth, Zeus started having severe head aches that only ended when Hermes, guessing the reason of Zeus' pain, made Hephaestus open Zeus' skull. From his head, Athena jumped fully armed. From that moment, she was Zeus' favourite offspring and he gave her a shield where Athena- later- placed Medusa's head.

Her Pretenders

She was known as 'the maiden(Parthenos) because she was virgin, and in her temples she had her own priests and virgins. In spite of this, it is believed that the original myth was changed by the later Athenians who say her purity as a synonym of Athens' invincibility: ancient myths may mention her as mother of Apollo, Licno and Erichthonius with Hephaestus.
Her wisdom and beauty attracted many gods and she was asked in marriage more than once. Poseidon was very fond of her and as she would never accept him as lover, he once took revenge by telling Hephaestus that Athena was in love with him and that she wanted him to rape her. Athena went to Hephaestusforge to ask him for weapons and there, the peaceful Hephaestus tried to make love to Athena, who rejected him. In spite of the rapidity of the goddess, the god's seed fell to Earth and fertilised Mother Earth, who gave birth to Erichthonius (Erictonio), a half-human, half-serpent king. Mother Earth said she would not keep the child, and it was hidden with Athena's virgins until they discovered what they were keeping. Then, Athena took him under her own care until he grew up.

Her Deeds

When Athena was still young, she killed her friend Pallas by accident, some say because of she ignoring her own strength, and Athena was so sorry that she placed the name Pallas after her own name. A second myth makes Pallas her father, but this is quite improbable, because her own priests prayed that she was daughter of Zeus and- also- since 'Pallas' means 'maiden'.
Athena and Poseidon- her own uncle and god of the Sea, loved a growing city in Greece. They were so fond of it that claimed to be the owners of the place and Zeus decided that the one that provided the citizens with the most valuable and useful gift would keep the city.
Poseidon's gift was a spring, but the water that flowed was salty and useless (some versions of the myth say it was a horse what Poseidon gave them). However, Athena gave the Greeks the olive tree and, when they discovered all the benefits provided by the tree, they chose her as their ruler, started calling themselves Athenians and- the city- Athens, leaving the name of Posidonia (of Poseidon) a side.
With this success, Athena ascended to one of the most important deities of the Olympus. The best in every struggle in which she participated, she was always in company of Nike, the goddess of victory.
She sided the Greek army in the Trojan war but she asked Poseidon to destroy all the Greek ships returning home when they failed to respect an altar to Athena where Cassandra, a Trojan prophet, was hiding.
Athena invented, among other things, the flute (see Pan), the trumpet, the clay kettle, the yoke for animals, the bridle and the ships. She was the first to teach the arithmetic and the feminine crafts and one of the greatest protectors of literature, an art at which she also excelled.
She was, as Artemis and Apollo, a triple goddess, seen as Pallas Athena, goddess of war; Parthenos, a nymph whose story is confused with that of Aphrodite, and as an elderly lady with an owl that inspired both the oracles and arts (what would also explain her annoyance in the incident of her temple and Cassandra.

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Pallas Athena (Parthenos or Athena)	Fragment of 'Pallas tames the Minotaur' of Botticcelli, now in Uffizi, Firenze. .
Greek goddess of wisdom, she was also praised as goddess of justice and skill. In Athens she was praised as greatest goddess of War and strategy though Ares was who had that role in the great majority of the Greek polis. In spite of all this, she hated violence and was taken as the goddess of diplomacy (Ares and Eris only seeked it); Athena ordered that- if the number of votes for and against a condemn were equal, a freeing one was to be issued in her name. In Rome, she was identified with Minerva. She was the only daughter of Zeus and Metis- goddess of wisdom. Zeus had been warned by her mother, the Mother Earth, not to marry, but he raped her and started an endless chain of affairs. One of them was the one with the titanide Metis. She adopted various shapes to escape from him but Zeus was- finally- able to take her and she started being a sort of wife for him. Mother Earth oracles said that Metis was expecting a girl and that- if he had a second child with her, it would be a boy that would overthrown Zeus as it had happened with Chronus and his grandfather.
Trying to avoid this just as his father had made with him, he ate Metis adopting her wisdom. In his insides, Metis made arms and clothing for her daughter and, getting near the day of the goddess' birth, Zeus started having severe head aches that only ended when Hermes, guessing the reason of Zeus' pain, made Hephaestus open Zeus' skull. From his head, Athena jumped fully armed. From that moment, she was Zeus' favourite offspring and he gave her a shield where Athena- later- placed Medusa's head. Her Pretenders She was known as 'the maiden(Parthenos) because she was virgin, and in her temples she had her own priests and virgins. In spite of this, it is believed that the original myth was changed by the later Athenians who say her purity as a synonym of Athens' invincibility: ancient myths may mention her as mother of Apollo, Licno and Erichthonius with Hephaestus. Her wisdom and beauty attracted many gods and she was asked in marriage more than once. Poseidon was very fond of her and as she would never accept him as lover, he once took revenge by telling Hephaestus that Athena was in love with him and that she wanted him to rape her. Athena went to Hephaestusforge to ask him for weapons and there, the peaceful Hephaestus tried to make love to Athena, who rejected him. In spite of the rapidity of the goddess, the god's seed fell to Earth and fertilised Mother Earth, who gave birth to Erichthonius (Erictonio), a half-human, half-serpent king. Mother Earth said she would not keep the child, and it was hidden with Athena's virgins until they discovered what they were keeping. Then, Athena took him under her own care until he grew up. Her Deeds When Athena was still young, she killed her friend Pallas by accident, some say because of she ignoring her own strength, and Athena was so sorry that she placed the name Pallas after her own name. A second myth makes Pallas her father, but this is quite improbable, because her own priests prayed that she was daughter of Zeus and- also- since 'Pallas' means 'maiden'. Athena and Poseidon- her own uncle and god of the Sea, loved a growing city in Greece. They were so fond of it that claimed to be the owners of the place and Zeus decided that the one that provided the citizens with the most valuable and useful gift would keep the city. Poseidon's gift was a spring, but the water that flowed was salty and useless (some versions of the myth say it was a horse what Poseidon gave them). However, Athena gave the Greeks the olive tree and, when they discovered all the benefits provided by the tree, they chose her as their ruler, started calling themselves Athenians and- the city- Athens, leaving the name of Posidonia (of Poseidon) a side. With this success, Athena ascended to one of the most important deities of the Olympus. The best in every struggle in which she participated, she was always in company of Nike, the goddess of victory. She sided the Greek army in the Trojan war but she asked Poseidon to destroy all the Greek ships returning home when they failed to respect an altar to Athena where Cassandra, a Trojan prophet, was hiding. Athena invented, among other things, the flute (see Pan), the trumpet, the clay kettle, the yoke for animals, the bridle and the ships. She was the first to teach the arithmetic and the feminine crafts and one of the greatest protectors of literature, an art at which she also excelled. She was, as Artemis and Apollo, a triple goddess, seen as Pallas Athena, goddess of war; Parthenos, a nymph whose story is confused with that of Aphrodite, and as an elderly lady with an owl that inspired both the oracles and arts (what would also explain her annoyance in the incident of her temple and Cassandra.


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