Athena Parthenos

mentor was Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Attempting to get Odysseus home, the context says, “The story of Odysseus begins with the goddess Athena’s appealing to Zeus to help Odysseus, who has been wandering for ten years on the seas, to find his way home to his family on Ithaca” (1.Summary). In other words, Athena is trying to convince Zeus to send Odysseus back to his family. Throughout The Odyssey, Athena was able to appeal to Zeus to aid Odysseus and his crew back to Ithaca. Athena is also…

The Olympian Gods were a major part of the Greek peoples daily lives. The Greeks spent much of there time trying to please the gods so that they would give them wealth and prosperity, and tried not to anger them. Anger from these gods were recognized as natural occurrences such as lighting brought on by Zeus, or harsh waters brought on by Poseidon. They believed that positive natural occurrences were also brought on by these gods as they made them happy and worshiped each god equally to…

gods have shown their love and faith for Odysseus through their relentless help with Telemachus in addition to their kind spoken words about him. Athena, the grey-eyed goddess of wisdom says, “But my own heart is broken for Odysseus, the mastermind of war”(3). Here she shows how deeply she cares for a man true to her heart. Above any other god, Athena connects to Odysseus’s story as she is the goddess of military victory as well as wisdom. The fact that she adds that he is the “mastermind of…

For a goddess that few people link with battle, she is able to show that she is not a being to be messed with. As a result, Hera is also perfectly okay with fighting among the mortals, which she later decides not to try due to Zeus’ threats, she and Athena go to battle to stop Hector’s slaughter of the Achaeans. Hera will fight on the battlefield if it will accomplish her…

the gods, the one thing that the gods cannot do though is alter the individuals fate. In The Odyssey, fate governs the relationship between the central character Odysseus and the goddess of wisdom Athena. Though Athena cannot alter Odysseus’ fate her actions helps make his fate come to fruition. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, war and is the patron goddess of heroes. Odysseus embodies the essence of what…

others, Telemachus struggles with finding his identity and voice. These struggles contribute to him not being able to handle the suitors, who have overtaken his father’s house in his absence. However, these imperfections will be rectified, when goddess Athena sends him on a quest (to the city of Nestor and Sparta) to discover information about his father. While Telemachus is gone, he hears of many great stories about his father and that he is still alive and will return home; he then realizes…

Human societies have always required systems to maintain balance, order, and control. The foundation of human civilization spawned from a rapid growth in population during the neolithic era, compelling communities to form hierarchical systems, and early ideas of law. While, during the millennia that followed, ideological and technological progress compelled these systems to evolve and improve, history reveals a repetitive continuity connecting the past and present. The decisions, systems, and…

Once upon a time, in the city of Corinth, there lived a king named Phineus and all of his people. The people were struggling to survive in the dry climate due to a recent drought that Hera had brought to the city as a result of Zeus having relations with one of the citizens. Initially the citizens of Corinth started praying to Poseidon the god of the sea in hopes that he would bring rain to their city; however, Poseidon refused because he was still upset that Medusa had been killed. Therefore…

In the Ancient Greek culture, honor was the most crucial virtue in their society. While honor might mean different things in different cultures; to the Ancient Greeks honor was an important part of their lives and culture. However, to the Ancient Greeks it was more than just honor that formed their identity. Arête as the Ancient Greeks called it consisted of honor, masculine virtue, physical strength, courage, success in battle and everlasting fame. Arête was the foundation of the family and the…

Many characters show up in Virgil’s Aeneid, but none provide as much insight into the character of Aeneas as Dido, the Phrygian queen of Carthage. Pious Aeneas was the proto-Roman that demonstrated the classical definition of piety through his hardships and struggles to found Rome. Aeneas’s relationship with Dido is not the least of the many trials he faces, but how can the reader best understand her? This paper argues that Dido’s relationship with Aeneas can only be understood fully using…