Devoir de Philosophie

Athena

Publié le 22/02/2012

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The most important GODDESS of the ancient Greeks. Athena was a warrior goddess renowned for her intelligence. In that regard she contrasts with Ares, the god of military chaos and unthinking violent rage. According to myth Athena was born from the head of ZEUS. She herself remained always a virgin. Thus, the name for her most famous temple, the Parthenon in Athens, derived from the Greek word parthenos, "virgin." Many cities worshipped Athena, but she was especially the goddess of Athens. At Athens the major festival in her honor was the Panathenaia. During this festival an enormous procession paraded through the city. It accompanied a newly made peplos or embroidered robe, which was suspended from the masts of a ship-like cart. Then the Athenians presented the robe to the image of Athena on the Acropolis. Because of her intelligence, Athena was the goddess of all skillful undertakings, especially spinning and weaving. In myth she was the patron of many heroes, especially the crafty Odysseus. Her special animal was the owl. Images also show her with the aegis, a mythical object shown as either a cloak or a shield (interpretations vary). The aegis is decorated with the head of Medusa. Later generations have seen Athena, like APOLLO, as embodying characteristics distinctive of the Greeks.

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