Okay, so most people on here with any modicum* of intelligence would have figured that Athena is not my real name. Why did I choose it......
Athene (Athena) - Virgin goddess of war as well as the arts and crafts and in later times of general wisdome, Athene had an extraordinary birth. Zeuss had been warned by his grand-parents, Gaia and Uranus, that his first wife, Metis, would hae a son wo would overthrow Zeus as he had his own father. Zeus therefore swallowed Metis, who was pregnant, and forgot all about her until one morning he awoke with a terrible headache and a rattling sound in his head. Hephaestus was called in to crack open Zeus' skull to see what the trouble was; the smith-god obliged and out jumped Athene in full armor! She became Zeus' favorite. Her titles 'Promachos' (the Champion) and 'Ergane' (Worker) reflected her dual role as a goddess of war and everyday work.
In art she appears as a tall, slim, noble woman with a helmet, spear and shield and her special breastplate, the aegis, decorated with the head of the Gorgon Medusa, worn over a long tunic. Her main sanctuary was on the Acropolis at Athens where an ancient wooden image of her was worshipped in the Erechtheion, while Pheidias constructed a huge gold and ivory statue of the goddess for the magnificent Temple of Athene parthenos ('Virgin'), called the Parthenon. The Panathenaic Games were held in her honor every year, while every four years there was a special festival during which a new tunic was placed on the old wooden statue.
Long ago the Athenians had built up a prosperous city and desired a god to protect them. Both Poseidon and Athene wanted the honor and began to fight for it. The Athenians suggested a more peaceful way of settling the sidpute; whichever of the two gods gave them the greatest givt would be awarded the city. Poseidon wnet first and thrust his trident into the Acropolis rock bringing forth a salt-water pool which threatened to flood the city; the Athenians protested that their rich farmland would be spoiled and asked Athene to produce a more useful gift. Athene struck the rock with her spear and immediately an olive tree sprouted; the Athenians realized that its fruit would provided them with oil for cooking, lighting and perfume and awarded the city to her protection. The marks of the trident and the sacred olive tree remained for centuries.
On one occasion Athene was bringing a huge rock to plant as a natural defensive barrier for Athens; Hephaestos saw her coming and attempted to make love to her as she flew towards the walls. She managed to fend him off and the rock fell to the ground to become the conical hill Lykabettos, while his seed fell onto the Acropolis and Erichthonius, the future King of Athens was born. Athene not only fought with the Athenians but accompanied may Greek heroes on their adventures.
[The Encyclopedia of Ancient Myths and Culture - Quantum Publishing Ltd, London - copyright 2003]
I identify greatly with many of the ideas and ideals of Athena.
At this point in my life, ending a more than 20 year marriage, with children about to go off on their own into the world, I am about to begin a new life. Much like Athena springing fully grown and clad in armor from Zeus' forehead, I am being reborn into a world where I am fully grown and clad in the armor fabricated from years of experience.
*BTW, "modicum" has NO sexual connotation - look it up :)
Tauri
