Facts and Information on Greek Goddess Athene
The culture of Greek mythology has impacted modern culture. The first ever written origin story of greek mythology took place around 700 B.C. (Athena) Greek mythology impacted modern culture by the way people live and even design houses today. The religion of greek culture is based on time-honored observances and was rooted in the Bronze Age. Their religion was not based on toe thora or the christian bible, but it was based off of exchange.
Individual worshipers where to give gifts to gods and goddesses as an expression of thanks, especially zeus the father of all gods. Athena the daughter of Zeus or is better known as the favorite daughter of Zeus. Athena also named Athene was one of the three virgin goddesses. (Athena) Athena came right out of Zeus with armor and ready to go; she was called into the existence.(D’Aulaire)
She was known as the goddess of the city for protecting her people. Athena was also known as to invent the flute, but she never played.(Athena) Athena’s powers and the way she uses them towards people explains how she is the goddess of war and her influence on modern culture such as moral standards and language.
Athena and her family have impacted their culture and today’s modern culture. For instance the Olympics. The olympics started in Olympia, Greece, where it’s name was founded. Every four years the olympics was held for the god Zeus. A prizes from the olympics were fame and glory. The first olympic games was held by the athenians in the summer of 1896. In the summer of 1896 the olympics held 41 events. They brought 14 nations and 241 athletes to compete.
The symbol of the rings represented the 5 participating continents: Africa, Asia, America, Oceania, and Europe. Greece held other games like the Ptythian games and the isthmian games. Those games where held for Apollo and poseidon. The greeks have affected political ways. The greeks created the first democracy, at first it was a monarchy then moved onto a oligarchy, and finally a democracy. Six Thousand adult male citizens were assembly members of the democratic government. The United States uses a representative democracy instead of a direct democracy, which was what the Athens used. (11 Greek Influences and Contributions to Today’s Society)
Athena also has played a role in the progress of the women’s army. Athena has many objects named after her from dolls to yogurt bars and even a cosmetic line sold in California. The reason why they named the yogurt bar after her was because of the greek yogurt they used in the recipe. Don’t let the name fool you this bar is packed with artificial flavors and and unhealthy ingredients. Athena plays a big roll in the Barbie factories as each doll sells for 70 dollars to 100 dollars (“Greek gods in American Culture”).
The cosmetic company states the company will provide you and safe and reliable, quality products, combined with uncompromised integrity and the spirit of philanthropy. The company states this cause athena was known to provide safety and is a reliable goddess.
As the goddess of war, Athena has used her powers to win wars. An example is Athena and Hera as they fought against Paris in the Trojan war. (Athena) In 1260-1250 BC the Trojan war took place. The golden apple which was known as the Apple of Discord was given to Athena, Hera and Aphrodite. The three goddesses were commanded by Zeus to take the Apple to Paris.
The contest turned into a bribery and not about beauty. Athena offered wisdom, skill for battles and the ability of warriors. Hera offered Paris the ability to control Asia and political powers. Aphrodite finally offered the attention and love from attractive women all over the world. Paris choose the beautiful women around the world, and luckily paris and Hera fell in love. The problem here is Hera being married to the king of sparta Menelaus.
The news finally reached to Sparta and Greece. Menelaus’ brother Mycenae heard the news first and was upset. In anger he sent an army to Troy, that’s when Agamemnon and with the help of others came up with the Trojan horse. The trojan horse sat right outside the city of Troy to signify the end of the war. The greeks hid outside, and at night they snuck in and killed the entire city but women and children. The women and children were sold as slaves and Hera returned to her husband. Athena is an important goddess to many people and gods in every culture.
She is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law, justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, art, strategy, skill, and crafts. (Athena) One unique way Athena used her power is by blinding Tiresias when he saw her naked while bathing. (Athene) In a contest with poseidon to take dominion she produced and olive tree and a horse. (Athene) the powers of athena are from her parents Metis and Zeus. Athena got her powers of wisdom and crafty thoughts from her mother Metis. (Athena) Her powers progressed as she lived.
Ancient greeks believed gods and goddesses would control their lives. The greeks would build buildings and statues to honor the gods and goddesses. Home life during the ancient greek times is different compared to modern day. Many people lived in a village or the countryside. Most houses where small and made of sun dried mud brick.(“Ancient Greeks: Home Life”) After a few years the houses would crumble and later had to rebuild. Homes didn’t usually have a bathroom but they had public ones.
Only the rich had bathrooms and a better home life. Most gods would at least have 50 servants per household. Men and women would wear tunics or what they called them ‘chiton’. Women and most older men liked wearing the longer tunics but for the men they would wear them shorter.
Many people wouldn’t wear sandals or boots. (Ancient Greeks: Home Life) High boots were worn when horse riding. Suntans were not cool in ancient greece. Many women used white lead to look pale. The white lead they used was harmful on their skin. It is obvious the greeks liked to wear a lot of jewelry because they are found in the tombs where they were buried.
The difference in greek culture and modern culture. A similarity in the cultures are the way our society if or was formed. Most early cities had their own government which was located in the middle of the city. The greeks had marketplaces where people would socialize and shop. Which sounds similar to a modern day mall updated. The biggest city was the Athens in Greece. We almost have a similar style homes.
Similar to old homes were built and still stand today in our culture. Many people like to design their houses according to the ancient greeks. A difference in modern society is that we don’t worship gods and goddesses anymore. Many of the gods and goddesses had slaves, and many. Now in our modern times it’s rare to have slaves. As for the clothes we don’t wear tunics like the greeks did. As of religion there are branches that lead to the religions we have today.
In conclusion Athena uses her powers in many different ways like to fight wars and even blind tiresias from seeing her bathing. Although Athena was a strong warrior with bumps on the road she still managed to protect her city. Athena has left an impact on her culture and modern culture. Statues and buildings were built to honor all gods and goddesses. Now in modern society not many people honor all gods and goddesses, the way they used to back then. The way Athena expresses her powers pulls together the way she influenced modern culture just like our moral standards.
