Athena - Jason Stowe

Athena             Jason Stowe

Period 2

        The god to be the topic of discussion in this report is Athena.  Athena was an important member of the Olympic pantheon.  She was born fully armed from the forehead of Zeus, the chief god.  Athena was Zeus's favorite child.  He entrusted her with the Aegis, his breastplate, and with his thunderbolt.

        Athena's role as a goddess varied.  She was a major warrior and most images depict her dressed in armor and holding a spear.  In Homer's Iliad, she is described as a fierce battle goddess who continually intervened on the side of the Greeks.  She also took an interest in handicrafts and agriculture.  The olive tree, which she said to have created, is sacred to her.  She was noted for her wisdom which explains her close association with the owl, an ancient symbol of wisdom and reason. 

        The most famous temple to Athena was the Parthenon (5th century BC) which was named for Parthenos ("the Maiden"), which still stands atop the Acropolis in Athens.  The interior of the Parthenon stands a statue of Athena Parthenos, sculpted by Phidais. 

        When I was reading through myths, I decided I would talk about "The Gift of Athena" which, in my opinion, best illustrates Athena's colorful personality.  Here is how "The Gift of Athena" goes:

        Long, long ago, when this old world was a very young place, and when the few people there were had just begun to live together in groups for their own protection, the great gods selected the places for humans to build the cities.  They looked down upon the earth, through the clouds that shrouded their home on the very peak of the high mountain called Olympus, and they chose the sites they thought would provide everything mortals needed to live and prosper.

        Now, each god and goddess was eager to have a great city built in his or her honor, and so the prime locations-the very best places for the great cities to be built came to cause much bickering and jealousy among the many deities for all wanted a great city built in their honor, a city whose people would worship that particular god or goddess above all others.  It happened that great Zeus, the king and ruler of all the gods, had found a spot on earth that appeared absolutely ideal for the building of a noble city; indeed, he foresaw that the city that would be built there would someday become the noblest city on earth.  Well, you can imagine that all the gods and goddesses wanted this city for their own, and you would be right.  But the two who wanted it most of all were Athena, the goddess of wisdom, and Poseidon, the god of the seas and rivers.  Now, Athena was one of Zeus's daughters, and you might expect that her father would honor her request, but Poseidon was Zeus's brother, and Zeus did not want to disappoint him, either.  Poseidon appealed to Zeus, saying that this location would provide the city with the greatest natural harbor in all of the world and destine it to be a great seaport.  Therefore, as god of the sea, it was only right that he, Poseidon, should be its chief god.  But Athena argued just as earnestly that the greatness of this city would not lie in its commerce, but rather in the respect its people would someday have for art and learning.  As goddess of wisdom, therefore, she should be its guardian.

        Zeus, at last, decided upon a way to end this quarrel and to choose, fairly, between the two.  He called for a great council to be held at the very site of the new city, and there, with all of the gods and goddesses arrayed before him, Zeus spoke from his golden throne in a clear, commanding voice.  "Listen," he said, "to the will of Zeus, who judges now between Poseidon and Athena.  The city that is desired by each shall bear the name of that god who shall bring forth from the earth the better gift for the mortals who will dwell here.  If Poseidon's gift be judged more useful, this city shall be called Poseidonia, but if Athena's gift be deemed the better, the city shall forever after be known as Athens."

        Upon hearing this, Poseidon arose in all his majesty, and he struck his trident (that is, the long, three-pronged spear that he always carried)-he struck this trident hard into the ground right where he stood.  The earth shook violently all around until, at last, a great crack opened up in the surface.  Out of this steaming chasm leaped a magnificent horse, his powerful white body fully arrayed in battle gear, a war-horse like none had ever seen before.  "Behold my gift," said Poseidon, "and call the city after my name, for who can give these mortals a better present that the horse, which will ensure their protection from all their enemies."

        But Athena looked steadfastly with her keen gray eyes at the assembled gods, and she stooped slowly down to touch the earth where she stood.  She said nothing but continued to gaze calmly on that great council.  Presently they all witnessed a small shoot growing from the ground where Athena had touched her hand.  It grew swiftly and in minutes had sprouted thick and luscious boughs and leaves; higher and higher it rose until green fruit appeared on its clustering branches.  "My gift is better, O Zeus, than that of Poseidon," she said.  "The horse he has given shall bring war and strife and anguish to these morals and their children, but my gift-the olive tree-is the sign of peace and plenty, of health and strength, and the pledge of happiness and freedom.  Is it not more fitting, then, that the city to be founded here should be called after my name?"

        Then the voices of the gods rose in the air as one: "The gift of Athena is better by far, for it is the token that this city shall be greater in peace than in war, and nobler in its freedom than it its power.  Let the city be called Athens forevermore."

        Hearing their appeal, Zeus then bowed his head as a sign of his judgment that the city should be named for Athena.  The earth trembled as he rose from his golden throne to return to the halls of Olympus.  Athena stood gazing over the land that her victory had given her, and she decided that it was here that she would make her home.  "Here," she said, "my children will grow up in happiness, and they will come to understand that freedom is the greatest gift a people can receive.  And when the torch of freedom has gone out in Athens, it will be passed on to other peoples in other lands throughout the world."

        This myth shows how Athena longed for peace and wisdom rather than war.  Also, Poseidon held a trident.  Trident is actually a combination of a Latin prefix tri-, meaning "three" and the Latin root or stem dent-, meaning "tooth".  So, the trident is like a spear with three teeth!  Words like tricycle, triangle, etc. also originated from this tri- prefix.  Words like dentist and denture originated from this dent- stem.  So, these are good examples of how today's words originated from the Greek and Roman times!

      

Antigone 2

Antigone 2

      Critics have traditionally divided over the question of whether Antigone or Creon is the protagonist in the play, Antigone, by Sophocles.  The answer lies in ones interpretation of the play.  Is it a play about a woman doomed by the sins of her father,

r is it a play about a king who holds himself more powerful than the gods?

      Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus.  Oedipus, once the king of Thebes, unwittingly killed his father and married his mother.  Four children, Polyneices, Etocles, Antigone, and Ismene were the products of that union.  When Oedipus learns the true ident

y of Iocaste, his wife and mother, he blinds himself and leaves Thebes.  His two sons, Polyneices and Etocles, wage war over the control of Thebes, and kill each other in doing so.

      When the play opens, Antigone is speaking with her sister, Ismene, about Creon's (present king of Thebes) decree that Polyneices be denied a burial.  Polyneices' body will be put into the fields, unburied, as punishment for his attack on Thebes.  Antig

e decides she must bury the body.

      If Antigone is the protagonist of this play, then the action is a further saga in the chapter of Oedipus.  Oedipus and his family are doomed for his sin against the gods.  Sophocles describes this in Ode II:

      Where once the anger of heaven has struck, that house has shaken

      For ever:  damnation rises behind each child

      Like a wave cresting out of the black northeast,

      When the long darkness under sea roars up

      And bursts drumming death upon the whindwhipped sand (336).

Creon becomes a tool of the gods used to further the doom of the family of Oedipus.

      Antigone knows that she is cursed.  In the prologue, Antigone says, " . . . You would think that we had already suffered enough for the curse on Oedipus . . ." (322).  She decides that it is her duty to defy Creon's proclamation and bury her brother, P

yneices, so that his soul can rest in peace in the Underworld.  Antigone is not concerned with the punishment of death that he (Creon) has promised to impose on anyone who dares defy his edict, because her death has been foretold by the gods.  Antigone

ooses to bury Polyneices so that they can both die with honor.  She notes that life is short, but that death is forever.  Antigone remarks, "It will not be the worst of deaths - death without honor" (325).

       If Antigone is the protagonist, all the action of the play is derived from this choice.  Creon is the antagonist, the means by which Antigone makes the choice to die with honor.  Creon becomes a pawn between the struggle of Antigone and the gods.  Ant

one chooses to make her peace with the gods by sacrificing her life to uphold their laws of burial.  She tells Creon " . . . all your strength is weakness itself against the immortal unrecorded laws of the gods" (333).

      If Creon is the protagonist, this is a play about the hubris of a man who thinks himself more powerful, and more important than the gods.  He has decreed that Polyneices remain unburied to pay for his crimes against the state.  But in making this procl

ation, Creon defies the laws of the gods and prevents the gods from claiming Polyneices, after his death.  When Antigone is brought to Creon, after her crime has been discovered, Creon is enraged.  Antigone explains that there is a higher law than his,

at of the gods, and she is obeying the gods proclamation.  But Creon can only see that she has broken his laws:

      The girl is guilty of double insolence,

      Breaking the given laws and boasting of it.

      Who is the man here,

      She or I, if this crime goes unpunished (334)?

He condemns Antigone to death by entombing her in stone.  With this action, Creon seals his fate.

      Creon listens to no ones advice.  His son Haimon and Charagos warn him against challenging the gods.  Creon, however, can not see past his own pride.  Teserias finally convinces him of his foolishness.  He tells Creon that " . . . the Furies and the da

 gods of Hell are swift with terrible punishment for you" (347).  Creon goes to set Antigone free, but it is too late, his fate has been written.  Antigone has hung herself, and Haimon is grief stricken that his love has taken her own life.  Haimon atte

ts to kill his father, but fails, and kills himself.  Creon returns home to find that his wife, grief stricken by her son's death, has also killed herself.  Creon realizes that all that has happened is a result of his arrogance.  "Fate has brought all m

pride to a thought of dust" (354).

      If Creon is the protagonist, the action of the play is derived from Creon's choice to make his laws more important than the laws of the gods.  Antigone is the antagonist, the means by which Creon defies the gods.  He chooses to hold himself above the g

s, and is severely punished for this action.

      While there is evidence for both Antigone and Creon being the protagonists, I believe the action of the play is centered around Creon.  While Antigone's basic character remains the same, Creon's character undergoes a profound change.  He begins as an a

ogant, proud king, and ends as a broken humble man.  Choragos states the theme of the play:

      There is no happiness where there is no wisdom;

      No wisdom but in submission to the gods.

      Big words are always punished,

      And proud men in old age learn to be wise (354).