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Athena
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, particularly the city of Athens, from which she most likely received her name. The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is dedicated to her. Her major symbols include Owl of Athena, owls, olive trees, snakes, and the Gorgoneion. In art, she is generally depicted wearing a helmet and holding a spear. From her origin as an Aegean tutelary deity, palace goddess, Athena was closely associated with the city. She was known as ''Polias'' and ''Poliouchos'' (both derived from ''polis'', meaning "city-state"), and her temples were usually located atop the fortified acropolis in the central part of the city. The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis is dedicated to her, along with numero ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Parthenon
The Parthenon (; ; ) is a former Ancient Greek temple, temple on the Acropolis of Athens, Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the Greek gods, goddess Athena. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of classical Art in Ancient Greece, Greek art, and the Parthenon is considered an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, democracy, and western culture, Western civilization. The Parthenon was built in the 5th century BC in thanksgiving for the Greek victory over the Achaemenid Empire, Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars. Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon also served as the city treasury. Construction started in 447 BC when the Delian League was at the peak of its power. It was completed in 438 BC; work on the artwork and decorations continued until 432 BC. For a time, it served as the treasury of the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire. In the final decade of the 6th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acropolis Of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens (; ) is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens, Greece, and contains the remains of several Ancient Greek architecture, ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. The word ''Acropolis'' is . The term acropolis is generic and there are many other acropoleis in Greece. During ancient times the Acropolis of Athens was also more properly known as Cecropia, after the legendary serpent-man Cecrops I, Cecrops, the supposed first Athenian king. While there is evidence that the hill was inhabited as early as the 4th millennium BC, it was Pericles (–429 BC) in the fifth century BC who coordinated the construction of the buildings whose present remains are the site's most important ones, including the Parthenon, the Propylaia_(Acropolis_of_Athens), Propylaea, the Erechtheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Parthenon and the other buildings were seriously damaged during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Piraeus Athena
The Piraeus Athena is a Greek bronze statue dated to the fourth century BCE. Named for the city in which it was found, it currently resides in the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus. Description The statue is an over-life sized representation of Athena, with a height of 2.35 meters (approximately 8 feet). She stands contraposto and wears a peplos that is open on the right side. She also wears a Corinthian helmet decorated with griffins on the sides of the helm and owls on the cheek pieces; the crest of the helmet has a serpent wrapped around its base. An aegis is strapped diagonally across her torso, which has a miniature Gorgon's head on it along with a border of snakes. The aegis' small size indicates that it is likely to be a marker of Athena's identity rather than an actual piece of armament. The position of the lower right arm, reached out and palm up, indicates that she was originally holding something. Possibilities as to what it could have been include an owl held out in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeus
Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child of Cronus and Rhea (mythology), Rhea, the youngest of his siblings to be born, though sometimes reckoned the eldest as the others required disgorging from Cronus's stomach. In most traditions, he is married to Hera, by whom he is usually said to have fathered Ares, Eileithyia, Hebe (mythology), Hebe, and Hephaestus.Hard 2004p. 79 At the oracle of Dodona, his consort was said to be Dione (Titaness/Oceanid), Dione, by whom the ''Iliad'' states that he fathered Aphrodite. According to the ''Theogony'', Zeus's first wife was Metis (mythology), Metis, by whom he had Athena.Hesiod, ''Theogony'886900 Zeus was also infamous for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many divine and heroic offspring, including Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Persephone, D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aegis
The aegis ( ; ''aigís''), as stated in the ''Iliad'', is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a daughter of Helios and a nurse of Zeus or alternatively a mistress of Zeus (Gaius Julius Hyginus, Hyginus, ''Astronomica'' 2. 13). The modern concept of doing something "under someone's ''aegis'' means doing something under the protection of a powerful, knowledgeable, or benevolent source. The word ''aegis'' is identified with protection by a strong force with its roots in Greek mythology and adopted by the Roman mythology, Romans; there are Comparative mythology, parallels in Norse mythology and in Egyptian mythology as well, where the Greek word ''aegis'' is applied by extension. Etymology The Greek language, Greek ''aigis'' has many meanings, including: # "violent windstorm", from the verb ''aïssō'' (word stem ''aïg-'') = "I ru ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poseidon
Poseidon (; ) is one of the twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and mythology, presiding over the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.Burkert 1985pp. 136–139 He was the protector of seafarers and the guardian of many Hellenic cities and colonies. In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, Poseidon was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes, with the cult title "earth shaker"; in the myths of isolated Arcadia, he is related to Demeter and Persephone and was venerated as a horse, and as a god of the waters.Seneca quaest. Nat. VI 6 :Nilsson Vol I p.450 Poseidon maintained both associations among most Greeks: he was regarded as the tamer or father of horses, who, with a strike of his trident, created springs (the terms for horses and springs are related in the Greek language).Nilsson Vol I p.450 His Roman equivalent is Neptune. Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea when, following the overthrow of his father Cronus, the world was divided ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Owl Of Athena
In Greek mythology, a little owl (''Athene noctua'') traditionally represents or accompanies Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, or Minerva, her syncretism, syncretic incarnation in Roman mythology. Because of such association, the bird—often referred to as the "owl of Athena" or the "owl of Minerva"—has been used as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, perspicacity and erudition throughout the Western world. Classical World Ancient Greece The reasons for the association of Athena and the owl are uncertain. Some mythographers, such as David Kinsley and Martin P. Nilsson, suggest that she may descend from a Minoan religion, Minoan palace goddess associated with birds and Marija Gimbutas claim to trace Athena's origins as an Old Europe (archaeology), Old European bird and snake goddess. On the other hand, Cynthia Berger theorizes about the appeal of some characteristics of owls—such as their ability to see in the dark—to be used as symbol of wisdom while others, such as W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Erichthonius Of Athens
In Greek mythology, King Erichthonius (; ) was a legendary early ruler of ancient Athens. According to some myths, he was autochthonous (born of the soil, or Earth) and adopted or raised by the goddess Athena. Early Greek texts do not distinguish between him and Erechtheus, his grandson, but by the fourth century BC, during Classical times, they are distinct figures. Etymology Erichthonius of uncertain etymology is possibly related to a pre-Greek form *''Erekteu-''. The connection of Ἐριχθόνιος with ἐρέχθω, "shake" is a late folk-etymology; other folk-etymologies include ἔριον, ''erion'', "wool" or ἔρις, ''eris'', "strife"+ χθών ''chthôn'', "earth". Mythology Birth According to the '' Bibliotheca'', Athena visited the smith-god Hephaestus Hephaestus ( , ; wikt:Hephaestus#Alternative forms, eight spellings; ) is the Greek god of artisans, blacksmiths, carpenters, craftsmen, fire, metallurgy, metalworking, sculpture and volcanoes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ancient Greek Religion
Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and Greek mythology, mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and Cult (religious practice), cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has been questioned as anachronistic. The Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks did not have a word for 'religion' in the modern sense. Likewise, no Greek writer is known to have classified either the gods or the cult practices into separate 'religions'. Instead, for example, Herodotus speaks of the Hellenes as having "common shrines of the gods and sacrifices, and the same kinds of customs". Most ancient Greeks recognized the Twelve Olympians, twelve major Olympian gods and goddesses—Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Demeter, Athena, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hermes, and either Hestia or Dionysus—although philosophies such as Stoicism and some forms of Platonism used language that seems to assume a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Athens
Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southernmost capital on the European mainland. With its urban area's population numbering over 3.6 million, it is the List of urban areas in the European Union, eighth-largest urban area in the European Union (EU). The Municipality of Athens (also City of Athens), which constitutes a small administrative unit of the entire urban area, had a population of 643,452 (2021) within its official limits, and a land area of . Athens is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years, and its earliest human presence beginning somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennia BCE. According to Greek mythology the city was named after Athena, the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pallas (Giant)
In Greek mythology, Pallas (/ˈpæləs/; Ancient Greek: Πάλλας) was one of the Gigantes (Giants), the offspring of Gaia, born from the blood of the castrated Uranus. According to the mythographer Apollodorus, during the Gigantomachy, the cosmic battle of the Giants with the Olympian gods, he was flayed by Athena, who used his skin as a shield. Mythology Though the origin of Athena's epithet "Pallas" is obscure, according to a fragment from an unidentified play of Epicharmus (between c. 540 and c. 450 BC), Athena, after having used his skin for her cloak, took her name from the Giant Pallas. This story, related by Apollodorus and Epicharmus, is one of a number of stories in which Athena kills and flays an opponent, with its hide becoming her aegis. For example, Euripides tells that during "the battle the giants fought against the gods in Phlegra" that it was "the Gorgon" (possibly considered here to be one of the Giants) that Athena killed and flayed, while the epic p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metis (mythology)
Metis (; ; Modern Greek: Μήτις, meaning 'Wisdom', 'Skill', or 'Craft'), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, was the pre-Olympian goddess of wisdom, counsel and deep thought, and a member of the Oceanids. She is notable for being the advisor and first wife of Zeus, the king of the gods. She first helped him to free his siblings from their father Cronus' stomach and later helped their daughter Athena to escape from the forehead of Zeus, who swallowed both mother and child after it was foretold that she would bear a son mightier than his father. Function By the era of Greek philosophy in the 5th century BC, Metis had become the first deity of wisdom and deep thought, but her name originally connoted "magical cunning" and was as easily equated with the trickster powers of Prometheus as with the "royal ''metis''" of Zeus, who is titled ''Metieta'' () in the Homeric poems. The Stoicism, Stoic commentators allegory, allegorised Metis as the embodiment of "prudence", "wis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
