Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/417

Rh ATHENA. the judges were equally divided, she gave the casting one in favour of the accused. (Aeschyl. Eum. 753 ; comp. Paus. i. 28. § 5.) The epithets which have reference to this part of the goddess's character are o^JOTroti/os, the avenger (Paus. iii. 15. § 4), ^ovXaia, and drfvpaXa. (iii. 11. $ 8.) As Athena promoted the internal prosperity of the state, by encouraging agriculture and industry, and by maintaining law and order in all public transactions, so also she protected the state from outward enemies, and thus assumes the character of a wai-like divinity, though in a very diflferent sense from Ares, Eris, or Enyo. According to Homer (//. v. 736, &c.), she does not even bear arms, but borrows them from Zeus ; she keeps men from slaughter when prudence demands it (//. i. 1 Q9^ &c.), and repels Ares's savage love of war, and conquers him. (v. 840, &c., xxi. 406.) She does not love war for its own sake, but simply on account of the advantages which the state gains in engaging in it; and she therefore supports only such warlike undertakings as are begun with prudence, and are likely to be followed by favourable results. (x. 244, &c.) The epithets which she derives from her warlike character are ay^K^ia^ a(ppia, aXKifiaxV', XaAaaoQs, and others. In times of war, towns, fortresses, and harbours are under her especial care, whence she is designated as epvainToMs, daKo/ji.e- lojts, Troids, TTohiovxos^ d-Kpaia, aKpla, kAt? Souxos, wAaiTis, Trpofxaxopi'i.a, and the like. As the pru- dent goddess of war, she is also the protectress of all heroes who are distinguished for prudence and good counsel, as well as for their strength and va- lour, such as Heracles, Perseus, Bellerophontes, Achilles, Diomedes, and Odysseus. In the war of Zeus against the giants, she assisted her father and Heracles with her counsel, and also took an active jiart in it, for she buried Enceladus under the island of Sicily, and slew Pallas. (Apollod. i. 6. § 1, &c.; comp. Spanheim, ad Cullim. p. 643 ; Horat. Cann. i. 12. 19.) In the Trojan war she sided with the more civilised Greeks, though on their return home she visited them with stoi-ms, on account of the manner in which the Locrian Ajax had treated Cassandra in her temple. As a goddess of war and the protectress of heroes, Athena usually ap- pears in armour, with the a«gis and a golden staff, with which she bestows on her favourites youth and majesty. (Horn. Od. xvi. 172.) Tlie character of Athena, as we have here traced it, holds a middle place between the male and fe- male, whence she is called in an Orphic hymn (xxxi. 10) 6Lpat)v KoX StjAus, and hence also she is a virgin divinity (Hom. Hymn. ix. 3), whose heart is inaccessible to the passion of love, and who shuns matrimonial connexion. Teiresias was de- prived of his sight for having seen her in the bath (Callim. Hymn. pp. 546, 589), and Hephaestus, who made an attempt upon her chastity, was obliged to flee. (Apollod. iii. 6. § 7, 14. § 6; Hom. //. ii. 547, &c. ; comp. Tzetz. ad Lycophr. 111.) For this reason, the ancient traditions always de- scribe the goddess as dressed ; and when Ovid {Heroid. v. 36) makes her appear naked before Paris, he abandons the genuine old story. Her statue also was always dressed, and when it was carried about at the Attic festivals, it was entirely covered. But, notwithstanding the common opinion of her virgin character, there are some traditions of late origin which describe her as a mother. Thus, Apollo is called a son of Hephaestus and Athena — ATHENA. 399 a legend which may have arisen at the time when the lonians introduced the worship of Apollo into Attica, and when this new divinity was placed in some family connexion with the ancient goddess of the country. (Miiller, Dor. ii. 2. § 13.) Lychnus also is called a son of Hephaestus and Athena. (Spanheim, ad Callim. p. 644.) Athena was worshipped in all parts of Greece, and from the ancient towns on the lake Copais her worship was nitroduced at a very early period into Attica, where she became the great national divi- nity of the city and the country. Here she was afterwards regarded as the Sea awTfipa, vyUici^ and traiuvia, and the serpent, the symbol of perpetual renovation, was sacred to her. (Paus. i. 23. § 5, 31. § 3, 2. § 4.) At Lindus in Rhodes her wor- ship was likewise very ancient. Respecting its introduction into Italy, and the modifications which her character underwent there, see Minerva. Among the things sacred to her we may mention the owl, serpent, cock, and olive-tree, which she was said to have created in her contest with Posei- don about the possession of Attica. (Plut. de Is. et Os.; Paus. vi. 26. § 2, i. 24. § 3; Hygin. Fab. 164.) At Corone in Messenia her statue bore a crow in its hand. (Paus. iv. 34. § 3.) The sacrifices offered to her consisted of bulls, whence she probably de- rived the surname of Tavpo§6os (Suid. s. v.), rams, and cows. (Hom. //. ii. 550 ; Ov. Alet. iv. 754.) Eustathius (ad Hom. I. c.) remarks, that only female animals were sacrificed to her, but no female lambs. In Ilion, Locrian maidens or children are said to have been sacrificed to her every year as an atone- ment for the crime committed by the Locrian Ajax upon Cassandra ; and Suidas {s. v. iroivri) states, that these human sacrifices continued to be offered to her down to b. c. 346. Respecting the great festivals of Athena at Athens, see Diet. o/Ant.s.w. Paiiathenaea and Arrlicp/u/iia. Athena was frequently represented in works of art; but those in which her figure reached the highest ideal of perfection were the three statues by Pheidias. The first was the celebrated colossjj statue of the goddess, of gold and ivory, which was erected on the acropolis of Athens ; the second was a still greater bronze statue, made out of the spoils taken by the Athenians in the battle of Marathon; the third was a small bronze statue called the beau- tiful or the Lemnian Athena, because it had been dedicated at Athens by the Lemnians. The first of these statues represented the goddess in a stand- ing position, bearing in her hand a Nike four cubits in height. The shield stood by her feet ; her robe came down to her feet, on her breast was the head of Medusa, in her right hand she bore a lance, and at her feet there lay a serpent. (Paus. i. 24. § 7, 28. § 2.) We still possess a great number of re- presentations of Athena in statues, colossal busts, reliefs, coins, and in vase-paintings. Among the attributes which characterise the goddess in these works of art, we mention — 1. The helmet, which she usually wears on her head, but in a few in- stances carries in her hand. It is usually orna- mented in the most beautiful manner with griffins, heads of rams, horses, and sphinxes. (Comp. Hom. //. V. 743.) 2. The aegis. {Diet, of Ant. s. v. Aegis.) 3. The round Argolic shield, in the centre of which is represented the head of Medusa. 4. Objects sacred to her, such as an olive branch, a serpent, an owl, a cock, and a lance. Her garment is usu- ally the Spartiin tunic without sleeves, and over it