Athena

Athena

Bless me, Athena, that I may face each day with courage.
Bless me, Athena, that I may strive for excellence in all I do.
Bless me, Athena, that I may seek wisdom in all I see and hear.
Bless me, Athena, that I may have strength of body and mind.
Grant that all my actions be preceded by thought.
Grant that all my intentions be good ones.
Grant that I may forgiven my slights.
Grant that I know my own faults.
Give me the strength and courage to fight for what I believe.
Give me the wisdom to know when I am beaten.

Athena, Goddess

Virgin, Mother, Goddess of War, Goddess of Wisdom, Goddess of the Underworld. All of these are fitting to our divine Goddess Athena, yet within these descriptions lie contradictions that I often times find hard to understand and at the same time cause me to make discoveries about myself and the world around me. I will try to explore some of these contradictions, and try to share with you some of the self discoveries I have made while contemplating Pallas Athena, Goddess.

Let us start with some background on both me and this Holy Goddess...
My name is Hector, but I go by Isxios on the internet. I have been a Hellenic Pagan for many years now. My first exposure to this Religious Faith was through Mythology, and even that came somewhat late in my life. But once I became enthralled, it was like an epiphany. Life changed for me, and though my life didn't become heaven for me, it did change.

The first deity to call to me, the first to tug at my soul, was Athena.
My impressions of this goddess were somewhat limited, when I first felt her call. I saw her as the Goddess of Wisdom, and this she is, but she is far more than that. To me, she was the goddess that protected me from myself. She was an anchor to me. She grounded me and gave me strength. She gave wise counsel.
Athena is the protectress of Athens, after whom the city was named. She is associated with many of the other Gods, including Ares, Hephaestos, and of course, Zeus.

As myth has it, Athena was born full grown from the head of the father, Zeus. The heavens and the earth quivered and the seas foamed with waves as she entered the world with a cry of such power that all of nature knew at once that she had been born. The story is, however, much more complex and symbolic than that.

For his first wife, Zeus took Metis, wise counsel, and was warned by Gaea and Ouranos that this union would produce a child that would one day rule the universe in his stead. Zeus, the king, could not have this, and so he went to Metis, already pregnant, and incorporated her into his own body. This is what is seen as his devouring her. Metis was not dead, however, for within him, the pregnancy continued until one day Zeus was afflicted with a pain in his head unlike any other.

The king of the Gods screamed in pain and called upon the Gods for aid. Hephaestos, the mighty god of smiths, brandished a crescent ax and hit father Zeus with all his might upon his ailing head. From the wound upon his head sprang forth the mighty Pallas Athena.

She was born with a mighty battle cry, and all the Gods were at once in awe of this owl eyed Goddess, for she was born fully grown, armored and armed with shield and spear. The Earth shook, the sky rained gold, and the seas frothed with the agitation of the waves. Father Zeus rejoiced at his daughter.

Thus is the birth of Athena, and as far as its symbolism, I will only go by what it symbolizes to me. I am not a psychologist or classicist, and so I am not attempting to convince you of what it should mean to you.
Athena was a goddess very much associated with the patriarchal structure of society in classical Greece. This is not to say that she caused it, or that her image in ancient Greece was the exclusive product of a patriarchal culture, for indeed it was not, but that her myths give us a goddess that is the protector of the Patriarchal Society.

She had a mother, of sorts, but she was the daughter of the father, for it was from him that she sprang forth, and though Zeus did not give literal birth to her, he did produce her. This seems to at once diminish the role of motherhood while at the same time giving us a view of woman that is tenacious for, indeed, Metis persisted and brought forth her daughter even though she no longer existed as an individual being. Metis did not give up, and in her own way gives us a good role model of woman. Tenacious.

Another way in which this myth impresses upon me is this, that Athena and Metis are one and the same being. Athena was Wise Counsel, and indeed so was Zeus through his incorporation of Metis, but this was Metis' function. Athena inherited from her mother the role of Wise Counsel or Wisdom, and in this sense, she was also a representative of the Matriarchal system in which the daughter inherited from the mother.
Her birth also seems to set the stage for her future status on Olympus. Nature itself seemed to shake at her sudden presence, and indeed she was second in power only to Zeus himself. She could wield the lightning that was Zeus' weapon, and wore the Aegis upon her chest. She was said to bear the head of the Gorgon upon her breast, and this seems to me a symbol of the destruction of the matriarchal order. This is not the place for this discussion, however.

Athena was a lover of Heroes. She delighted in their heroics, and often protected them while giving them implements to aid them. This does not surprise me, of course. Athena's role as a war goddess means that she very much loves the get up and do it types, and this translates into life. Athena will help those who are willing to do for themselves.

Athena is a goddess of civilization. One of the greatest of ancient societies was Athens, her namesake. As such, she is indeed a goddess dear to me, for I am very much a lover of the idea of civilization. True, civilization has brought as much harm and evil as it has good, but the Gifts are the Gods are just that, Gifts. What we do with those gifts determines their good or evil, not the gifts themselves.
My worship of Athena is centered around three aspect of this extremely complex goddess.

Mother

Although Athena is a virgin Goddess, there are maternal traditions involved in her worship, and in this, a connection to Persephone and the Underworld. The child Erechthonios was the product of another myth, this one involving Lord Hephaestos, the divine Smith. The story goes like this...

Hephaestos wanted a wife, yet none would have him for he was lame. He wanted Athena, and sought the fathers permission to wed her. Zeus granted this and Hephaestos went to Athena and bade her into their golden bedchamber. There, Hephaestos attempted to take her, but Athena fought him off and his semen fell not in her, but upon her sacred wool, or peplos. She cleaned it off and through it down upon the fertile earth. Mother Gaea gave birth to the divine child Erechthoneos who was given to Athena, who placed him in a basket.

This was the closest Athena came to being wife and mother in Classical Mythology, but this formed the basis for one of Athena's mysteries, and in this mystery, Athena was celebrated as mother of sorts, and then as dead and reborn from the head of Zeus.

The story goes that she wanted to feed the divine child in secret and make him immortal, and thus gave the child to her three priestesses in a basket with the admonition that they must not look into the basket. So the child was taken into the care of the priestesses of Athena.

What is interesting about the festivities that surrounded this myth is that they occurred at the end of the month in conjunction with the full moon, and then her birth as the first crescent of the moon became visible in conjunction with the sun, was also celebrated. I have never seen it referred to in this following way, but it is an impression I get none the less, and that is this; This story, in conjunction with the associations with the underworld and rebirth that seem to come with it lead me to believe this is the Goddesses aspect of mother who dies at childbirth, as well as an association with the unborn or perhaps stillborn children. Kind of chilling.

Warrior

This is a well know, but often ignored aspect of many goddesses. Even Aphrodite had a martial aspect in Sparta, but it is an aspect that I had a great deal of trouble with.

I am a peace lover, and believe that mankind can do well without war, but nature says otherwise, and in a contest of wills between a man and the divine, the divine always wins. I have come to accept, and even respect the aggressive nature of Athena. It is an aspect that stands still and holds its own against any odds. It is the aspect of Athena that says "stop!" in the face of aggression and danger. It is an aspect of Athena that also connects to the feminine spirit in a way many will not associate. The aspect of women in danger from men.

In one myth regarding Athena's parentage, she is said to be the daughter of the giant Pallas, who during the Gigantomachy (War of the Giants) attempted to rape his own daughter. Athena, who is also named Pallas, battles the giant and kills him, removing his skin and wearing it as she would wear the aegis of Zeus. She is the defender of self, in this aspect, as well as the defender of the city and nation (Athena Polias.)

Virgin

This another very well known aspect of Athena (Athena Parthenos.) As I have already mentioned, I worship Athena as "Mother," yet I also worship her as "Virgin," and thus, Virgin Mother. This is not the same idea as seen in Christian Theology, but as a kind of mother somewhat akin to that of an adoptive mother. Indeed, I do believe that Athena is mother, but it is not necessary that she have actually given birth to have been mother to Erechthonios, or to Athens, or all the people of Greece as their protector. Indeed, she is an example to me of our ability to show paternal/maternal instincts to children who are not our own. She is an example to me of our duty to protect each other as if though we were each others parents.
The virgin aspect, however, is far deeper than just someone who has had no sex. Indeed, it is a psychological virginity, an innocence that is important to me.

Here we go into the self discovery that is part of my religious belief system.

Athena is not really a Goddess who inspires one to self discovery for its own sake, instead she is a goddess who throws things at you. Thoughts and deeds of a contradictory nature that inspire you to search for the keys to their understanding. The struggle to understand is paramount to Athena, for she will not make things easy for you, and it is in this struggle to make sense of her that one may make the greatest of self discoveries.

For one, I have found that the warrior/mother/virgin dichotomy that is Athena actually makes sense to me. We are all of us all of these things. We are mothers/fathers, warriors, peace lovers, virgins and eventually one with death. It is a part of our life, and these things are with us always. There is a part of us that will always be virginal and innocent. There is a part of us that is aggressive, and there is a part of us that is protective and willing to stand in defense of life.

I have discovered that I am looked up to by many. I have learned to like me a little better for my wisdom, though certainly not in all things, and I have learned that the wisdom of others is worth listening to, even when it does not agree with my own.

How has Athena transmitted all this to me? Well, as I have already said, she has forced me to seek answers from her very being, but she is also wise enough to point me in the direction of other Gods who have taught me a great deal. She is strong and willful, but wise, and knows when others might be of help.