Why do greeks worship athena

Terracotta column-krater bowl for mixing wine and water Attributed to Lydos. Terracotta kylix drinking cup Attributed to the Amasis Painter. Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora Attributed to the Euphiletos Painter. Terracotta amphora jar Signed by Andokides as potter. Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora Attributed to the Kleophrades Painter.

Terracotta statuette of Nike, the personification of victory. Terracotta lekythos oil flask Attributed to the Tithonos Painter. Terracotta kylix drinking cup Attributed to the Villa Giulia Painter.

Terracotta lekythos oil flask Attributed to the Nikon Painter. Terracotta stamnos jar Attributed to the Menelaos Painter. Terracotta lekythos oil flask Attributed to the Sabouroff Painter.

Terracotta lekythos oil flask Attributed to the Phiale Painter. Marble head of a woman wearing diadem and veil. Terracotta oinochoe: chous jug Attributed to the Meidias Painter. Gold ring. Ganymede jewelry. Set of jewelry.

Gold stater. Marble head of Athena. Bronze statue of Eros sleeping. Ten marble fragments of the Great Eleusinian Relief. Limestone statue of a veiled female votary. Marble head of a deity wearing a Dionysiac fillet. Marble statue of an old woman. Marble statuette of young Dionysos.

Greek Religion. Each would present Athens with a gift. The Athenians would then vote and choose which gift they preferred, making the winner the Patron. Athena gave the people the olive tree, which provided both nourishment and trade.

There are two main ways Athena is typically depicted in artwork. She is either seen wearing a full-length gown, called a chiton, or as wearing a full suit of armor while bearing a shield.

In a popular sculpture, called Mourning Athena, she is depicted weary from battle and resting on her staff. Athena is one of the most popular of the Olympic goddesses, mainly because she represented wisdom and intellectual thought, traits that were highly valued to the Ancient Greeks. She was also the goddess of war, or more specifically, military strategy. Her influence can still be found today at the Parthenon in Athens.

Wikipedia — Athena. Tufts University. As a goddess of war, Athena often shows up in Greek legend to assist various heroes -- Heracles, Odysseus and Jason all got a helping hand from Athena. In classical myth, Athena never took any lovers, and was often revered as Athena the Virgin, or Athena Parthenos. This is where the Parthenon temple got its name.

Athena was born a child of Zeus by his first wife, Metis, a goddess of wisdom. Because Zeus was afraid Metis might bear him a son who was mightier than himself, he swallowed her. While trapped inside Zeus, Metis began to make a helmet and robe for her unborn daughter. All that clanging and pounding caused Zeus to suffer terrible headaches, so he called for his son Hephaestus, the smith of the gods.

Hephaestus split his father's skull open to relieve the pain, and out popped Athena, fully grown and clad in her new robe and helmet. The cult of Athena emerged very early, as part of her position as a patroness of the city of Athens.

She became Athens' protector after a dispute with her uncle, Poseideon, the god of the sea. Both Athena and Poseidon really liked a certain city on the coast of Greece, and both of them claimed ownership. Finally, to solve the dispute, it was agreed that whoever could present the city with the best gift would forever be patron. Athena and Poseidon went to the Acropolis, where Poseidon struck the cliffside with his mighty trident. A spring welled up, which amazed and impressed the citizenry.

However, the spring was salt water, so it wasn't really of much use to anyone. Athena then presented the people with a simple olive tree.

Although it wasn't as impressive as a spring, it was far more useful, because it presented the people with oil, food , and even wood. In thanks, they named the city Athens. She was celebrated every spring with a festival called the Plynteria, during which altars and statues were ritually cleansed. Some people in Greece still worship Athena and pay homage to her at the Acropolis. Athena is typically portrayed with her companion, Nike, the goddess of victory.

She is also depicted carrying a shield bearing the head of the Gorgon. Because of her association with wisdom, Athena is usually shown with an owl nearby.