Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Bright Eyed Athena
Throughout the Odyssey, Athena, the daughter of Zeus and Metis, is often referred to as "bright eyed". This is because she is known to have had bright silvery coloured eyes. It's said that the city of Athens was owned by Posiedon however he was ruling it poorly and Athena, being the warrior that she was decided to take over Athens. She planted the first domesticated olive tree, which is known to always symbolize Athena and her bright eyes, for when the olive leaves blow the under side of them is a bright silvery colour, just like Athena's eyes. Posiedon challenged Athena to a mortal combat, and Athena would have really hurt Posiedon, after all, fighting is her specialty! So the Gods all voted instead, the males all voted for Posiedon, and the females voted for Athena, however Zues refused to vote, causing Athan to win. She named Athens after her and that is where the first domesticated olive tree originated.
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This actually taught me a lot, Megan!
ReplyDeleteI knew the olive tree was associated with peace, but this gives it a whole new perspective.
Also, the males voting for the god of wild wrath and the females voting for the goddess of reason/wisdom. It just goes to show, haha.
Go Athena!
Glad it did! I did a project on Athena in my grade 10 mythology class!
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