Athena

I am fairly certain this is not how the goddess Athena would have looked to Greeks back in the day.




 

Medium: Crayon

When I first saw the coloring page, my immediate reaction was to make her look more like, well, this . . .

You know, like an Amazon. More Xena, if you will. More brown leather and less color.

But after studying the picture, I determined there wasn't much Amazon there. All of that draping and that parade helmet - that's not an Amazon. Besides, Artemis was the goddess of the Amazons, not Athena, though apparently Athena looked favorably upon the Amazons, too.

Athena, aka Pallas Athena, was the Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, mathematics, strength, war strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill. That's a lot to put on one goddess, but she must have been up to the task.

She allegedly sprang from Zeus' head, in full-blown armor. That had to have hurt, eh? But not too much, as she was the favored child of Zeus.

To mankind, she offered up the gifts of the bridle, so man could tame horses, the trumpet, the flute, the pot, the rake, the plow, the yoke, the ship, and the chariot. She must not have had much spare time.

In later legends, Athena was the opposite of her brother Ares, who favored violence, bloodlust, and slaughter, while Athena represented the disciplined, strategic side of war. She was more interested in truth, justice, and moral values than in blood and guts.

Her holy tree was the olive tree and she was often symbolized as an owl. She has been known to take the form of other birds as well.

The Romans called her Minerva. She may have been a Mycenaean goddess adapted into Greek mythology. An Egyptian goddess, Neith, was also identified with Athena. Neith was the war goddess and huntress deity of the Egyptians since the ancient Pre-Dynastic period. This goddess was also identified with weaving.

The goddess Athena encouraged everyone to use intuitive wisdom rather than anger or violence.

Maybe somebody should have listened.