THE BIRTH OF ATHENA. 



BV EMILY C. THOMPSON. 



IT IS a Study, interesting to some of 

 our modern scholars, to fathom 

 the depths of obscurity and bring 

 up from the hidden past, from the 

 minds of men long departed, their con- 

 ceptions of the beings whom they wor- 

 shiped. Still more interesting is it to 

 surmise and conjecture the origin of 

 these marvelous beings. Charming 

 books have been written upon these 

 subjects and they prove fascinating to 

 the reader who, with vivid imagination, 

 can follow the theories of each author 

 and the long fantastic proofs. The gods 

 of the Greeks, those anthropomorphic 

 beings, throbbing with life, radiant with 

 beauty, the ideal of all that is fair and 

 lovely, and yet the prey of human pas- 

 sions and desires, are a never-ending 

 source of delight to classical students. 



All theories start from the supposi- 

 tion that the gods had their origin 

 eitherin physical or mental phenomena. 

 Many try to trace out the effect which 

 the world of nature with its wonders, 

 its beauties, and its fearful realities, has 

 had upon the savage and primitive 

 mind, and how from these impressions 

 arose the main gods of the Greek re- 

 ligion. Of course there are schol- 

 ars on the other side who will not admit 

 that there is any physical aspect of any 

 of the gods. So the conflict rages, ex- 

 citing, even absorbing, but inconclusive. 

 The method of proof must depend 

 largely upon the actual remains of that 

 civilization which are still left for us in 

 the literature and art of that people. 

 The Greeks had an established theog- 

 ony very early, as we know by the 

 "Theogony" of Hesiod, which still re- 

 mains. In this the parents of the gods 

 were traced far back, to Gaia, the earth, 

 and Uranus, the sk)-, who themselves 

 were sprung from Chaos. A minute 

 relationship was figured out between all 

 their deities which is to us almost too 

 perplexing to follow. Many names in 

 this theogony are names taken from 

 nature, as those above, and so the schol- 

 ars get a basis for their investigations. 



Athena was one of the principal god- 



desses of this race, the virgin goddess 

 of wisdom and of the arts of life, espec- 

 ially honored at Athens, the seat of an- 

 1 cient culture. Could any goddess seem 

 farther removed from anything phys- 

 ical or material?— and yet we find many 

 theories from competent, earnest schol- 

 ars, brought forward to prove that such 

 a relationship did exist. The birth of 

 this goddess as recorded by the ancient 

 writers was peculiar. At a blow given 

 by Hephaestus (Vulcan) or Prometheus, 

 she sprang from the head of Zeus, the 

 great god of Olympus, clad in her ar- 

 mor, full-grown, and perfect. 



A few quotations will tell us the story 

 and show us all upon which the schol- 

 ars have to base their theories about 

 the origin of the goddess and her na- 

 ture. 



Homer presents Athena to us as the 

 daughter of Zeus, and of Zeus alone, 

 but he does not tell anything about her 

 birth. She seems to be the spoilt dar- 

 ling of her father, or as one German 

 writer calls her, sein aiideres Ich. She 

 wears the aegis of her father and some- 

 times all his armor, as she takes an ac- 

 tive part in the battles, aiding her be- 

 loved Achaeans. 



Hesiod, Theogony 886-90O; 924-926. 



"Zeus, the king of the gods, made 

 Metis first his bride— Metis, most know- 

 ing of gods and of mortal men. But 

 when she was about to bear the glanc- 

 ing-eyed goddess Athena, then deceiv- 

 ing her mind by craft, by winning 

 words, he swallowed her, by the 

 shrewdness of Gaia and starry Uranus, 

 for thus they advised him, that no other 

 of the ever-living gods might gain 

 kingly honor in place of Zeus. For 

 from her it was decreed that there 

 should spring clever children; first 

 the glancing-eyed maiden, Tritogenia 

 (Athena), having equal strength with 

 her father and wise counsel; but that 

 then she would bear a son, king of gods 

 and men, with overbearing heart. But 

 first Zeus swallowed her, since the god- 

 dess purposed both good and evil for 

 him. . . . So he himself bore from 



