I spent my 2016 summer at Brown University, at a program called... Summer at Brown. I took two courses there: one was about comparative mythology, while the second one was about the Roman Empire. The following essay was written for my final project for the class about comparative mythology.
The Birth of Athena
The Birth of Athena is part of Hesiod’s Theogony. While we do not have any written records about when the Theogony was written, we say around Hesiod’s life span in the eighth century before the Common Era. The Theogony is the story of the birth of the universe, Titans, and Olympians. The Birth of Athena is the story about how the goddess, Pallas Athena, came to be. The important characters are Zeus (king of all the gods), Metis (the goddess of thought), Athena (goddess of wisdom and strategy), and Hephaestus (god of the forge). It all started when Zeus married Metis. However, Zeus swallowed Metis, because he feared that she would produce a child that would be stronger than him. While in Zeus’ stomach, Metis was pregnant with Zeus’ child and gave birth to Pallas Athena. This caused Zeus to have a massive headache. He screamed with such pain, that he needed Hephaestus to crack open Zeus’ skull with his hammer and chisel. At that moment, Athena burst out of Zeus’ head with her armor. This was when Athena became part of the Olympians.
The Birth of Athena shows that gods are very similar to humans. In Hesoid’s Theogony, Zeus is described to have “seized her [Metis] with his hands and put her in his belly, for fear that she might bring forth something stronger than his thunderbolt”. This statement describes Zeus swallowing Metis, as shown by the phrase, “put[ting] her in his belly”. The statement also suggests that Zeus was afraid that Metis’ offspring would be stronger than him, as shown by the phrase, “for fear that she might bring forth something stronger than his thunderbolt”, with the thunderbolt symbolically representing Zeus. One could point out that if the offspring was stronger than Zeus’ thunderbolt, then the offspring could match Zeus, but not destroy him. This suggests that Zeus is greedy and wants all the power to himself, which could be true. While one theory suggests that Zeus was afraid of being overthrown, and while the other theory suggests that Zeus was afraid of finding his equal, both suggest that the gods have some human-like characteristics. The determination to avoid fate, shows up in many myths, such as Oedipus Rex, and the House of Atreus. The fear of finding one who you cannot beat, is also something that humans can experience. In short, gods are not much different from humans. This statement is related with the entire story because Zeus’ fear of being dominated (or finding his equal) by his child led to him swallowing Metis. This led to Athena being born inside Zeus, which led to Hephaestus cracking Zeus’ skull and Athena’s birth. The storyteller is telling this myth to explain that while gods and humans have distinct differences, they are often similar based on their emotions that guide their actions. One could also say that the story is about why humans think. In my opinion, this could be true because humans have been thinking since the beginning of time, and to the Greeks, some god must have controlled their wisdom, and they created the myth to justify wisdom and strategy’s existence. However, I feel that there is a deeper truth to this myth other than the justification of wisdom’s presence. In conclusion, Athena’s birth, on the outside perspective, can be about why strategy and wisdom exist, but an inside theory suggests that it is meant to compare gods and humans by their emotions, and overall actions.
The line “But she [Metis] straightway conceived Pallas Athena: and the father of men and gods gave her birth by way of his head” also suggests that gods and mortals are similar. Even though she was inside Zeus, Metis still gave birth to Athena, which can be considered miraculous since she is a goddess. However, she is still comparable with Greek women, because she can give birth, just like mortal women. Another way of comparing gods to mortals is the phrase, “the father of men and gods”. This name refers to Zeus. Mortals have fathers and mothers. Zeus’ title suggests that gods and mortals are similar because they both have parents. One could also say that this could also mean that not only is Zeus the father of all the gods, but of all mortals as well, which connects both gods and mortals with a common father. In my opinion, I do not agree with this because we have evidence to suggest that Zeus was not the father of the gods, because there were deities before him who were also called gods, and maybe not the father of men, because there are many myths about the creation of humans, some not involving Zeus creating the mortals. The phrase, “gave her birth by way of his head”, is interesting. First, men cannot give birth, and second, no one can give birth through their head. However, Zeus was in pain, and was in so much pain that he needed Hephaestus to crack open his skull. Mortals also experience pain, which further compares mortals to gods. Some say that cracking open a skull is not necessarily a birth, but I disagree. Since men were superior to women, if they were to ever give birth, one can assume that the baby would be born from somewhere superior to a womb. There are two reasons that Athena was born from Zeus’ head: first, the head was most important part of the body and it represented a man role in the house, and second, as the goddess of the mind, it would be proper to have her come out of Zeus’ head. The former compares gods and mortals because both have authority over women, and are the heads of the family.
The phrase, “goddess (Athena) received that whereby she excelled in strength all the deathless less ones who dwell in Olympus, she who made the host-scaring weapon of Athena” creates another perplexing thought. The texts says that Athena “excelled in strength”, which adds to her title as the goddess of strategy. If men only went to war, then why would a woman be the goddess of strategy, (and to an extent, war), wearing armor? According to Nicolle Stein, Athena was created to be a direct contrast of Ares, the god of war. The opposite of a man, is a woman. Also, while Ares is a god of violence, ferocity, viciousness, and hatred; Athena is a goddess of strategy and wisdom to achieve victory. This further compares the mortals and gods by having two genders, and that men and women are direct contrasts with each other. This connects to another idea, about Athena’s gender. While the Greek Pantheon is ruled primarily by male, and the Greek lifestyle is a patriarchal society, it is interesting to point out that Athena is a woman. Greek women were forced to do household work for their husbands. They had to cook, clean, weave, and sew. Athena is also the goddess of weaving and sewing. Thus, demonstrating, that female goddesses have similar roles to Greek women.
In conclusion, The Birth of Athena, part of Hesiod’s Theogony, explains that while gods and mortals have some differences, they share many aspects of physical and emotional attitudes that define Greek culture. In the story, Zeus swallows Metis to avoid having a powerful offspring. The action can be justified by Zeus’ fear of being subjugated by his offspring, or fear of finding his equal, and therefore having to share his power. Another fear is the fear of one’s fate. Zeus tries to avoid his fate by swallowing Metis. This idea shows up, not only in myths, but in our daily lives as well. These fears are common in human society, which bonds gods and mortals through similar fears. The story can also inform the reader that the Greeks justified their thought and wisdom through the will of Athena, and without Athena’s birth, the Greeks’ lifestyle would probably be different, because they would find another way to justify thought. Also, even though the idea that a deity is born from another deity, while inside a third deity, is considered impossible for humans, the idea of childbirth is similar, since both goddesses and women can give birth. Zeus’ title “father of gods and men” further unites both, by both sharing the idea of parenthood within a family, and that Zeus could be the father of both gods and mortals (which bonds both groups; this is debatable). While men cannot give birth, let alone through their heads, the feeling of pain, is common within both groups. Also, since men were superior to women, they idealized that if a man were to give birth, then they would give birth through the most important part of the body: the head, which symbolically represents the head of the family. So, this compares gods and mortals because they both are patriarchal societies. The question is raised about why Athena is the goddess of strategy. Some say that she is the direct contrast of Ares, the god of war, as a female counterpart. This claims that gods and mortals are similar because they both support the idea that men and women are direct contrasts. Another question talks about Athena’s gender. Since she is also the goddess of weaving and sewing, she is comparable with mortal women, because both weave and sew, which highlights women’s role in Greek society. All put forth, gods and mortals have certain, similar qualities that can highlight what is important in Greek society.
Work Cited:
"Hesiod, Theogony." Hesiod, Theogony, Line 1003. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2016. <http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard>.
"Greek Men." Ancient for Kids and Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2016. <http://greece.mrdonn.org/men.html>.
"Ancient Greece - Gods and Goddesses - The British Museum." Ancient Greece - Gods and Goddesses - The British Museum. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2016. <http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/gods/explore/exp_set.html>.
"History: Women in Ancient Greece." History: Women in Ancient Greece. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 July 2016. <http://webpage.pace.edu/nreagin/F2004WS267/AnnaCho/finalHISTORY.html>.
Stein, Nicolle. "Athena as a Female Goddess - Object Worlds in Ancient Greece - NYU Wikis." Athena as a Female Goddess - Object Worlds in Ancient Greece - NYU Wikis. Confluence, 3 Dec. 2012. Web. 21 July 2016. https://wikis.nyu.edu/display/owag/Athena+as+a+Female+Goddess.
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"That's a Headache. Even Back in 550 BCE." Digital image. Blue Ridge OB/GYN Associates. September 12, 2012. Accessed October 10, 2016. http://www.blueridgeobg.com/top-10-pregnancy-myths-595.
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