Motifs:
Nature and stories associated with Poseidon and Athena
Cultural relevance
Scholars believe now that most of the architecture and sculpture was once painted.
Poseidon (Roman: Neptune)
Epithets
“Earth-shaker,” “Pelagaios,” “Asphalios,” “Hippios” ...
Iconogrpahy
- mature, bearded male
- trident
Nature
- god of the sea, earthquakes, and associated with bulls & horses
- children: Triton, Polyphemus, Theseus(?)
- Known for: the walls of Troy
Poseidon
Genealogy of Sea Divinities:
Ge > Pontus (parthenogenically)
Oceanus = Tethys (Titans)
> Oceanids (1,000 boys/1,000 girls)
Pontus = Ge
> Nereus (gentle, wise, had gift of prophecy)
Nereus = Doris (Oceanid)
> 50 daughters called the Nereids
3 most important Nereids:
Thetis, Galatea, Amphitrite
Peleus and Thetis:
- prophecy
- Achilles
Honoré Daumier, L’Histoire Ancienne (1842)
Cf. also Proteus
Peleus wrestles w/ Thetis, Peithinos Painter (ca. 510 BCE)
Wedding of Peleus and Thetis:
Players: Eris (or Discord), Zeus, Hera, Athena, Aphrodite
Marriage with Amphitrite, a Nereid
> Triton
Cp. to Zeus and Hera
Triton with conch-shell, Paestan red-figure (ca. 4th c. BCE)
Neptune and Amphitrite, Jacob de Gheyn II (1565-1629)
Scylla
- daughter of Phorcys and Hecate
(sometimes Ceto)
- mortal life: Glaucus and Circe
Charybdis
- daughter of Poseidon and Gaia
The Strait of Messina (between Sicily and Italy), with whirlpool
Scylla (in Odyssey: twelve feet, six necks; here, a nymph with dog belt)
Acis, Galatea, and Polyphemus:
- a misunderstood giant or a ferocious monster?
Acis and Galatea, Poussin (1629-30)
The Odyssey (1997) made for tv
Athena (Roman: Minerva):
Daughter of Zeus
- a virgin goddess
- domains: war, crafts (esp. weaving)
Wisdom as practical knowledge
- portrayed as a woman in full armor
- symbols: the owl, the olive tree, the aegis
- especially: patron of Athens (Parthenon)
Birth of Athena
(Seen before in Hesiod, Th. 886-898; Now in HH 28)
East Pediment of the Parthenon, Pheidias (ca. 447-438 BCE)
The Birth of Minerva, Rene-Antoine Houasse
Athena, patron of mortal heroes
Stories of transgression:
Blinding of Tiresias
Chariclo = mother
Metamorphosis of Arachne
Tiresias and Athena, Louis-Jean-Francois Legrenee
Minerva and Arachne, René-Antoine Houasse (1706)
Athena’s Virginity:
“foster” mother of Erichthonius
- son (sort of) of Hephaestus and
Gaia
-early king of Athens: taught
Athenians the chariot, the plow,
silver-working
Athena Scorning the Advances of Hephaestus (16th c)
West pediment: Contest for patronage
Poseidon competing with Athena for patronage of the city of Athens (reconstruction)
Sculptor: Pheidias (again)
Cecrops (founder of Attica), era of contest b/t Athena and Poseidon
- “civilized” the tribes in the area
Erechtheion (5th c. BCE)
xoanon of Athena Polias “of the city”
Stages of the Acropolis
1. Mycenaean
Athenians = Autochthonous
Acropolis: Stage 2
Constructed under 6th c. tyrant Peisistratus
Gigantomachy Pediment to Old Temple of Athena Polias (525-500 BCE)
Acropolis: Stage 3, Periclean building project
Pericles, 495-429 BCE ‘Mourning Athena’
Civic votive offering or marker for a racetrack of
some sort (ca. 460 BCE)
Idealized view of Periclean Acropolis by Leo van Klenze (1846)
Athena Promachos: “Who fights in the frontline”
Athena Promachos, bronze NAM Athens (480 BCE)
Temple to Athena Nike (447 – 425 BCE)
- housed a Nike Apteros (“Wingless”)
- Nike = “Victory”
Athena’s epithets:
Athena Polias (“of the city”)
Pallas Athena
> Palladium at Troy
Athena Tritogeneia
“Owl-eyed”; “Gray-eyed”
Athena Giustiniani (1899)
