Stories of athena
While in Athens, we went on an amazing tour and learned about Greek mythology, history and more! We were all fascinated by the mythology and we each chose to write one of the stories we were told. I chose to write about the story of Athena's birth and the story of how the city Athens was named.
Athena’s Birth
The story of Athena’s birth is depicted in many places, and we saw it carved in stone on the Academy of Athens building.
As the story goes, the Oracle of Delphi delivered a prophecy to Zeus and his wife (at the time) Métis, the goddess of good counsel. The prophecy was that they would have two children and in the end, both would be more powerful than Zeus himself. Because his ego was so big, he would not allow this to happen. So he ordered Métis to turn herself into a fly, and then he ate her. He assumed that Métis had died, but she had actually flown up to his brain and made Athena inside Zeus. Athena grew into a woman – inside his head! She gave Zeus the worst headache of all time, smashing her sword on his skull. Zeus had absolutely no idea what was happening so, he went to Hephaestus and demanded that he open his head with an enchanted axe. This was happening in front of all of the other gods and goddesses. Then Athena popped out – fully grown, fully clothed, complete with a sword and shield! I’m sure it was a sight to behold. No one knows what happened to Métis (the fly). Or, at least, I don’t.
Naming of Athens
The story of naming the city of Athens was not like others. To decide the name, its citizens held a competition. Everyone in Athens gathered at the Acropolis, overlooking their beloved city.
Poseidon and Athena stood in front of the Parthenon. First, Poseidon struck a stone with his trident and salt water spurted out. The people of the city were unimpressed because Greece is surrounded by water, and salt water is bad for human consumption. Athena stabbed her sword into the earth and an olive tree grew. She won the naming contest because olives were and still are used for many things like food, olive oil, and medicines. The olive tree is still there today. If Poseidon had won, we would have been visiting Poseidonia, land of Poseidon.
I think that Greek mythology is really cool, and it was interesting to learn these stories. They might not be fully true, but no one can prove otherwise.