Pallas Athena/Minerva
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Zeus actually gave birth to Athena right out of
the top of his head.
She was full-grown and wearing a full suit of
armor.
She was Zeus’s favorite child and it is if she
sprung from his imagination.
She is a fierce and ruthless battle goddess.
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She only defends the state and home.
She is the goddess of the city and the protector
of civilized life, crafts, and agriculture.
She contributed to society by inventing the
bridle and helping man to first tame horses.
She is one of three virgin goddesses and was
the leader of them.
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These virgin goddesses are Maidens or Parthenes.
Her temple was called the Parthenon.
At first she was known as a goddess of battle or war
but later poetry emphasizes her virtues as wisdom,
purity, and reasoning (logic).
Mini bio information.
She was known for her gray eyes, although
sometimes the translation would indicate they were
flashing instead.
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Her favorite city was Athens.
Her tree was the olive tree.
Her bird was the owl indicating wisdom.
Phoebus/Apollo
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Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto and was
born in Delphi.
He was considered the most Greek of all the
gods.
He is similar to a jack-of-all-trades in that he
can do and is responsible for many different
things.
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According to poetry, he is a master musician
who plays the lyre.
He is the archer god who has silver arrows.
He is a healer and first taught man about
medicine.
He is the god of light and there is no darkness
around him. This gives him the honor of being
the god of truth.
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Apollo had a plethora of names.
He was known as Delian of Delos (birthplace).
He was also known as Pythian. He acquires this name
by completing a dangerous task. He went into the
cave of Parnassus with a python snake and killed it
with his lightening fast silver arrows.
He was also known as Thelycian. Thelycian was a
three-part god, the wolf god, the god of light, and the
god of Lycia.
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In the Iliad he is called Sminthian who
happened to be a mouse god. It is not known
whether he was given this name because he
protected mice or destroyed them.
Phoebus was also called the sun god even
though Helios was the true sun god.
Characteristics of Apollo
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He was benevolent.
He provided a direct link between man and the
gods.
He could show mortals how to appease the
gods so their sins could be washed away.
Conflicts in Character
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Myths about Apollo contain very few accounts
of cruelty and pitilessness.
There are two ideas fighting inside of him.
The first idea is primitive and crude (the
unrefined idea). An example of this might be
literally barbaric behavior. Another example
would be a rough draft.
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The second idea would be beautiful and poetic.
This would be refined and civilized behavior
like you would see at a formal dinner party. It
also would be a finished and flawless piece of
work.
Mini bio information
His tree is the laurel tree.
His sacred animals are dolphins and crows.
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Let’s read the poem on page 30 line by line out
loud.