DID YOU KNOW: THE WISEST WAS A WOMAN
The wisest was a woman, isn’t that a bit out of line when said today? A quality that modern society seems to have deprived the feminine creature of, forgetting that long ago Greeks engraved it in women’s genes, decrying that wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, arts, crafts, and power, were associated to “Athena”, Zeus’s favorite child. A Goddess whose name traveled and survived time, to be eternally remembered in every corner of the great city of “Athens”.
Curious to know a bit more about this uncommon figure?
Athena’s story begins with an unusual birth since the goddess emerged from Zeus’s head. It’s said that after the great war, Zeus was handed a terrifying prophecy, declaring that a son of his would rule the sky and be his end, not ready to face his father’s fate- and trust me he knows better- Zeus decided to swallow up his pregnant wife Metis, a titan Goddess known for her wisdom and cunning. Inside Zeus, Metis began to craft a helmet and an armor for her unborn child, but the pounding was so unbearable, that Zeus called upon Hephaestus to help him with the pain. Hephaestus decided to split Zeus’s head with an axe, and out emerged Athena, fully grown, standing tall in her beautiful mother maid armor.
Not a boy, a girl or should we say a woman, who inherited her mother’s wisdom and crafts. Athena was indeed, a wise Goddess, who served as a true savior in many stories, like the time she aided Perseus in his quest to slay the Gorgon, Medusa. But through the numerous tales, her cleverness was undeniable when facing Poseidon in the “Contest for Athens”.
Athens was a city favored by two deities Athena and Poseidon, each aspired to make it his, such conflict demanded a divine intervention by which Zeus proposed a convenient settlement where the people of Athens would choose their patron deity. A contest was to be held on the hill of the Acropolis, and both Gods were asked to offer a unique gift to the citizens of Athens. Poseidon lord of the sea, struck the ground with his trident, creating a saltwater spring, a gift not cared for by the people since the water was too salty to put into use. On the other hand, the clever Athena, offered them an “olive tree”, a beneficial gift esteemed for the food and the wood it provided, granting her the city’s allegiance.
A great city, for a greater figure, powerful and supreme, Athena guided and inspired Athenians into being one of the most prestigious and vibrant civilizations of the world, a cradle of democracy, philosophy, art, and science. And Today as I write this article, I admire the Greeks' mindset, their audacity in allowing women to embody what men have declared to be theirs without negotiation. While men were related to music, love, and wine, the ladies were associated with agriculture, wisdom, and hunting, proving once again that gender discrimination at the time was never an issue to state or a plague to fight, it is our modern crime.
Meryem !