The Goddess Athene

Athene was called Athena by both Greeks and Romans, but we prefer Homer's spelling. She cast her net very wide, reigning as the goddess of wisdom and the arts, and the goddess of war. She sprang not only fully grown, but fully armed from the head of Zeus, who gave his precocious daughter--as a sign of special favor--his famous breastplate adorned with the head of the Gorgon Medusa, as well as his shield and his thunderbolt, forerunner of today's cruise missile. Athene was often sculpted and portrayed in a splendid helmet and armor, carrying a spear (i.e., thunderbolt).

In her less Amazonian moods, Athene supported domestic, homely pursuits such as agriculture and women's crafts (spinning and weaving). Although a virgin, she was widely worshiped as the goddess of fertility--Mount Olympus had its privileges. Athene bequeathed many inventions and skills to the Greek city-states, including the plow, the flute, shipbuilding, shoe making, the taming of animals. Recently evidence has come to light of a hitherto unknown invention bequeathed to the Greeks but then suddenly withdrawn.

To her namesake city-state, Athens, the goddess awarded the olive tree (foundation for its economic security in the Mediterranean over many centuries). In gratitude, the Athenians built the Parthenon ("parthenos" means maiden or virgin) on the Acropolis, and Phidias sculpted a huge statue of her known as the Palladium--after Pallas, a female playmate whom Athene accidentally killed while engaged in combat training. In remorse, the goddess adopted her ill-fated friend's name. Hence, she is sometimes known as Pallas Athene.

The Romans conquered the Greeks in the second century BCE, then borrowed heavily from them in almost every field of human endeavor, particularly in matters cultural and philosophical. They identified Athene/Athena with their goddess Minerva, but Hadrian (117-138), the most Graecophile of the Roman emperors recalled the goddess' Greek name specifically when establishing the Atheneum as a proto-university in Rome circa 135. The Atheneum provided a convenient location for talented and learned Romans to follow their Greek antecedents in reading their works in public, in critiquing the works of others, in exchanging ideas on any subject under the sun, and doubtless in engaging in Socratic dialogues.

In those enlightened times, many of the scholars in Hadrian's Atheneum were given gifts of money so that they could pursue their intellectual interests in relative comfort. Some of the wise men (no wise women were permitted in those days) appear to have taught voluntarily, although there is no evidence that they were required to teach anyone to justify their existence and keep the gifts of money. Nor do we have any reliable evidence as to whether they faced a stark choice: Either "publish or perish," obtain tenure, and submit to post-tenure reviews, or be banished from Rome, perhaps to recite poetry to troops guarding one of Hadrian's walls on the frontiers of the Empire.

The walls did help preserve the Empire for nearly three centuries. Then, the Atheneum and much else in Roman civilization was destroyed by the Huns and the equally savage, benighted barbarians who succeeded them.

If you wish to learn more about Athene, or indeed anything else about Greece and Rome in Antiquity, consult the experts in the UofA Department of Classics and Classical Archaeology.

During the Renaissance among the many useful creations and concepts of Classical Antiquity to be "reborn" after centuries of gloom and doom (the Dark Ages) was the pursuit of secular enlightenment. Once again an Atheneum became admired as a place of study and learning, where people could explore hypotheses (however far-fetched), exchange ideas, and sound off on any topic they chose--all without the fear of being accused of sacrilege or lèse majesté.

Raphael's gorgeous fresco The School of Athens (1510-11) represents a high Renaissance view of what it might have been like to stroll around with the likes of Plato and Aristotle in Athens (or with their less celebrated successors in the Atheneum in Rome). The original fresco is one of a series in the Vatican commissioned by the enlightened Pope Julius II (he also invited Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel).

 

 

 

 

Plato and Aristotle are the two central figures. Raphael portrayed himself in the far lower right corner; he is looking out straight at you (second figure from the right). The man seated in the middle foreground, looking very pensive, is said to be a portrait of Michelangelo.

 

 

Seeking to emulate both Hadrian and his Renaissance admirers, some English gentlemen created the Athenaeum (British spelling to reflect the original Greek) in 1824. The Athenaeum has remained one of the most famous of the men's clubs in London. It has a choice location, close to Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus, an excellent restaurant and a splendid library, plus comfortable public rooms and bedrooms for members wishing to stay in London for a brief period. Paradoxically, although named after a female, the Athenaeum still declines to admit women as members. However, women (suitably dressed, of course) are permitted to partake of lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner, and to attend various cultural functions.

 

 

Here is a photo of the entrance to the club. It is not too clear, but you can make out above the entrance a gilded statue of Athene wearing a splendid Greek helmet and carrying a spear--as though guarding the free pursuit of easy conversation over a cup of tea or an aperitif, or in more leisurely fashion over a sumptuous meal.

Bostonian gentlemen, not to be outdone, founded their own Athenaeum (another men's club). MORE INFO TO COME.

Nota Bene: Neither of these clubs has any connection with this digitized temple, nor do any other organizations or institutions named Athenaeum or Atheneum that might exist. They deserve neither praise nor blame for the ATHENEUM's content.