Athena

Amy Clampitt

Force of reason, who shut up the shrill foul Furies in the dungeon of the Parthenon, led whimpering to the cave they live in still,

beneath the rock your city foundered on: who, equivocating, taught revenge to sing (or seem to, or be about to) a kindlier tune:

mind that can make a scheme of anything— a game, a grid, a system, a mere folder in the universal file drawer: uncompromising

mediatrix, virgin married to the welfare of the body politic: deific contradiction, warbonnet-wearing olive-bearer, author

of the law’s delays, you who as talisman and totem still wear the aegis, baleful with Medusa’s scowl (though shrunken

and self-mummified, a Gorgon still): cool guarantor of the averted look, the guide of Perseus, who killed and could not kill

the thing he’d hounded to its source, the dread thing-in-itself none can elude, whose counter- feit we halfway hanker for: aware (gone mad

with clarity) we have invented all you stand for, though we despise the artifice—a space to savour horror, to pre-enact our own undoing in— living, we stare into the mirror of the Gorgon.

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: the west pediment of the Nashville Parthenon, TN

The Decree of Athena

Aeschylus

Hear ye my statute, men of Attica-- Ye who of bloodshed judge this primal cause; Yea, and in future age shall Aegeus's host Revere this court of jurors. This the hill Of Ares, seat of Amazons, their tent, What time 'gainst Theseus, breathing hate, they came, Waging fierce battle, and their towers upreared, A counter-fortress to Acropolis;-- To Ares they did sacrifice, and hence This rock is titled Areopagus. Here then shall sacred Awe, to Fear allied, By day and night my lieges hold from wrong, Save if themselves do innovate my laws, If thou with mud, or influx base, bedim The sparkling water, nought thou'lt find to drink. Nor Anarchy, nor Tyrant's lawless rule Commend I to my people's reverence;-- Nor let them banish from their city Fear; For who 'mong men, uncurbed by fear, is just? Thus holding Awe in seemly reverence, A bulwark for your State shall ye possess, A safeguard to protect your city walls, Such as no mortals otherwhere can boast, Neither in Scythia, nor in Pelops's realm. Behold! This Court august, untouched by bribes, Sharp to avenge, wakeful for those who sleep, Establish I, a bulwark to this land. This charge, extending to all future time, I give my lieges. Meet it as ye rise, Assume the pebbles, and decide the cause, Your oath revering. All hath now been said.

Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits: this statue of Athena in the Archaeological Museum of Piraeus. It was taken in 2007 when the archaeological museum was closed for renovation but when I rocked up at the door to gaze at the Piraeus Bronzes (ignorant and excited), staff took pity upon me and let in me to snatch a few photos. Such kindness. 

In Honour of Athena Owl Eyed

Amanda Artemisia Forrester

Hail Lady, Owl-Eyed Goddess Daughter of Zeus Almighty The loud-thundering Olympian King Who trusts His greatest weapon, The flashing lightening bolt Only to You, Great Pallas Athene You alone wield the full power of Your Father Invulnerable Warrior

Lady of the City, Protectress of Your people It is You Who teaches us to live together To resolve conflicts peacefully To care for our citizens and to take pride in our cities You Goddess of all the virtues it takes to live in community Owl-Eyed Beloved of the Philosophers The lover of wisdom Divine Teacher, nurture the learner’s spirit within me So that I may learn from all I meet

Teach me, Nimble-Fingered One To work with my hands To create beauty from within me Athena Ergane, the Worker’s Goddess, Who with Hephaistos watches over craftsmen Teach me to manifest my thoughts in physical form To shape the world around me as I see fit.

O You Who tamed wild Pegasus Tame the tumultuous emotions within me Lend me Your reason, Your clarity of thought Logical, methodical, General of many armies, Warrioress Quick are You to rise up and fight injustice But just as quick to make peace when called for Lady of the Sword, Athena Areia Cultivate such fair-mindedness in Your worshipers So we may defuse conflict wherever possible.

Last I speak of Your great purity She Who is called Parthenos, Virgin, Untouched, Inviolate Though ripe and lovely as You are You shun the marriage bed, And value purity above all else. Though I have not followed Your path of total chastity I strive always to be pure In thought, in action, in deed To reflect a shade, a faction, of Your Divinity Lady of Wisdom, Defender of Justice, Look down on Your devotees with favour As we try to work Your will in the world Bless us with Your presence, with the tenacity to fight when necessary And the humility to make peace when called for Bless us with the wisdom to understand, and the creativity to bring that understanding into being Bless us with guidance as we take our first steps on the path of the Hero And bless us with inner serenity And the spiritual purity of a little child.

Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits: the west pediment of the Nashville Parthenon. The central group shows Athena and Poseidon facing off over who is to be patron of the city. 

But we know who won. 

Athena

Amy Clampitt

Force of reason, who shut up the shrill foul Furies in the dungeon of the Parthenon, led whimpering to the cave they live in still,

beneath the rock your city foundered on: who, equivocating, taught revenge to sing (or seem to, or be about to) a kindlier tune:

mind that can make a scheme of anything— a game, a grid, a system, a mere folder in the universal file drawer: uncompromising

mediatrix, virgin married to the welfare of the body politic: deific contradiction, warbonnet-wearing olive-bearer, author

of the law’s delays, you who as talisman and totem still wear the aegis, baleful with Medusa’s scowl (though shrunken

and self-mummified, a Gorgon still): cool guarantor of the averted look, the guide of Perseus, who killed and could not kill

the thing he’d hounded to its source, the dread thing-in-itself none can elude, whose counter- feit we halfway hanker for: aware (gone mad

with clarity) we have invented all you stand for, though we despise the artifice—a space to savour horror, to pre-enact our own undoing in— living, we stare into the mirror of the Gorgon.

Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits: the reverse side of Athena’s shield, as recreated cult statue housed in the Parthenon, Nashville, TN. 

Athena Ode

Barbara Hamby

Road diva, divine mixologist, cancan dancer     of the mandible wars, show me the way of mind over what’s-the-matter-with-you, girl, swirling from mouths     of righteous dudes. O goddess of attitudes, yes, ma’am, Madame of the owl tiara, bird woman enthroned,     big cog of the cosmos, born from the noggin of Zeus, hear my prayer, because I’m adrift in a sea of words, my boat     is cardboard pinned together with newspaper headlines of the latest war, springing leaks that generals plug     with their double-talk, duckwalk to the edge of the cliff, and we’re holding the bill, still due after ten thousand years,     while women wail in shanty shacks, stack cordwood for the winter, open cans of baked beans, bust the seams     of polyester pants made by the Chinese. O please, show us the way to put some spring in our spring. Bring     us a bunch of lilacs and pork rinds, something sweet after tornadoes whip the roofs off our double-wides,     our bungalows deep in the crevices of mountains older than you. Make us a stew of new shoots, green onions,     pole beans, and summer corn, for we are born from the dark earth, but we’ve brushed it off, no monkey     here, though sometimes we’re all ape, trying to escape the knuckle-dragging dance to the finish,     when it’s so clear there’s no one here. O goddess of sway, don’t give me away, let me pretend I’m a player     with an ace in the hole, because I know I have nothing, but sometimes only nothing can open the door to something else.

Today's Flickr photo with the most hits: this (reproduction) Athenian tetradrachm.

It's my submission to this week's #FlickrFriday group. They post a theme each week and you take a photo that meets the criteria and submit to the group.

This week's theme - wisdom - hence the photo of the tetradrachm with its iconographic owl.

The tetradrachm was in wide circulation throughout classical antiquity. Athens began to mint the 'owls' following the discovery, and exploitation, of the silver mines at Laurium - commonly dated to the early 5th BCE.

The 'thirty pieces of silver' given to Judas were probably tetradrachms.

Today’s Flickr photo with the most hits finds us in Seville, at the Casa de Pilotas. (Unlike me, who ought to be in Valencia but finds himself at home c/o Covid-19 travel restrictions). A fine statue of Athena in the courtyard of the palazzo. 

A Daisy from the Parthenon

Charlotte Fiske Bates

Field daisies spreading lavish as the light,  How loved they are of all who paint and sing! Yet dearer far are they unto my sight  Now that I know the precincts whence they spring. This very one looked from the Parthenon;  O simple flower! what splendid fate was thine! Now the Greek glory is about thee thrown,  And oldest archives seem thy leaves to line. For me hereafter shall the daisies hold  Hints of the Virgin’s Temple in their face; Of fabled Phidian wonders, white and gold,  Shall Fancy mind me in each common place.

Athena Ode

Barbara Hamby

Road diva, divine mixologist, cancan dancer of the mandible wars, show me the way of mind over what’s-the-matter-with-you, girl, swirling from mouths of righteous dudes. O goddess of attitudes, yes, ma’am, Madame of the owl tiara, bird woman enthroned, big cog of the cosmos, born from the noggin of Zeus, hear my prayer, because I’m adrift in a sea of words, my boat is cardboard pinned together with newspaper headlines of the latest war, springing leaks that generals plug with their double-talk, duckwalk to the edge of the cliff, and we’re holding the bill, still due after ten thousand years, while women wail in shanty shacks, stack cordwood for the winter, open cans of baked beans, bust the seams of polyester pants made by the Chinese. O please, show us the way to put some spring in our spring. Bring us a bunch of lilacs and pork rinds, something sweet after tornadoes whip the roofs off our double-wides, our bungalows deep in the crevices of mountains older than you. Make us a stew of new shoots, green onions, pole beans, and summer corn, for we are born from the dark earth, but we’ve brushed it off, no monkey here, though sometimes we’re all ape, trying to escape the knuckle-dragging dance to the finish, when it’s so clear there’s no one here. O goddess of sway, don’t give me away, let me pretend I’m a player with an ace in the hole, because I know I have nothing, but sometimes only nothing can open the door to something else.

Today’s Flickr image with the most hits - 

This photo of the central element in the west pediment of the Parthenon in Nashville. It depicts the ‘contest’ between Athena and Poseidon over who was to be city patron.

Today’s poll topper: a gilded statue of Athena to be found close to the zoo in Paris