Posienden vs Athena

A thuss, one of the chief city-states of both of ancient Greece, was a city bang-uply desired by two powerful deities genus Athene and Poseidon. The fabrication that shows how this animosity was settled is depicted in many ways. This story send away vary depending on which depiction is being observed. in that venerate be slight discrepancies betwixt the Grecian adaption of this fable, the Roman version, and the sculpture shown on the Parthenon in Athens. With occlude scrutiny of this myth, it is clear that culture, time period, and genre all are crusades for this myths disparity.This myth starts with a great power let ond Crecrops, who is half man and half snake. He is the king of a flourishing unnamed city state in indigence of a patron immortal. He turns to Poseidon and genus Athene who twain want to be the patron deity of this thriving city. Quickly a conflict arises in the midst of these two powerful gods. The first discrepancy between the classic version of this myth (Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3 14. 1) and the Roman version of this myth (Ovid, Metamorphoses 6. 70) is that when Athena and Poseidon are about to go to war all all over this conflict these two myths cook a several(predicate) deity suggesting an alternative course of represention.In the earlier Greek depictions of this myth Athena decides to hold a compete of who can offer most to King Crecrops and his city-state. After they had given their gifts (an olive tree from Athena and a salt water inception from Poseidon Poseidons spring that he created also serves as an aetion of how a specific river was created near Athens. The river or spring is named Erektheis) the king would decide the victor the patron deity of his state. In Ovids Metamorphoses, it is Jove who decides to hold a contest, and the judges of the contest are Olympian gods and goddesses.One reason for this difference is that the learned Ovid is giving as much respect to Jove as he can. He was being very wary non to carelessness Jove in anyway, for he did non want to end up alike Prometheus. With his limbs bound upon the hard rocks by galling fetters of bronze, Prometheus fed with his liver an eagle that ever rushed approve to its prey. (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2. 1245-1247). This is a very common tenet that came about much in the Roman era. In earlier Greek times, a great deal times wedge heeles would counteract their positive deeds by having hubris or excessive pride.The idea of hubris is clearly shown many times in bell ringers Odyssey. A prime ideal of this is when Odysseus is escaping from the island that Polyphemus is on and he shouts screen at him, bragging in a way, and ends up almost get hit by a boulder thrown by Polyphemus and face the wrath of Poseidon as his journey continues. On the sculpture on the westmost pediment of the Parthenon, Jove isnt depicted at all. Some may say that this is an act of disrespect, but that is simply false. The Parthenon doe s show Jove in a sculpture of the stock of Athena on the east pediment of the building, which is actually the front of the building.The fact is that the Parthenon was reinforced to honor Athens patron goddess Athena. The west pediment of the building is an aetion for how Athens got its name Athena named it after herself after winning the contest. The sculpture, which was created long after this trustworthy myth was told, does not show the spring that Poseidon created most likely because sculpting that on the top of the Parthenon would be a very challenging task. Because of this, the sculpture looks more of a action than a contest.Another reason why a encounter theme can be felt through this sculpture is because the Parthenon was strengthened somewhere in between 447 and 438 B. C. E. The Parthenon embodied the triumph of the Greeks, especially the Athenians, over the Persians who had destroyed the acropolis earlier in 480 B. C. E. The time period in which a certain myth is writt en or a sculpture etched in can tell us a great conceive about the themes behind each respective work. As written work are passed down through the ages, each time period pass on interpret the document in a different way, relating to their own lives and culture.Poseidon takes losing the contest very harshly and acts drastically. In the Greek depiction of the contest between Athena and Poseidon, Poseidon, after coming up short in the competition, floods the Thriasian vie area and drowns Attica under his salty sea in a fit of rage. Athena created the olive tree, and the two divinities disputed, until the gods assigned Attica to Athena. Poseidon, indignant at this, caused the country to be inundated. (Herod. viii. 55 Apollod. iii. 14. 1 Paus. i. 24. 3, &c. Hygin. Fab. 164. In a different translation of the story, not only does Poseidon flood Attica, but he also puts a lad on the city so that it will be forever be in a drought after the flood. This, coming from a ulterior R oman text, can be considered an etiology. It is not hard to believe that Attica, during a certain time period, had a drought. They used the aetion of Neptune cursing them for eternal drought to excuse why this all was happening. Earlier time periods probably did not nurture problems with water so the aetion was not needed. They did not need to explain why they had water because it was a natural occurrence.The genres of these whole shebang also charter a great influence on how they are perceived. Ovid writes in a completely different genre then earlier writers such as Hesiod. Ovids Metamorphoses poke fun at, in a way, of epic poems. There is more of a sense of humor in Ovids works then that of Hesiod. The later depictions of this contest between Minerva and Neptune are slightly wittier then their earlier counterparts. Ovid, being the learned poet that he was, was sure to still have the ultimate level of respect for both of these gods however, his other works such as Pygmalion (Ov ids Metamorphoses, 10).Ovid knew when it was acceptable to be witty in his writings, and when the utmost respect was required. Popular genre often shows the general moral of a throng at a certain time. The sculpture of Minerva and Neptune seemingly showing battle ready gods was not a mistake. Greece and Athens especially, was celebrating an enormous victory over Persia. The Parthenon was built to honor Athena who contributed a great deal also Athenian triumphs. This sculpture could have been portrayed in a gazillion different ways based on the sculptors mood, which was popular genre at that time.Over changes in culture, time, and genre different aspects of different myths are subject to change. However, vindicatory because many myths vary does not mean that these myths have nothing in common. In fact, many different myths, Roman and Greek, have the same foot soldier principles principles that are sometimes over looked. It is obvious that Roman and Greek myths both honor gods an d they both have the same aspects about the underworld, but what often times goes unrealized is that each myth regarding a particular god or goddess is connected.As shown in the myth previously discussed, Athena and Poseidon were not playing for the same team so to speak. The tension between them is present in other works however, it may sometimes be overlooked. One example of this tension is shown in Homers Odyssey. Odysseus, who is a Greek hero from the Trojan War, is a very cunning warrior much like Athena. She favors him and tries to booster him in any way she can. Poseidon, on the other hand, despises Odysseus for blinding Polyphemus, and does all in his power to hinder Odysseus in his journey home. The journey back to his home town Ithaca takes Odysseus ten years.After battling with monsters like Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus finally returns home to run into his kingdom in ruin. Athena is there to provide advice and assist him in the establishment of order back in his home town. Each myth is different in its own way and has something to contribute. Everything about a myth from its genre to the time it was written conveys differences about the culture of the people who created it. The disparities in Ovids description of the contest between Minerva and Neptune and the accounts from Apollodorus, Bibliotheca show a great difference in culture, time periods, and genre.The sculpture on the Parthenon again communicates something different all together. With close scrutiny of the different aspects of a myth, it is unbelievable what can be discovered. There are unknown aetions waiting to be uncovered. undiscovered connections between ancient heroes and gods ready to be made known. It is essential to dive into these myths and discover everything they have to tell us. Bibliography Frazer, J. G.. NOTES ON BOOK 3 OF THE program library OF APOLLODORUS. http//www. theoi. com. Theoi E-Texts Library Copyright 2000 2011, Aaron Atsma. Web. 17 Oct 2012. lthttp//www . theoi. com/Text/Ap3d. hypertext markup language. Morford, Mark P. O. , Robert J. Lenardon, and Micheal Sham. simple Mythology. Ninth Edition. Oxford Oxford University Press Inc. , 2011. 177-180. Print. Anonymous, . ATHENA MYTHS 1 . http//www. theoi. com. Theoi Project Copyright 2000 2011, Aaron J. Atsma, bran-new Zealand. Web. 17 Oct 2012. http//www. theoi. com/Olympios/AthenaMyths. html Anonymous, . Mythagora Home Page. www. Mythagora. com. Copyright 2012- All rights reserved. Web. 17 Oct 2012. http//www. mythagora. com/bios/prometheus. html.