Athena VS Minerva

Athena VS Minerva

Marc Hauck

Athena:

One of the most important Greek Goddesses, Athena was the sponsor for wisdom, handcraft, and warfare and regarded as the guardian of various Greek cities. When Zeus (Athena’s father) was told that any child from Metis (Athena’s mother) would be more powerful than its father, Zeus decided to swallow Metis to prevent the birth of any children. Shortly after this event however, Zeus began to have terrible headaches, he asked Hephaistos to investigate this anomaly by opening his head, but when the head of Zeus was opened, Athena emerged, fully grown and ready for battle. The Greeks also dedicated the Pantheon to her, the biggest temple in the vast ancient Greece expanse. The ancient Greeks also celebrated her with the festival ‘’Panathenaea’’ which was the most important event in the Greek calendar.

Minerva:

Born in slight variation to her Greek counterpart, Minerva was the Goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, strategic warfare, commerce, weaving, and the crafts. Due to her significance in ancient Greece, Minerva became part of the Roman ‘’Capitoline Triad’’, a group of three deities (Jupiter, Juno and Minerva) central to the ancient Roman religion who were worshipped in an elaborate temple on Rome's Capitoline Hill. She is often depicted with her sacred creature, an owl usually named as the ‘’owl of Minerva’’, which symbolised her association with wisdom and knowledge. Minerva was celebrated (along with Mars) during ‘’Quinquatrus’’.

Differences:

Although Athena and Minerva represent the same Goddess, with Minerva being derived from the older Greek Athena, there are a few notable differences between them. The story connected with the birth of Minerva differs slightly from the one recited in ancient Rome, instead of Zeus swallowing Metis herself, he deceives her into becoming a fly and flying into his mouth. Athena is also perceived very differently in ancient Greece due to her association with war, as she was one of the most profound military Goddesses. Comparatively, Minerva was recognised as ‘’too pure’’ to be correlated with such gruesome affairs. Minerva also had a much less significant role in the Roman calendar, with events devoted to her having nowhere near the importance as Athena’s events in the Greek calendar.