Athena And The Olive Tree
These powerful and drama packed retellings feature a host of well known greek gods and goddesses magically brought to life by tony ross s lively illustrations.
Athena and the olive tree. One version of the story says that cecrops the mythical first king of athens a creature half man half snake chose the olive tree so the city took the name athens. The olive tree is one of athena s symbols. In greek mythology athena was believed to have been born from the head of her father zeus. One of her famous temples was the parthenon found on a hill called the acropolis in athens.
A sacred olive tree thought to be the one originally created by athena all those thousands of years ago was still growing on the acropolis in the 2nd century ad according to pausanias greek traveller and geographer. Sacred olive tree of the acropolis. As a result the families who looked to gain fertility in their soils looked to this tree. This infrastructure would hold in its midst an enormous statue of the deity made of ivory and gold.
In greece the history of olive oil is as old as the myths of the gods of olympus. Athena struck the rock with her spear and an olive tree grew. Athena was goddess of fertility and as has been previously mentioned her symbol was the olive tree which was one of the trees most cultivated in greece and its fruit fed the hellenes for centuries. According to greek mythology the creation of the olive tree was the result of a contest between athena goddess of wisdom and poseidon god of the sea as to who would become the protector of a newly built city in attica the historical region of greece.
The olive tree was the symbol of athens the city for which athena was a protector. Atop the acropolis of athens stands an olive tree that is a symbol of hundreds of years of dedication and reverence. Athena goddess of war and poseidon god of the sea hattle for ownership of a brand new city. Athena and the olive tree who is the fairest one of all the woman no one believed.
When athena and poseidon were competing to be the patron of athens they both had to give one gift. Standing on the site of the acropolis the two were asked to offer the people of athens a gift. In the founding myth of athens athena bested poseidon in a competition over patronage of the city by creating the first olive tree. But the olive tree on the athen ian acrop o lis held extra impor tance com pared to all oth ers due to its divine prove nance.
Athena and the olive tree. Poseidon gave the city a spring of water and athena. The myth of athena also includes a symbol specific to her.