Olive Tree And Athena
As a result the families who looked to gain fertility in their soils looked to this tree.
Olive tree and athena. The myth of athena also includes a symbol specific to her. This infrastructure would hold in its midst an enormous statue of the deity made of ivory and gold. 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. One of her famous temples was the parthenon found on a hill called the acropolis in athens.
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. Standing on the site of the acropolis the two were asked to offer the people of athens a gift. According to myth athena achieved this status by winning a contest zeus held between her and poseidon. The latter was her gift to the city of athens.
A tem ple to athena polias of the city was built c 525bc hous ing a xoanon cult statue inside itself made from olive wood and a precinct cre ated for athena s sacred olive tree. Athena and the olive tree. The olive tree is one of athena s symbols. Olive tree 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.