Olive Tree Story Athena
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.
Olive tree story athena. The sacred olive tree of greece 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. The latter was her gift to the city of athens. Athena and the olive tree. The stories of our greek heroes all share similar traits.
She s known as athena parthenos athena the virgin but in one archaic attic myth the god hephaestus tried and failed to rape her resulting in gaia giving birth to erichthonius an important athenian founding hero. This infrastructure would hold in its midst an enormous statue of the deity made of ivory and gold. Smart as she was athena did nothing spectacular. 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 the patroness of handicrafts the myth of arachne. The olive tree is one of athena s symbols. Athena struck the rock with her spear and an olive tree grew. She merely planted an 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. Poseidon gave the city a spring of water and athena. However the first king of athens cecrops who was the judge of the contest realized that the olive tree was much more beneficial since it gave the athenians fruit oil and wood. When athena and poseidon were competing to be the patron of athens they both had to give one gift.
The citizens weren t stupid they rose to their feet chanting athena athena we name our city athena and the rest is history. 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. Athena poseidon the olive tree.
The myth of athena also includes a symbol specific to her. In the founding myth of athens athena bested poseidon in a competition over patronage of the city by creating the first olive tree.