Athena, the Ancient Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War

[@ClassicalNumismatics]

I love how Athena is also depicted as the Goddess who favoured those fighting DEFENSIVE wars. The Greeks often used the image of Athena in their offensive campaigns, using the argument that they were actually defending the Greek world from foreign encroachment. Alexander's gold coins feature Athena for that reason!

[@AndreLuis-gw5ox]

Its interesting to see that justying wars and having the moral high ground to it is a constant in human history

[@ansfridaeyowulfsdottir8095]

Ah, yes! Alexander's famous peace missions to Persia and Egypt! {:o:O:}

[@HistorywithCy]

I can't tell you how much I love your channel... I think it started with your video on Greek coins from Bactria and then others from around the Hellenistic world. Your channel is truly a treasure... no pun intended!

[@TheOAHistory]

I never realized how different Athena is from Ares. Strategy, wisdom, and discipline vs. raw chaos-who would you rather have on your side in battle?

[@Theaphilius_Mythology_Channel]

Always nice to see someone else is covering my favourite Goddess - as usual I like to point out Minerva and Athéna are not the same deity. 🤗 (And, there are not 'just' the equivalents of each other and therefore the same) Edit: Your video was marvellous - sub + like for you. ☺

[@mattseal9686]

Ishtar would make a great video too

[@HistorywithCy]

Not a bad idea, I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.

[@TheRedneckPreppy]

My favourite of all the goddesses -- thank you Cy!

[@HistorywithCy]

Yeah she's my favorite in the Greek pantheon too... 2nd deity is Apollo. Thanks for always tuning in, appreciate it!

[@sergiorico4448]

Cy you entertain, teach and imbue calm wisdom in every post. You're the only KZbinr I put a like, a comment and likes on other replies truly hoping it helps your channel grow. Thanks so much.

[@WanaxTV]

Enjoyed watching this video! Well done 👌🏻

[@HistorywithCy]

Haha I knew you would! As always, thanks for the support!

[@GLeibniz1716]

The GOAT of Ancient Greek history march on Cy thank you!

[@HistorywithCy]

I'm honored, thanks! Have more on the way... working on Part II of the Greco-Persian Wars series, hopefully should be out late next week.

[@jimcunningham5376]

Great presentation as usual .

[@HistorywithCy]

Glad you liked it and thanks!

[@babylonkid]

Always a pleasure, Cy.

[@HistorywithCy]

Pleasure's mine, thanks for watching!

[@SmilefortheJudge]

A lot of people don’t realise Cy is because they take their Canadian-English dictionary for Cy but in fact you need a lost proto-Georgian-Persian-English or “Caucasus You” dictionary. Great videos. To this day no one knows how to speak Canadian or “canuckistani”

[@Michelle-Eden]

Nōinos bhāmoi Canuckistāni.

[@MusicomApp]

I like the new style bro! Give it some time to figure it out but with your knowledge and it being shared will be great!

[@DM-jc4nj]

Cy, you’re a cool guy❤

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks!

[@Iraqi_baathist2009]

Amazingly done as always!!! I would like to make a suggestion since your the best ancient history channel I know why don't you do a video on the himyarites sabeans qedarites or nabaetians I would really love to know more about them plus they are part of ancient history I would be glad to see you do a video about any of these great Ancient Arab kingdoms.

[@kalaysia77]

I have always loved Athena. When I was in Crete, I bought a gold coin owl. I wear it all the time, hoping some of her wisdom will rub off.😂

[@madderhat5852]

So many of the depictions have her wearing a 'mantle' lined with snakes. Thanks for a great video.

[@Alec.40]

Awesome man thank you

[@HistorywithCy]

Glad you liked it, thanks for watching!

[@young_dieg0301]

Helllo Cy! This is more so than a question, but have you ever considered covering individual gods of the cultures youve covered in your video? Or at least the major ones? But in a format like this one?

[@HistorywithCy]

Yes, especially for Egyptian gods and goddesses. Maybe also a few from Mesopotamia such as Ishtar and Marduk. If I do individual ones, they'll be short videos like this one. Thanks for the suggestion!

[@ciaranhehir37]

Absolutely fantastic

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks!

[@christiancrane5072]

this just for the algo, Appreciate the work 🤙

[@HistorywithCy]

Thanks, I appreciate the help!

[@PoliticalFuturism]

Great stuff!

[@HistorywithCy]

Thank you!

[@Cinnatus]

Daughter's middle name is Athena. We are Catholic but I love seeing my 'super' Christian friends faces when they hear it.

[@cal2127]

man id love to know more about mycenaen athena

[@HistorywithCy]

Me too... I haven't really found much on the subject though, just some theories based on very little evidence and wordplay. Thanks for watching, really appreciate it!

[@LuisAldamiz]

Consicering what you say about snakes and owls and her first mention in Crete, it's clear that you missed the occasion to show the most likely proto-Athena, which is the Minoan statuette of a "priestess" or "goddess" with two red snakes and an owl as headress. This unique idol shows links to Ishtar (ropes instead of snakes?) to Greek Athene but also to Iberian Chalcolithic iconography of "oculado idols" and "plate idols", both of which clearly signify owls when you stare at them for long enough. Athena might be a Vasconic word, compare Aitzina (something like "the best rock" if *Aitzena) which is a wild and "magical" place here in Biscay, whose geography reminds a lot to the Athenian acropolis but much larger (both are like natural fortresses, although Aitzina is a natural labyrinth inside, a potentially very dangerous place for the visitor... before recent mass signalization). Vasconic languages may have survived in Southern Greece all the way to Indoeuropean conquest (although not in Thessaly and Macedon, where the Tyrsenians or Pelasgians replaced the Vasconics: Dimini vs Sesklo). There are some other Greek words and toponimy that could be Vasconic IMO. In any case it's clear that the goddess Athena or her lookalikes like Ishtar, etc. were once widespread across the Mediterranean, pre-dating the Indoeuropean arrival (Greeks, Hittites, etc.)

[@HistorywithCy]

I think I know the statue you're referring to. To be honest I didn't read anything about that specifically so I didn't even think of it, but you make a good point. As always, I appreciate the additional information you provide. Thanks for continuing to watch these videos, means a lot!

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@HistorywithCy - I will always watch your videos while the Internet reaches my home: your quality is superb.

[@Breakfast_of_Champions]

Athena is in her own way, better than Zeus. Just like ancient Athens is still unsurpassed.

[@LuisAldamiz]

Prometheus never spoke but should be clear by now who was to replace Zeus among his children, not necessarily a son...

[@johnaugsburger6192]

Thanks

[@HistorywithCy]

You're welcome!

[@EdrickBluebeard]

I always thought of it in terms of... Ares was the Fury of War and Athena, the tactics.

[@HistorywithCy]

Yes, you're correct, that how most view her - a goddess of military wisdom and strategy. Thanks for watching!

[@vrixphillips]

i know from experience why she was so important to them: when no one else answers your prayers, Athena delivers tangible results lol

[@klausbrinck2137]

4:50 Aris: God of the mêlée-massacre. Athena: Goddess of Total-War, war of the nuclear-bomb, war for reasons-of-state. Example: After the sack of Troy, the Greek kings all agree to spare the lives of the children of Troy, even the life of Astyanax, Hector´s baby-son, and leave them to their own, as usual (children aren´t being killed, enslaved or adopted, but given to the few elder ones, who may have survived). Odysseus (about whom 2 of the kings knew, that he´s tried to trick them 10 years ago, in order to avoid following them to the campaign to Troy, and in the meanwhile, 10 years later, surely every king knew that too) disagreed about Astyanax. The kings argued, that Astyanax is a lovely, strong and intelligent child, and none can be such a monster, able to kill him. Odysseus then shouted to them: "You idiots...!!! This isn´t my war, you know I tried everything to avoid coming here, it was your war, and its consequences haunt me already...!!! If you spare Astyanax, he´ll grow, gather an army, and attack Greece, to take revenge for the death of his father, and his whole creed !!! And then the Greeks who survive, will have to attack the Land of Astyanax´ sons again, and War will be perpetual...!!! So, now, you have to end what you began, once-and-for-all...!!!" That was Athena´s guidance for Odysseus: Total War...

[@SquirrelGrrl]

Haha- Poseidon: hey folks here’s an epic well!! …..of saltwater!! Yeah? Cool, right? Pick me?

[@HistorywithCy]

Haha yeah I can't see how it was even a choice... kind of makes Poseidon look dumb for coming up with such a seemingly useless offer. Anyway thanks for watching, appreciate it!

[@JustGrowingUp84]

I always wondered if Athena and Aphrodite were not, at least partially, a split of Astarte/Ishtar/Inanna, syncretized with more local elements.

[@Theaphilius_Mythology_Channel]

If I may - there is a lot of similarities throughout different mythology. And, indeed, Ishtar(or Inanna) seem to be linked to Aphrodite, as well as Frejya. And if you would go even further, you will see that in many mythologies there are a lot of such connections. Connections that you would not really expect to see.

[@GothPaoki]

Why not? They're all indo european gods ofc they're connected. Similar to how there's a sky father in most indo European mythologies.

[@abandoninplace2751]

@@GothPaoki The Sumerians and Akkadians are definitely not Indo_European. But yeah, a lot of gods, etc., will have similarities by virtue of humans thinking them up, and also by centuries or millennia of cultures having varying degrees of contact.

[@TonyJack74]

​@Theaphilius_Mythology_Channel, there are far more differences than you think, and many of the "similarities " people purport to be similarities are modern inventions and misunderstandings of polytheistic religions

[@TonyJack74]

​@@GothPaokirelated but not the same

[@purplexs2506]

Purists may shudder, but a review of images of Athena could perhaps be enhanced by the replica of the giant Athena Parthenos inside a true-to-scale copy of the Parthenon, in Nashville, Tennessee. No, I haven't been there, but the pikkies are impressive.

[@PhantomHarlock78]

Seiya liked this video.

[@BlackMasterRoshi]

thanks,

[@HistorywithCy]

You're welcome!

[@PaulDekleva]

So! The Athenians took a statue of Athena down to the water to wash it. Sounds similar to another land’s idea of washing and reclothing statues. Cy can you guess which one?

[@cynicalpsycho5574]

New Athenai campaign in Total War Rome 2 DEI it is!

[@ForbiddenHistoryLIVE]

THANK YOU CY Peace & Enlyghtenment Alwayz Dezert-Owl from OHIO USA Author / Translator / Journalist Polymath / Professional Speaker / Available for Interviews

[@SarahTheRebelOfficial]

I also saw an interesting video about how Athena may have replaced Hermes role in some myths which was an interesting theory

[@TonyJack74]

Never seen that before and unless primary sources show such I would roll my eyes as the two have completely different domains

[@LuisAldamiz]

Isn't Hermes newer than Athena? Also Hermes essentially replaced Eos (Dawn).

[@TonyJack74]

@LuisAldamiz no Hermes is mentioned in the linear b script, but he's a deity that can be traced back to Arcadia

[@TonyJack74]

@@LuisAldamiz Hermes never replaced Eos she was not prevalent by the classical period

[@LuisAldamiz]

@@TonyJack74 - That's what I've read from sources probably more credible than you. The classical period is anyhow very late in a Greek history (prehistory, proto-history) that began c. 2200 BCE, in the Early Helladic, when the proto-Greeks arrived to south and central Greece, probably by the sea from Montenegro.

[@joest2080]

wisdom and war are mutually exclusive

[@wilcowen]

No Athena is the god of strategy in war area is the god of the more brutal elements

[@henkstersmacro-world]

👍👍👍

[@picklerick.n.666]

God bless you and your work sir 😇 deep respect from Croatia-Europe ❤

[@TonyJack74]

Which God?Stop with your bullshit

[@picklerick.n.666]

@Texasmade74 you are young I get I,I thought exactly like you before I started praying. I'm willing to bet you have never prayed to Jesus for 1 minute... Maybe try alone when no one is watching and your will see.

[@TonyJack74]

@picklerick.n.666 I'm 36, and I was raised Christian. Not only that I tried it myself for a few years as an adult around 2009/2010/2011, but I researched religions and cultures and ended up as polytheist.I can tell you far more about you're Bible than your pastor can and yes I've prayed to Jesus numerous times and got nothing...

[@ClockWorkKairi]

*Pegasus Fantasy intensifies

[@shaifunnessa7816]

Maratha empire chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj history please make video

[@keithchambersii6028]

2:36 did you say, "Ishtar"? 3234 423 And These men are pawns ....

[@naidetutureski9408]

Find me a map that shows Ancient Greek of existence, or a coin, that writes Greece. you can answer me please.

[@RealBonnieBlue]

Skop be still. You are embarrassing yourself

[@beepboop204]

🙂

[@kidmohair8151]

nothing pertinent ot add. this is an offering to the modern version of gods, namely the algo-deities of the tube'y'all.

[@stevenseibel9216]

Ya best not FK with Athena she's emotional and will conquer sh't if you hurt her feelings. Dope goddess

[@pallas_wept]

Never heard of her.

[@EGSBiographies-om1wb]

121st

[@JenneeB927]

Next to the Egyptians, the geeks are my favorite ancient peoples

[@TonyJack74]

Greeks*

[@SarahTheRebelOfficial]

Only 10 minutes 😠 (but thank you anyway lol)

[@coryfice1881]

My favorite story is when she lost a weaving contest to a mortal and in a fit of salty rage turned her into a spider.

[@justayoutuber1906]

Stop saying "arguably" It means no one agrees

[@LuisAldamiz]

It means that it's debatable, arguable, not set in stone.

[@Trag-zj2yo]

Go deeper

[@dardaniaa0546]

Athena is goddess of Moon in Albanian mythology. Hena - Moon in Alb. At - That. At Hena thats why you see owl next to Athena always which represents night moon. Goddess of wisdom give me a brake.

[@ds-on4sm]

Greeks never invented any Gods!The Gods are Thracian. The word for religion in Greek comes from the word " Thrace". Those people had no concept for religion even. People made Gods after their own image. The greeks are not from Europe so these European looking Gods are local. Athens was built by Thracians.

[@RealBonnieBlue]

tomato tomatoe

[@shaifunnessa7816]

Maratha empire chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj history please make video