Why Did Athena Not Treat Arachne Fairly?

Athena was the Greek Goddess of many ideas, but she was famous mostly for her superior wisdom, her cunning skills in times of war, and her implausible talent for household tasks, such as weaving and pottery. She was celebrated more than any other God in ancient mythology, was the supposed inventor of countless innovations, and her figure gave reason for Greek woman to gain rights long before others of their time. The goddess of war, the guardian of Athens, and the defender of Heroes; Athena’s impact on the lives of Ancient Greeks is outstanding.

Pallas Athena and Wonder Woman have shaped up history and influenced women throughout generations due to their power in defending justice. These strong, independent women have shown many similarities that have given women the confidence to stand up for themselves leading to the opportunities today’s women have. They both liked to settle battles and fights by peaceful means. These two women, symbolized fortitude, wisdom, and intelligence. Pallas Athena, the Greek patron goddess of the Amazons and Diana Prince the modern heroine of Wonder Woman (2017) both demonstrate a feminist

When the challenge was over Athena (Minerva) was forced to admit that Arache’s weaving was better than hers. Athena (Minerva) was not happy with this outcome. Athena (Minerva) then began to beat Arachne with a piece of wood from her loom until the young girls couldn’t stand it anymore. To escape the endless beating Arachne hangs herself. When Athena (Minerva) saw the girl’s dead body, she had pity on her. Athena (Minerva) then decided to bring Arachne back to life, but she transformed Arachne into a spider so she can continue her weaving.

Obedience and authority are seen as a priority in the plays” Antigone, A Doll’s House, and Trifles”. In the three plays women disobey men authority following their beliefs. In each play men enforce their authority over women; women are treated as if they were less than men. Antigone a woman with strong beliefs and morals revels against her uncle Creon. In A Doll’s House Nora was treated as pet by her husband Helmer until she opens her eyes. He always refers to her with nicknames as “little sky-lark, little squirrel, little singing bird, little sweet tooth” (148-149). He compares Nora with defenseless animals and tiny things. In

Although ancient Greece was a male-dominant society, Sophocles’ Antigone portrays women as being strong and capable of making wise decisions. Antigone, the tragic heroine, rejects the traditional role of women. As such, Sophocles punishes Ismene for embodying traditional attitude. Moreover, Creon is punished for misogyny. Sophocles, accordingly, uses characterization to promote feminist ideas.

For the Greeks, the women represent death and tragedy and only serve to punish mankind. In event which Pandora did the only thing she shouldn’t by opening the box that Athena had clearly told her never to open, she brought misery and destruction to Earth. In this event we can conclude that the only reason why women were brought to Earth by Zeus, was to punish men. Furthermore, in the Greeks perspective, women were the reason why the world is filled with chaos and conflict. In addition, women are viewed as a temptation that made Epimetheus accepted Pandora due to her beauty even though Prometheus had told him not to accept it. In conclusion, the geeks saw women as the cause of all problems and imperfections on Earth and were responsible for

Isomene Antigone’s sister acts on how society expects her to act. She won’t help Antigone bury Polynices because said not

The Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses and thought they could affect people in a good way or in a bad way. Aphrodite was the goddess of love and beauty. She caused a problem in this story by helping Paris steal Helen. Aphrodite should’ve found another beautiful, unmarried woman for Paris instead of a woman who was already married to a king. Athena who was the goddess of war helped the Greeks by telling them to build a horse made of wood.

In today’s society only a few people have a word in the dictionary named after them, and Athena is one of those select few. As well as the word “athenaeum” being in the dictionary, it is also a word used around the world which is an even higher honor. Athena also has her symbols on coins, and hymns sang in her honor each day. These are just a few of the many pieces of art Athena has in her honor, and there are many

Otherwise, female roles in general, were those of benevolence, leniency and commiseration. For Antigone, she cared about the mistreatment of her beloved brother, Polynieces. ‘’I have to please the dead far longer than I need to please

Athena shows sympathy for the agony mortals suffer through in life. Athena exposes the reader to this idea by confessing her concerns to Zeus in the beginning of the story, “but my own heart is broken for Odysseus” (book 1 line 67). We learn from this line that the gods are more than beings of vengeance,

An example of a vainful god is Aphrodite, goddess of love and fertility. Aphrodite was not content with her marriage, she thought she was superior to Hephaestus. That a mere cripple like him was not satisfactory. Repelled by his ambiance, “Aphrodite despised her husband and ridiculed him at every opportunity” (Head 16). It is fact Aphrodite thought of her husband as a lesser person and treated him like it. Nevertheless, Aphrodite is pardoned from penalty for gifting mortals love and beauty. Known to many as the protector of sailors, it was in the best interest of mortals to honour and admire such gifts. Furthermore, in the myth that explained the trojan war, Paris a mortal considered to be most just, would be appointed to declare the winner of a competition between Aphrodite, Hera, and Athene. Vainly, all three goddesses unconditionally believe they should be awarded. Lacking the backing to justify their choice, the goddesses begin bribing Paris with wondrous gifts. Impetuously, these actions will evidently lead to the destruction of Troy. As a result of this evidence, it is evident that vanty is notorious for its destruction and is a notable human flaw displayed by

The gods often punish those that they hear talking about them to others, such as how gossip said today always finds its way back to the person is it told about. When Psyche was talking about how she is more beautiful than Aphrodite, the goddess heard and trapped the girl in her castle, attempting to make her unavailable to any possible suitors. Aphrodite complained, “How dare she go around pretending to be as beautiful as I? When I get through with her, she’ll wish she’d been born ugly as a toad” (91). Aphrodite felt so threatened by Psyche’s remarks and beauty that she put an invisible wall of thorns around her castle and sent Eros to make her fall in love with someone undesirable. Another example of the God’s hearing every word said behind their backs is the story of Arachne. Arachne believed herself to be better at weaving than Athena, and when the goddess heard this she declared a contest,

11. One example in the Iliad that shows a sense of what Agamemnon deems as fair is when he gives up Chryses’ daughter, for he believes if he gives her up, then he should be given another prize to replace her. Agamemnon doesn’t think it is fair for him to give her up without receiving anything in return—it is not fair for him to give up his prize while others, like Achilles get to keep theirs (fair-faced Briseis). If he receives nothing for giving up Chryses’ daughter, then he sees it is fair for him to take Achilles’ prize in order to make the exchange equal (Homer Reading 1, p. 15). For Achilles, he thinks that it is fair that since he was born to have a brief life span, due to his mother, Thetis, that Zeus should grant him honor (Homer Reading 1, p. 21). Achilles believes it is only fair due to what he has already endured.

In the text it states “Stupid old woman,” said Arachne indignantly, “who gave you the right to speak in this way to me? It is easy to see that you were never good for anything in your day, or you would not come here in poverty and rags to gaze at my skill. If Athene resents my words, let her answer them herself. I have challenged her to a contest, but she, of course, will not come. It is easy for the gods to avoid matching their skill with that of men.” So while in the the contest Arachne was given warnings from Athene but she still made something very insulting to the Gods. Athene insulted by her work decided to turn Arachne into a spider. In the text it states "When the goddess saw this insult glowing in bright colors on Arachne’s loom, she did not wait while the cloth was judged, but stepped forward, her grey eyes blazing with anger, and tore Arachne’s work across. Then she struck Arachne across the face. Arachne stood there a moment, struggling with anger, fear, and pride. “I will not live under this insult,” she cried, and seizing a rope from the wall, she made a noose and would have hanged