Athena – Cult

Athena’s name probably comes from the city of Athens and not the other way 

around. In a Linear B tablet from Knossos, we hear of the Potnia (Mistress) of 

At(h)ana, and there is a consensus that Athena was in origin a Minoan or 

Mycenaean deity, perhaps identical with the shield goddess who appears on 

a painted tablet at Mycenae itself.

 As a warrior goddess who protected the  king and citadel, this Mistress had parallels in the Near East (Ishtar, Anat)  and Egypt (Neith). Still, the exact relationship between the Bronze Age goddess and the Athena of the Classical Greeks is unclear, for gaps and inconsistencies in the archaeological evidence mean that we cannot demonstrate  continuity of worship. Athena’s sanctuaries and temples are very often to be found at the city center, particularly on fortified heights like the Athenian  Akropolis. In Greek towns of the early Iron Age, her dwelling place was often  juxtaposed to that of the local chieftain or king; later she championed the polis with its varied forms of government. She presided over the arts of war, such as the taming of horses, the training of warriors, and the building of ships. As a goddess of crafts, particularly weaving and metalworking, she evokes the palace economies of the Bronze Age.

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