Athena

Also known as: ATH. / Athenæa / MINERVA / Minerva / Pallas · Family: Gods · Role: goddess · First appears: Aeschylus, The Seven Who Fought Against Thebes — Scene 1

Athena, the divine goddess and Zeus’s child, appears in the events of the Eumenides as a patron of Orestes. When he seeks refuge at her temple, she accepts him as a blameless suppliant, establishes a sworn tribunal for his murder case, and casts the deciding vote when the jurors are equally divided: “The accused is found “not guilty” of the murder: For lo! the numbers of the votes are equal.” Through Athena, Apollo, and Zeus, Orestes regains his fatherland and heritage, pledging lasting support to her country. Athena then offers the Eumenides honored homes and worship, escorts them to their shrines, and gives them new friends in her land; Suasion guides her speech, while her rivalry with Zeus is placed beneath his victory and protection.

In Aias, Athena mentors and protects Odysseus, while standing as both friend and enemy to Aias. She drives Aias into madness so that his attack on the Greek generals turns against livestock, and her anger is invoked against him after his pride defies Telamon and the gods. Elsewhere, she is named alongside her sister Artemis, counsels Cadmus, and is connected with Theseus through the banishment that follows his killing of his kinsman Pallas. She also rivals Aphrodite and Hera in the beauty contest judged by Paris.

Athena later commands Thoas to stop pursuing Orestes and Iphigenia, orders Orestes to take his sister and the sacred image to Athens, and appoints Iphigenia guardian of her temple at Brauron. She supports Orestes in his matricide trial, where Apollo testifies and she casts the equal vote, restrains Heracles’ murderous frenzy by striking him into sleep, and directs Odysseus and Diomedes to kill Rhesus while sparing Hector. In these scenes she calls Paris a friend and Diomedes a true friend, while acting as an enemy to Rhesus and Enceladus.

During the fall of Troy, Athena’s arts inspire Epeus to build and send the Trojan Horse through the gates, while she and Poseidon set aside their ancient hate to conspire with Zeus against the Greeks’ returning fleet. She aids Ares in battle, is opposed by Ajax son of Oileus after his assault on Cassandra, and is associated with Hera in the overthrow of Phrygia. Her relationship with Poseidon is both kinship and enmity, and Paris’s choice of Aphrodite over Minerva recalls her rivalry with both Aphrodite and Hera.