Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’Athéna

While being a parthenos, Athena is called a mother by the Athenians ; the Erichthonios myth is supposed to explain this paradox. Yet we know of many non-Athenian attestations of a mother-like Athena, which require a different kind of explanation. Beginning with two Iliadic passages where the goddess...

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Main Author: Vincent Cuche
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Anthropologie et Histoire des Mondes Antiques 2015-01-01
Series:Cahiers Mondes Anciens
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/mondesanciens/1430
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author Vincent Cuche
author_facet Vincent Cuche
author_sort Vincent Cuche
collection DOAJ
description While being a parthenos, Athena is called a mother by the Athenians ; the Erichthonios myth is supposed to explain this paradox. Yet we know of many non-Athenian attestations of a mother-like Athena, which require a different kind of explanation. Beginning with two Iliadic passages where the goddess is compared to a mother, we find that throughout the poem, the Athena motherly figure is constructed in relation to other authentic mother goddesses, with whom she shares some kind of protective gestures, expressed with the same vocabulary. The presence of common semes between motherhood and military protection, facilited by the Greek analogical thinking, can still be seen in rites and cults of post-Homeric Greece, in which Athena becomes guardian and mother of the whole civic body as well as of each of its components. However, she supervises only a small part of Greek motherhood, which is due to the collective nature of the young Greek’s trophe.
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spelling doaj-art-68aaba211d884b169aa8e130595db73b2025-08-20T02:02:32ZengAnthropologie et Histoire des Mondes AntiquesCahiers Mondes Anciens2107-01992015-01-01610.4000/mondesanciens.1430Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’AthénaVincent CucheWhile being a parthenos, Athena is called a mother by the Athenians ; the Erichthonios myth is supposed to explain this paradox. Yet we know of many non-Athenian attestations of a mother-like Athena, which require a different kind of explanation. Beginning with two Iliadic passages where the goddess is compared to a mother, we find that throughout the poem, the Athena motherly figure is constructed in relation to other authentic mother goddesses, with whom she shares some kind of protective gestures, expressed with the same vocabulary. The presence of common semes between motherhood and military protection, facilited by the Greek analogical thinking, can still be seen in rites and cults of post-Homeric Greece, in which Athena becomes guardian and mother of the whole civic body as well as of each of its components. However, she supervises only a small part of Greek motherhood, which is due to the collective nature of the young Greek’s trophe.https://journals.openedition.org/mondesanciens/1430Homerprotectionmotherhoodnursecollegial educationtrophe
spellingShingle Vincent Cuche
Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’Athéna
Cahiers Mondes Anciens
Homer
protection
motherhood
nurse
collegial education
trophe
title Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’Athéna
title_full Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’Athéna
title_fullStr Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’Athéna
title_full_unstemmed Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’Athéna
title_short Ὡς μήτηρ. Du caractère maternel d’Athéna
title_sort ὡς μήτηρ du caractere maternel d athena
topic Homer
protection
motherhood
nurse
collegial education
trophe
url https://journals.openedition.org/mondesanciens/1430
work_keys_str_mv AT vincentcuche hōsmētērducaracterematerneldathena