The Ancients9 Apr 2023

Athena: Goddess of Wisdom

This episode contains graphic references of a sexual nature.

Athena is the goddess of wisdom, tactical war and skilled craft in Greek mythology.

She is the favourite daughter of Zeus and Metis, and is actually born from Zeus himself. She is one of the most recognisable Greek divinities, often depicted with her signature peaked helmet, spear, breast plate and shield, often with Medusa’s head it. One of the most important myths of Athena is the contest between herself and her uncle, Poseidon, for the patronage of Athens. Spoiler alert: Athena wins. To continue our immersion into the deities of the Greek Gods, this week Tristan Hughes is joined by Rachel Kousser, Professor of Art History at the City University of New York. Together they discuss Athena’s most iconic representations in both art and literature, and how she has become one of the must enduring figures of antiquity.

The Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie

Script written by Andrew Hulse

Voice over performed by Nicola Woolley

The Assistant Producer was Annie Coloe

Edited by Aidan Lonergan

If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy other episodes in the series: Zeus: King of the Gods, Hera: Queen of the Gods, Hephaestus: God of Fire, Aphrodite: Goddess of Love, and Ares: God of War.

For more Ancients content, subscribe to our Ancients newsletter here.

If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - enter promo code ANCIENTS for a free trial, plus 50% off your first three months' subscription.

To download, go to the Android or Apple store.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(651)

Terror Birds

What kind of predator needs no teeth to terrify its prey? The terror birds were enormous flightless hunters that ruled South America for millions of years, standing metres tall and built for a life of...

23 Aug 45min

The Maya Ballgame

A rubber ball. A stone court. And a sport where the stakes could be life and death.For more than 2,000 years, Mesoamerican peoples played a remarkable ballgame that became far more than entertainment;...

20 Aug 1h 7min

How Slavery Built the Roman Empire

Was the Roman Empire really made by conquest? Or was it powered by something much darker?For centuries, millions of enslaved people sacrificed their lives and their labour on the altar of Roman progre...

16 Aug 1h 7min

Romulus & Remus

The story of Romulus and Remus is one of the most famous myths from the ancient world. But the Romans believed the founding of their city stretched far beyond the tale of the twin brothers. Heroes, ki...

13 Aug 59min

Shapur I: Rome's Greatest Enemy?

Few rulers humbled Rome quite like Shapur I. A King of Kings, he rebuilt the Sasanian Persian Empire, defeated Roman armies and captured Emperor Valerian in one of antiquity's most remarkable military...

9 Aug 58min

Scotland's First Warriors

Three thousand years ago, prehistoric Scotland was a landscape of rival communities, raids and warfare. Bands of warriors fought for power and territory leaving behind extraordinary weapons that revea...

6 Aug 56min

The Catiline Conspiracy

In 63 BC, Rome faced a conspiracy that threatened to tear the Roman Republic apart. At its centre stood two figures: Marcus Tullius Cicero, the grand old orator of Rome and Lucius Sergius Catilina, ac...

2 Aug 1h 4min

Alexander the Great's Mad Scientist

WARNING: graphic descriptions of violence and warfareMeet Diades, Alexander the Great’s overlooked military engineer, the man who made the impossible siege of Tyre happen.Tristan Hughes and Professor ...

30 Jul 1h 12min