Goddess Of Revenge: Athena During The Trojan War

“Athena”: Goddess of Revenge

People who are extremely self involved become very defensive and cruel when entered into harsh circumstances. Athena, also known as the goddess of war and wisdom, had a kind heart, but when people betrayed her during the war, her morals changed. Athena contributed her power and superior morality to her people, but throughout the Trojan War, Athena only sought revenge and evil, hence proving she is more villainous than heroic.

Due to Athena’s self interest during the Trojan War, she is put in situations where her villainous personality comes to light. Athena was named the goddess of war and wisdom from her wonderful actions towards the people in Greece. Athena had an enormous amount of power when it came

She was a very nice and caring person, but war brought out her bad and competitive side. During the Trojan war, Athena was extremely upset with Paris because he did not name her as the fairest of all goddesses. She never got over the anger and embarrassment that Paris had put on her name (Parada). The fairest goddess would be rewarded with the golden apple. This competition involved Athena and triggered her competitive side because she wanted to win. When Paris chose Aphrodite instead of Athena, forgiveness was not in his favor, and Athena being her villainous self, decided she was going to get revenge. Athena was present in the war, “But once Troy was taken, Athena decided to impose on the Achaeans a bitter return, because the outrage that Ajax committed in Athena’s shrine when he raped the seeress Cassandra, was never punished by the Achaeans. That is why all kind of calamities afflicted them during their return from Troy, suffering storms at sea, shipwreck and death. But she felt pity for Odysseus, and helped him during his wanderings, so that he could return to Ithaca” (Parada). The Achaeans played a huge role in the Trojan War and had the power to do almost everything. When they didn’t punish Ajax for doing such a sin in Athena’s shrine, she took matters into

This goddess, being known for her wisdom, as well as war was named goddess of wisdom because of the way she was able to weave and spin. A skill that came naturally to her and was very popular in Greece. The Greeks also believed that defying the gods was a terrible idea: “Arachne, who had gained fame in the Lydian towns for her skill in the art of spinning and weaving wool, thought she could compete with Athena in that art, but being defeated she was turned into a spider by Athena” (Evans 15). Arachne thought she was better than Athena which gave her another reason to be very angry and evil, causing the murder of Arachne. Any “war” that involves Athena causes her to become very defensive and cruel towards other people. Athena had an extremely short temper and acted like a villain in spite of anger. Many people said, Athena was characterized as a very great hero in war (“Athena,” Encyclopedia Britannica). The people of Greece worshipped her for protecting them. War for her wasn’t just about killing people, she had weapons of her own like, “justice and skill” (“Athena,” Encyclopedia Britannica). War that did not involve Athena personally, was a war she could care less about nor would she be as competitive. Whenever Athena was called in for help she never went straight into combat. She wasn 't just the goddess of war, she was also the goddess of wisdom. Athena would always try to talk out the issue before resorting to