Author Lee Hall takes the unusual tack of melding the hypothetical “life” of one mythological being—the goddess Athena—into a single, chronological narrative. By drawing upon the richness of ancient history, archaeology, and classical art and literature, she follows the metamorphosis of Athena’s identity, tracing through it not only the origins of our concepts of justice and revenge, our attitudes toward wisdom and the useful arts, but the disturbing mistrust of women inherited from the ancient world, as well as the struggle between male and female that attended the very birth of western culture.Hall traces the earliest vestiges of Athena back to the fertility and survival rituals of prehistoric Crete. She then follows this diety associated with the “mother goddess” as she migrates to the mainland. But once there, Hall finds, Athena becomes an “honorary male,” complete with helmet, spear, and sheild. The goddess once associated with rituals of nurturing and fecundity now relishes the savagery of war, even masterminds the triumph of the Greeks over the Trojans in Homer’s Iliad. Athena forsakes her elemental female virtues and identity as she is co-opted by the male-dominated warrior culture of the Mycenaeans.The third distinctive phase of Athena’s career is as the special deity of Athens, wher she makes herself felt in the great festivals, art, and architecture of her city, but here too she must betray her gender as the price of civilization. In completing the transition to urban life, one of her last acts is to drive underground the Furies, trapping and containing the ancient and angry female energy.Athena is thus a profound and often troubling exploration of the changes in human consciousness—especially with regard to gender and power—that brought humanity from fertility cults to the Age of Heroes to a time that embraced civic order and the search for wisdom and beauty. A fascinating story, is is also a boon to anyone looking for an entertaining and comprehensible narrative that effectively weaves together the Homeric epics, Greek drama, and modern archaeological discoveries.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
The assumption of Athena to the pantheon of Greek mythology signaled an upset of the old order: "Born," fully armed, from the head of Zeus, her father, and without benefit of a mother, she was fiercely chaste and could, through her warrior zeal and cunning, rival Zeus's own power while still being his favorite. Perhaps a transmutation of a Cretan matriarchal goddess, appropriated by the warlike Mycenaeans for their own purposes, Athena ushered in the rule of civilization over barbarity. Hall (Olmsted's America, LJ 5/1/95), who might better have approached this "biography" as an academic study or a novel, capitulates in assigning Athena a place in present-day culture wars, i.e., as a "poster god" for the feminists or the ethnocentrists, because of the goddess's own ferociously masculine ways in a beguilingly feminine shape. As a result, Hall's work cannot decide if it's a literary history, handbook of mythology, or Monarch Notes retelling of the Trojan War. The attribution of sources is uneven, the bibliography skimpy, and sentences starting with "Everyone knows" patronizing even for YA readers. Best to stick with Homer.?Amy Boaz, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Kirkus Reviews
A spirited if sometimes familiar retelling of Athena myth and lore that unveils the goddess as a complex, changing personality and object of worship. Hall, former president of the Rhode Island School of Design and author of a biography of the de Koonings (Elaine and Bill: Portrait of a Marriage, 1993), is not a classical scholar, and her book seems aimed more at a popular than scholarly audience. The opening chapter on Athena's prehistoric origins offers a clich‚d account of the evolution of religion from hunting ritual and embraces too easily the pleasing story of the ancient Great- Goddess-worshiping matriarchies. The bulk of the book, however, consists of Hall's vivid retellings of the Athena myth. While not eclipsing Robert Graves or Edith Hamilton, Hall does contribute her own novelistic flair, as when Zeus wakes up ``from a snooze'' to give birth to his daughter, who is pounding ``the inside of the expectant father's cranium.'' More important, by focusing on Athena, the author transforms the goddess from a supporting character to the star she once was. In some cases, the method falters: The retelling of Homer's familiar epics gets tiresome. But many stories come off as both fresh and revealing, whether they concern Athena directly or indirectly (for example, how Hera's breast spewed out the Milky Way). Given the welter of contradictory myths, the ``biographical'' approach is at best a conceit: Athena's evolution from crafty, vengeful warrior to emblem of wisdom and justice makes sense not as an account of an individual's development but as a reflection of the changing times in which her worshipers lived. However, Hall succeeds in making those connections clear, right up through the religious practices of classical Athens and Athena's incorporation into Neoplatonic doctrine. Bringing out a full-bodied Athena, Hall leaves one wanting to reread the ancients and think again about the gods. (b&w photos, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well thought through with 'to the heart' word choices,
By A Customer
This review is from: Athena: A Biography (Hardcover)
Athena is an excellent book for undergraduates and for anyone looking for a thoughtful overview of diachronic changes in religious beliefs from the Bronze to the Heroic Age. The view is through the eyes of Athena with a focus on the Trojan war, `Athena's war.' Through the goddess' relationship with Odysseus, the author reveals changes in Athena's personality (function) as portrayed in the Iliad and Odyssey. The author links Athena's transition from war goddess to goddess of justice, wisdom and civility to societal changes including a shift of emphasis from personal bravado to civic honor and from individual to community spirit and responsibility.Through lively word choices and a deep sense of needs and concerns of humans of all eras, the author makes relevant to us the religion of the ancients. They, like we, struggle to control forces surrounding us. Through `Athena' we better appreciate the ancient Greek need and concern for religion and, accordingly, we realize a! ll the more that we share today their same fears and life questions.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
modern introduction to ancient mythology,
By A Customer
This review is from: Athena: A Biography (Hardcover)
Lee hall has provided an excellent auxillary reading for students in the humanities and social sciences. ATHENA is a book that opens up an exciting multidisciplinary dialogue that combines a splendid story--supernatural beings, mythical heores, and heroic events--with a solid focus on parallel social struggles in modern times. First and foremost, ATHENA is an exciting story--well written and fun to read. Familiar and obscure myths combine to make this "biography" of the great warrior goddess a more useful reading for students, especially students in Classical Studies, than the usual mythology sources (Graves & Hamilton). Using a modern "voice," Lee Hall shows how Athena changes identities over the centuries, reflecting the development of ancient civilization as well as telling us much about our own contemporary identity stuggles. ATHENA was a pleasure to read, integrating a vast amount of mythological stories into a creative statement about the processes of civilization itself.
2.0 out of 5 stars
This would be more helpful if you know nothing about Greek mythology,
By H. Mayson (PORTLAND, OR USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Athena: A Biography (Hardcover)
This book relates the "biography" of Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom.If I had no previous knowledge of Greek mythology, I would have found this book and the events covered therein much more useful and intriguing; or if I was not interested in ever reading either the Iliad or the Odyssey, I would have found this a good summary of the events in those poems. I was really put off by the constant reminders in this book that most of the Greek gods were selfish, horny brats; while I think this is an accurate description (of most) of the gods, I don't need the constant reference back to this particular fact. I also felt that the author was trying to channel Homer in writing this book with the abundance of reminders of what Athena was the goddess of and the overall writing style of this book. I would not recommend this book to people interested in Athena.
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