The Hope Athena Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Hope Athena - Essay ExampleAlthough Athena was a Greek goddess, the Romans adopted her as one of their own, renaming her Minerva and adopting many of the legends regarding her and her abilities. Her importance to her new society can be seen in the intricate detail of the copyist to remain true to the Greek original.Athena was a precise powerful Greek goddess who epitomized everything the Greeks admired, intellect, wisdom, expertness, courage, strategy and more. With a battle cry that resounded through the kingdom of heaven and earth, she springs from the top dog of Zeus. She is one of the most powerful forces on Mount Olympus, representing war and the immortal spirit of wisdom. Athena embodies the matriarchic goddess, a complex figure of internal strength and reflection. She is a powerful source of interpretation for the topic of the goddess as a balance between nature and humanity (Ortengren, 1998). As a goddess of military strength and protection, she is often depicted in battle, such as in the scenes featured on the Parthenon, or congeal for battle. The statue the Hope Athena is believed to be modeled after is believed to devote once held a spear in her one hand and a Nike, a winged personification of victory, in the other (Lansberry, 2005).Experiencing the statue in person does little to solve the mystery of her handheld iconography. The details of what the Hope Athena might have held can only be conjecture as one of the first things noticed about her is the circumstance that she is missing her arms. The scars marking where they once were do suggest that one hand was held out in wait of her, as if holding something in the palm of her hand, and one arm might have been stretched to the side somewhat, as it would have been if holding a long spear. There is another evident damage to the statue as well.