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Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics Podcast
Athene

Athene

Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics vor 2 Jahren

Goddess of wisdom, war and... handicrafts: Athene is charismatic and bloodthirsty.

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Athene is charismatic and bloodthirsty, goddess of wisdom, war
and...handicrafts. Owl-eyed Athene is not interested in love,
although she is very fond of the hero Odysseus and gives him a
leg-up whenever she can. War is Athene's thing, the bloodier the
better. She's perfectly happy to humiliate and degrade her
enemies, including the feisty and talented weaver Arachne, who
challenges Athene to a weaving competition. Athene loves a scrap
so it's game on: looms at dawn. She weaves a depiction of her own
glorious success over Poseidon in the battle for Attica. Arachne
creates a tapestry which shows scenes of gods tricking, seducing,
assaulting and kidnapping mortal women. Her message is that the
'protection' of the gods is not worth the cost. Athene is
speechless and it's clear who has won the challenge. But Arachne
has to pay a price for victory.

Rock star mythologist’ and reformed stand-up Natalie Haynes is
obsessed with the ancient world. Here she explores key stories
from ancient Rome and Greece that still have resonance today.
They might be biographical, topographical, mythological or epic,
but they are always hilarious, magical and tragic, mystifying and
revelatory. And they tell us more about ourselves now than seems
possible of stories from a couple of thousand years ago.

Producer...Mary Ward-Lowery