Athena: How to Worship the Goddess of Wisdom
Irene (1897) by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Who is the Greek Goddess Athene?
But Zeus himself gave birth from his own head to [Athena] bright-eyed Tritogeneia.
Hesiod, Theogony
Athene is the Greek goddess of wisdom, war, weaving and crafts.
Her Roman name is Athena, but we’re sticking to the Greek name ‘Athene’ here.
Athene is an Ouranic deity.
In antiquity, Athene’s shrines were located throughout Greece. Her most important shrines were situated in Athens and Sparta.
Athene was often depicted wearing a helmet, along with a shield and spear. Her cape was usually adorned with Gorgon Medousa imagery.
What Can I Pray to Athene For?
These are only some of the things Athene can be prayed to for help with:
Getting organised
Creativity
Health
Learning
Studying
Wisdom
Is Athene Reaching Out to Me?
I have no idea!
But the fact that you’re here reading this article probably means you’d like to honour her.
You don’t need anyone’s permission!
If you want to worship Athene (or any god), that’s enough of a reason to do so!
How to Connect with Athene
One of the best ways to grow fulfilling relationships with the gods, is to venerate them within their own cultural context.
Honouring the gods of ancient cultures means acknowledging that they knew best how to worship them.
Venerating Athene in the way she was worshipped for generations is not only respectful, but increases your chances of building a successful long-term relationship with her.
Cultural Context Matters
A large part of embracing the ancient Greek cultural context is not imposing past religious beliefs onto Athene’s worship.
If you were brought up within a monotheistic religion, you will have internalised some fairly toxic beliefs about deity.
Here are some things to be aware of when connecting with Greek deities:
The myths aren’t literal.
The gods welcome everyone regardless of gender identity, sexuality or ethnicity.
The gods don’t get angry.
The gods don’t have ‘beef’ with one another.
Below, you’ll find how to begin a relationship with Athene, rooted in the ancient Greek culture she was worshipped in.
Athene Summary
Goddess of: Wisdom, war, strategy, weaving, crafts
Home: Mount Olympos
Parents: Zeus and Metis
Colours: White, grey, gold
Symbols: Aegis, gorgoneion
Sacred Animals: Owl
Sacred Plants: Olive tree
Traditional Offerings: Barley, frankincense, honey, milk, olive oil, votive offerings, water
Non-Traditional Offerings: Creative projects, knitting, learning, puzzles, reading, writing
Epithets: Nikê ‘Victory’, Areia ‘Warlike’, Hippia ‘Of the Horses’, Alalkomenêis ‘Protectress’, Polias ‘Of the City’, Poliatis ‘Keeper of the City, Paiônia ‘Healer’, Hygeia ‘Of Good Health’, Pronoia ‘Foresight’, Oxyderkês ‘Sharp-Sighted’, Koryphasia ‘Of the Head’, Parthenos ‘Maiden’, Xenia ‘Of Hospitality’, Amboulia Counsellor
Learn About Athene’s Myths
Perseus, with Athene guiding his hand, kept his eyes on the reflection in a bronze shield as he stood over the sleeping Gorgones, and when he saw the image of Medousa, he beheaded her.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca
The first step in connecting to Athene is to read about her role in mythology.
A word of advice?
Don’t take the myths literally.
The myths are stories that reveal insights into the nature of the gods in a more subtle, allegorical way.
They’re not matter-of-fact stories about the gods.
With that out of the way…
Let’s talk Athene.
Clash of the Titans (1981) Btw, you should totally watch this film if you haven’t.
Mythology tells us that Athene sprung fully formed from the head of Zeus, which he cracked open using Hephaistos’ axe.
Poor dude had quite the headache.
One of Athene’s most famous myths is her involvement in the fall of Medousa.
There are multiple versions of many of the Greek myths.
Incidentally, the version of the Medousa myth we’re all most familiar with is actually Roman and comes from Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
So, it’s definitely worth checking out theoi.com for all the variations.
There’s a lot more to dive into!
However, it’s well beyond the scope of this article to get too deep into her numerous appearances in mythology.
So, I hand it over to you, dear seeker.
To do your own research…
And check out the resources below for more information.
Learn Athene’s Epithets
What the heck are epithets?
Epithets are titles or descriptive functions for deities, which were used in antiquity. Epithets help us to understand how ancient people saw the gods.
Some epithets come from cultic practice and others emerge from the poetic tradition.
Btw.
When ‘cult’ is used in a historical sense, it means a system of religious veneration around a divine figure.
Not ‘cult’ in the modern Netflix documentary sense.
As fun as those are.
It’s a cult documentary loving world and we’re just living in it.
Epithets are used during prayer to appeal to a specific aspect of a deity. One that’s compatible with the petitioners need.
Below, are some of Athene’s epithets.
Theoi.com has a more extensive list!
Athene’s epithets
Alalkomenêis ‘Protectress’
Amboulia ‘Counsellor’
Areia ‘Warlike’
Hygeia ‘Of Good Health’
Pronoia ‘Foresight’
Koryphasia ‘Of the Head’
Makhanitis ‘Contriver of Plans’
Nikê ‘Victory’
Oxyderkês ‘Sharp-Sighted’
Paiônia ‘Healer’
Parthenos ‘Maiden’
Polias ‘Of the City’
Xenia ‘Of Hospitality’
How to Create An Altar to Athene
Athene statue! Taken when I visited the British Museum a few years ago
In the Academy is an altar to Athene, and they have built one to Herakles. There is also an olive tree, accounted to be the second that appeared.
Pausanias, Description of Greece
Technically, shrines and altars were separate things in ancient Greece.
Since state temples are no longer a thing…
Today, most people merge the two together into the modern form of an ‘altar’.
What are Altars?
Altars are small spaces dedicated to one, or multiple, divine beings. They’re a concrete, physical reminder of your dedication to divinity.
Having said that…
Altars aren’t a prerequisite for worship.
If you can’t have an altar because of your living situation, that’s absolutely fine!
You can still venerate the gods without one.
Also, because space is at a premium for most of us…
It’s perfectly acceptable for the gods to share altars as long as Ouranic and Kthonic gods are kept separate.
Athene Altar Ideas
Image of Athene
Offering bowl
Incense burner
Candle(s)
Clear quartz
Owls, gorgons, olive oil, books, shield
How to Pray to Athene
Epopeus forthwith offered sacrifice for his victory and began a temple of Athene, and when this was complete he prayed the goddess to make known whether the temple was finished to her liking, and after the prayer they say that olive oil flowed before the temple.
Pausanias, Description of Greece
Prayer was an extremely important part of ancient Greek religion.
It’s one of the ways the ancient Greeks communicated with the gods.
Unlike many religions today, most prayers were accompanied by an offering (more on that in the next section).
The ancient Greeks would have prayed to Athene using Ouranic rites.
Which means…
Praying with hands outstretched and palms up towards the sky.
Prayers to Ouranic deities were also performed during the day, standing up and out loud!
How to do it
Stand with arms raised, and palms up towards the sky.
Look at the image of the deity (or raise your eyes to the sky).
Then speak your prayer out loud.
For example:
Hear me, Athene! Maiden, Saviour, Of the City. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called.
I have created an altar for you and I would like to feel your presence in my life. May this offering of incense please you.
Homeric Hymns
We’re also fortunate to have several surviving Homeric Hymns (circa 700 BCE) to the gods.
These hymns are considered offerings in themselves and would have been recited to music at state festivals.
Since I have the musical skill of a blueberry scone. I read these hymns in the form of ‘prayers’ and sometimes give a physical offering alongside them.
If you can sing, these hymns can be sung to music as an offering.
This one is in the public domain, so it’s not the most accurate (or readable) translation.
If you have the monies you can buy a better translation.
I like this one.
I begin to sing of Pallas Athene, the glorious goddess, bright-eyed, inventive, unbending of heart, pure virgin, saviour of cities, courageous, Tritogeneia.
From his awful head wise Zeus himself bare her arrayed in warlike arms of flashing gold, and awe seized all the gods as they gazed.
But Athena sprang quickly from the immortal head and stood before Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear: great Olympus began to reel horribly at the might of the bright-eyed goddess, and earth round about cried fearfully, and the sea was moved and tossed with dark waves, while foam burst forth suddenly: the bright Son of Hyperion stopped his swift-footed horses a long while, until the maiden Pallas Athene had stripped the heavenly armour from her immortal shoulders. And wise Zeus was glad.
How to Give Offerings to Athene
The smoke is represented as fragrant and as rising with the savour of the offerings. Accordingly the goddess has come to the Athenians as to men of superior wisdom who make excellent sacrifices.
Philostratus the Elder, Imagines
All Pagan traditions are built on the concept of giving offerings to deities.
The ancient Greeks had a word for the reciprocity they built with the gods through offerings.
Kharis.
The ancient Greeks believed that through devotional acts such as prayer, offerings, attending states festivals and pious living, they could build beneficial long-term relationships with the gods.
In return, the gods may occasionally favour them.
To build a relationship with Athene, it’s preferable to give her regular offerings in the same manner the ancient Greeks did.
Because tradition.
If you’re unable to make physical offerings because…
REASONS.
Then try devotional action-based offerings.
State out loud that you’re devoting something you’re doing to Athene as an offering.
For example:
Hear me Athene. Sharp-sighted, Counsellor, Born of the head. Or whatever name it most pleases you to be called. I dedicate my studies to you in offering. Praise Athene!
Traditional Offerings
Frankincense
Honey
Olive oil
Water
Wine
How To do it
Wash your hands (always wash your hands before giving an offering).
Stand with arms raised up towards the sky, palms up and speak your prayer out loud.
Pour out the libation or place the offering into a bowl.
Spend a few minutes in quiet contemplation.
Should I Check That My Offering Was Accepted?
No.
How Do You Dispose of Offerings?
If you can, leave offerings out for a while before doing any of the following:
Pour libations down the sink, or onto the ground outside.
Compost or bin any food offerings.
Avoid leaving food or material offerings outside because, littering.
How Often Should You Give Offerings?
The answer is as often as you want to.
The more important a deity is to you the more frequently you’ll probably want to give offerings.
You can give offerings daily, weekly or monthly.
It’s not a historical thing.
But the day of the week associated with Athene is Tuesday.
So, you can use that day to make offerings to her (if you wish).
How to Celebrate Panathenaia
Erikhthonios set up the wooden image of Athena in the acropolis, and instituted the festival of the Panathenaia.
Pseudo-Apollodorus, Bibliotheca
What is it?
Panathenaia was an Athenian festival to honour Athene Polias.
There was the annual Panathenaia festival and the Greater Panathenaia festival which took place every four years.
The Greeks loved a good festival.
The Panathenaia was a cornucopia of events including: a musical contest, a gymnastic contest, and an equestrian contest amongst other smaller ones.
One of the most important parts of the Panathenaia was the procession to the Acropolis held on its final day.
The victors of the contests, among others in the procession would carry olive branches (thalloi) and make sacrifices to Athene.
When is it?
The main day of the festival was the third from the end of Hecatombaeon.
That’s on the 10-15th of August in our calendar.
How to Celebrate
Make an offering to Athene.
Read Athene’s Homeric Hymns.
Do some exercise.
Play music.
Write or recite poetry.
Hold a night vigil and light candles at Athene’s altar.
How to Communicate With Athene
We can communicate with the gods in several ways. Historically, these would have been through:
Prayer
Offerings
Divination
Signs
Theurgy or meditation
We can utilise these practices today to achieve the same outcome.
Divination
Divination was super popular in ancient Greece. We can use it here for our own purposes!
Follow the basic steps below:
Quiet your mind through deep breathing.
Ask your question in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Use whatever divination method you prefer.
Interpret the message.
Write down any insights.
Signs
It’s embarrassing the amount of people who seem to think anything from a pendulum falling out of their bag, to a bird taking a dump on their car is a sign from a god.
Not everything is a sign.
Signs are uncommon.
They tend to really leap out at you as being really significant.
If you need to ask, ‘is this a sign?’
Then it probably isn’t.
Follow the steps below to ask Athene for a sign:
Ask for the sign in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Ask for the sign to appear within a reasonable timeframe.
Wait and see!
If you don’t receive one…
Be cool, soda pop.
It’s literally fine.
Meditation
You can ask Athene to connect with you during meditation and see if you receive any messages.
The first few times you do this, you’re unlikely to receive anything.
But that’s nothing to feel bad about.
It takes a lot of practise to successfully enter altered states of consciousness and receive genuine divine guidance.
Emphasis on the genuine.
When it comes down to it, modern life really isn’t conducive for meditation and inner stillness.
Scroll.
Scroll.
Scroll.
Ad infinitum.
The best thing you can do to improve your ability to meditate, apart from attempting to do it regularly…
Is to put down the phone.
Give yourself brief periods during the day when you’re not listening to, or watching anything.
Unfortunately, we can’t have it all.
The age of distraction pushes us further away from the divine.
If we really want to connect with the gods, then we have to prioritise the health of our psyche’s.
To contact Athene through meditation, follow the basic steps below:
Quiet your mind through deep breathing.
Ask her to be with you in the form of a prayer.
Make an offering.
Chant her name as you deep breathe.
Sit in stillness for around ten minutes if possible.
Write down any insights.
For more direct ecstatic experiences of the gods we turn to theurgy or theourgia.
For a modern interpretation I recommend:
Devotional acts to Connect With Athene
While tradition is a useful roadmap… The view can get boring sometimes?
Modern devotionals to the gods are kind of like the fun stop offs along the way.
Below, you’ll find a few modern devotionals to everyone’s favourite grey-eyed goddess of wisdom.
Develop Critical Thinking
We’re living in the flipping age of misinformation.
“Alternative facts”.
“Fake news”.
“Astroturfing”.
You get the picture.
Without sounding overdramatic, there really is some truly dystopian tactics at play these days.
As the goddess of wisdom, Athene doesn’t want you to be a gullible numpty.
Learning to cultivate critical thinking is key.
Critical thinking can be defined as:
The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement.
Basically, it’s carefully considering all angles of a topic using logic before drawing a conclusion or making a judgement.
People aren’t born with critical thinking skills, they have to learn them. Below, are some articles that can help you to improve your critical thinking skills.
Knitting
I’m hardly one to be giving advice about knitting, since I don’t know how to do it.
But…
Athene is associated with weaving, so any form of weaving, knitting or sowing can be dedicated to her!
Learn About historical Wars
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Troy (2004)
Dread is she, and with Ares she loves deeds of war, the sack of cities and the shouting and the battle. It is she who saves the people as they go out to war and come back.
Homeric Hymn to Athene
Athene is a goddess of strategy and war.
One way to connect with her is to understand what drives countries to go to war.
While learning about wars might sound macabre, it’s actually a good thing.
We can learn a lot from history.
Knowledge is power.
The better informed we are as a society, the more likely we are to stop history from repeating itself.
My degree is in History so I’ve studied a good deal of world history.
This is a point of privilege for me, as university isn’t for everyone and I know that some countries don’t teach world history in schools.
With the entire internet at our fingertips it really is no excuse for ignorance though.
The sad fact is, a good deal of these wars have ramifications that we still see today.
Below, are some short animated videos about each of these historical wars.
Play music
The good news is that you can play modern music as an offering to the gods.
I’ve linked some songs that give me all the Athene vibes.
You can play any of these as offerings to her, or you can listen to them as a way to connect with her cerebral energy.
Study
Learn something new and dedicate it to Athene.
Choose something you’re actually interested in though. This can literally be anything!
The offering is the act of learning.
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Sources
Burkert, W. (1987) Greek Religion: Archaic and Classical. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hellenic Museum (2021) ‘Panathenaic Festival’. Available at: https://www.hellenic.org.au/post/panathenaic-festival (Accessed: December 2024).
Theoi Greek Mythology (n.d.) ‘Athena’, Theoi Greek Mythology. Available at: https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Athena.html (Accessed: December 2024).
Theoi Greek Mythology (n.d.) ‘Panathenaia’, Theoi Greek Mythology. Available at: https://www.theoi.com/Festival/Panathenaia.html (Accessed: December 2024).
Winter, S.K.I. (2013) Kharis: Hellenic Polytheism Explored. 2nd edn. Independently published.