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Gordian III – Roman Emperor: 238-244 A.D. –
Bronze 22mm (6.64 grams) Deultum in Trace Thrace mint, 238-244 A.D.
IMP C M ANT GORDIANVS AVG, radiate, draped bust right.
COL FL PAC DEVLT, Athena standing left with spear and shield, and her serpent
Erichthonius entwined around tree in field to left.
You are bidding on the exact
item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime
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Erichthonius
Hephaestus
attempted to
rape Athena, but she eluded him. His
semen
fell on the ground, and
Erichthonius
was born from the Earth,
Gaia
. Athena then raised the baby as a foster
mother.
Athena
put the infant Erichthonius in a small box (cista) which she entrusted to
the care of three sisters,
Herse
,
Pandrosus
, and
Aglaulus
of Athens. The goddess did not tell
them what the box contained, but warned them not to open it until she returned.
One or two sisters opened the cista to reveal Erichthonius, in the form
(or embrace) of a
serpent
. The serpent, or insanity induced by
the sight, drove Herse and Aglaulus to throw themselves off the
Acropolis
. Jane Harrison (Prolegomena)
finds this to be a simple cautionary tale directed at young girls carrying the
cista in the
Thesmophoria
rituals, to discourage them from
opening it outside the proper context.
With this mythic origin, Erichthonius became the founder-king
of Athens, where many beneficial changes to Athenian culture were
ascribed to him. During this time, Athena frequently protected him.
Hephaestus was a
Greek god
whose
Roman
equivalent was
Vulcan
. He is the son of
Zeus and Hera
, the King and Queen of the Gods – or else,
according to some accounts, of Hera alone. He was the god of
technology
,
blacksmiths
,
craftsmen
,
artisans
,
sculptors
,
metals
,
metallurgy
,
fire
and
volcanoes
. Like other mythic smiths but unlike
most other gods, Hephaestus was lame, which gave him a grotesque appearance in
Greek eyes. He served as the blacksmith of the gods, and he was worshipped in
the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, particularly in
Athens
. The center of his cult was in
Lemnos
. Hephaestus’s symbols are a smith’s
hammer
, an
anvil
and a pair of
tongs
, although sometimes he is portrayed as
not known to all.
Epithets
Hephaestus is given many
epithets
, some of which include:
- Åmphigúeis “the lame one” (ἀμφιγύεις)
- Kullopodíon “the halting” (κυλλοποδίων)
- Chalkeús “coppersmith” (χαλκεύς)
- Klutotéchnes “renowned artificer” (κλυτοτέχνης)
- Polúmetis “shrewd, crafty” or “of many devices” (πολύμητις)
- Aetnaeus
, owing to his workshop
supposedly being located below
Mount Aetna
.[3]
Erichthonius, Cacus, and Caeculus
Mythology
Legend
Hephaestus (Hêphaistos), the god of fire, was, according to the Homeric
account, the son of Zeus and Hera. (Il. i. 578, xiv. 338, xviii. 396, xxi. 332,
Od. viii. 312.) Later traditions state that he had no father, and that Hera gave
birth to him independent of Zeus, as she was jealous of Zeus having given birth
to Athena independent of her. (Apollod. i. 3. § 5; Hygin. Fab. Praef.) This,
however, is opposed to the common story, that Hephaestus split the head of Zeus,
and thus assisted him in giving birth to Athena, for Hephaestus is there
represented as older than Athena. A further development of the later tradition
is, that Hephaestus sprang from the thigh of Hera, and, being for a long time
kept in ignorance of his parentage, he at length had recourse to a stratagem,
for the purpose of finding it out. He constructed a chair, to which those who
sat upon it were fastened, and having thus entrapped Hera, he refused allowing
her to rise until she had told him who his parents were. (Serv. ad Aen. viii.
454, Eclog. iv. 62.) For other accounts respecting his origin, see Cicero (de
Nat. Deor. iii. 22), Pausanias (viii. 53. § 2). and Eustathius (ad Hom. p. 987).
Hephaestus is the god of fire, especially in so far as it manifests itself as
a power of physical nature in volcanic districts, and in so far as it is the
indispensable means in arts and manufactures, whence fire is called the breath
of Hephaestus, and the name of the god is used both by Greek and Roman poets as
synonymous with fire. As a flame arises out of a little spark, so the god of
fire was delicate and weakly from his birth, for which reason he was so much
disliked by his mother, that she wished to get rid of him, and dropped him from
Olympus. But the marine divinities, Thetis and Eurynome, received him, and he
dwelt with them for nine years in a grotto, surrounded by Oceanus, making for
them a variety of ornaments. (Hom. Il. xviii. 394, &c.) It was, according to
some accounts, during this period that he made the golden chair by which he
punished his mother for her want of affection, and from which he would not
release her, till he was prevailed upon by Dionysus. (Paus. i. 20. § 2; Hygin.
Fab. 166.)
Although Hephaestus afterwards remembered the cruelty of his mother, yet he
was always kind and obedient towards her, nay once, while she was quarrelling
with Zeus, he took her part, and thereby offended his father so much, that he
seized him by the leg, and hulled him down from Olympus. Hephaestus was a whole
day falling, but in the evening he came down in the island of Lemnos, where he
was kindly received by the Sintians. (Hom. Il. i. 590, &c. Val. Flacc. ii. 8.5;
Apollod. i. 3. § 5, who, however, confounds the two occasions on which
Hephaestus was thrown from Olympus.) Later writers describe his lameness as the
consequence of his second fall, while Homer makes him lame and weak from his
birth.
After his second fall he returned to Olympus, and subsequently acted the part
of mediator between his parents. (Il i. 585.) On that occasion he offered a cup
of nectar to his mother and the other gods, who burst out into immoderate
laughter on seeing him busily hobbling through Olympus from one god to another,
for he was ugly and slow, and, owing to the weakness of his legs, he was held
up, when he walked, by artificial supports, skilfully made of gold. (Il. xviii.
410, &c., Od. viii. 311, 330.) His neck and chest, however, were strong and
muscular. (Il. xviii. 415, xx. 36.)
In Olympus, Hephaestus had his own palace, imperishable and shining like
stars: it contained his workshop, with the anvil, and twenty bellows, which
worked spontaneously at his bidding. (Il. xviii. 370, &c.) It was there that he
made all his beautiful and marvellous works, utensils, and arms, both for gods
and men. The ancient poets and mythographers abound in passages describing works
of exquisite workmanship which had been manufactured by Hephaestus. In later
accounts, the Cyclopes, Brontes, Steropes, Pyracmon, and others, are his workmen
and servants, and his workshop is no longer represented as in Olympus, but in
the interior of some volcanic isle. (Virg. Aen. viii. 416, &c.)
The wife of Hephaestus also lived in his palace: in the Iliad she is called a
Charis, in the Odyssey Aphrodite (Il. xviii. 382, Od. viii. 270), and in
Hesiod’s Theogony (945) she is named Aglaia. the youngest of the Charites. The
story of Aphrodite’s faithlessness to her husband, and of the manner in which he
surprised her, is exquisitely described in Od. viii. 266-358. The Homeric poems
do not mention any descendants of Hephaestus, but in later writers the number of
his children is considerable. In the Trojan war he was on the side of the
Greeks, but he was also worshipped by the Trojans, and on one occasion he saved
a Trojan from being killed by Diomedes. (Il. v. 9, &c.)
His favourite place on earth was the island of Lemnos, where he liked to
dwell among the Sintians (Od. viii. 283, &c., Il. i. 593; Ov Fast. viii. 82);
but other volcanic islands also, such as Lipara, Hiera, Imbros. and Sicily, are
called his abodes or workshops. (Apollon. Rhod iii. 41; Callim. Hymn. in Dian.
47; Serv. ad Aen. viii. 416; Strab. p. 275; Plin. H. N. iii. 9; Val. Flacc. ii.
96.)
Hephaestus is among the male what Athena is among the female deities, for,
like her, he give skill to mortal artists, and, conjointly with her, he was
believed to have taught men the arts which embellish and adorn life. (Od. vi.
233, xxiii. 160. Hymn. in Vaulc. 2. &c.) But he was. nevertheless, conceived as
far inferior to the sublime character of Athena. At Athens they had temples and
festivals in common. (See Dict of Ant. s. v. Hêphaisteia, Chalkeia.) Both also
were believed to have great healing powers, and Lemnian earth (terra Lemnia)
from the spot on which Hephaestus had fallen was believed to cure madness, the
bites of snakes, and haemorrhage, and the priests of the god knew how to cure
wounds inflicted by snakes. (Philostr. Heroic. v. 2; Eustath. ad Hom. p. 330;
Dict. Cret. ii. 14.)
The epithets and surnames by which Hephaestus is designated by the poets
generally allude to his skill in the plastic arts or to his figure and his
lameness.
He was represented in the temple of Athena Chalcioecus at Sparta, in the act
of delivering his mother (Paus. iii. 17. § 3); on the chest of Cypselus, giving
to Thetis the armour for Achilles (v. 19. § 2); and at Athens there was the
famous statue of Hephaestus by Alcamenes, in which his lameness was slightly
indicated. (Cic. de Nat. Deor. i. 30; Val. Max. viii. 11. § 3.) The Greeks
frequently placed small dwarf-like statues of the god near the hearth, and these
dwarfish figures seem to have been the most ancient. (Herod. iii. 37; Aristoph.
Av. 436; Callim. Hymnn. in Dian. 60.) During the best period of Grecian art, he
was represented as a vigorous man with a beard, and is characterised by his
hammer or some other instrument, his oval cap, and the chiton, which leaves the
right shoulder and arm uncovered.
The Romans, when speaking of the Greek Hephaestus, call him Vulcanus,
although Vulcanus was an original Italian divinity.
The craft of
Hephaestus
Hephaestus crafted much of the magnificent equipment of the gods, and almost
any finely-wrought metalwork imbued with powers that appears in Greek myth is
said to have been forged by Hephaestus:
Hermes
‘ winged helmet and
sandals
, the
Aegis
breastplate
,
Aphrodite
‘s famed
girdle
,
Agamemnon
‘s staff of office,[4]
Achilles
‘ armor,
Heracles
‘
bronze
clappers
,
Helios
‘
chariot
as well as his own due to his lameness,
the shoulder of Pelops
,
Eros
‘ bow and arrows. Hephaestus worked with
the help of the chthonic
Cyclopes
, his assistants in the forge. He also
built automatons
of metal to work for him. This
included tripods that walked to and from
Mount Olympus
. He gave to blinded
Orion
his apprentice
Cedalion
as a guide. In one version of the
myth, Prometheus
stole the fire that he gave to man
from Hephaestus’s forge. Hephaestus also created the gift that the gods gave to
man, the woman Pandora
and her
pithos
. Being a skilled blacksmith, Hephaestus
created all the thrones in the Palace of Olympus.[5]
Parentage
In the mainstream tradition, clearly attested in
Homer
‘s
Odyssey
and perhaps also in the
Iliad
(and supported by Attic vase
paintings), Hephaestus was born of the union of Zeus and Hera.[6]
In another tradition, attested by
Hesiod
, Hera bore Hephaestus alone.[7]
Fall from Olympus
According to one version, Hera, threw Hephaestus down from the heavens
because he was “shrivelled of foot”. He fell into the ocean and was brought up
by Thetis
(mother of Achilles) and the
Oceanid
Eurynome
.[8]
In another account, Hephaestus attempting to rescue his mother from Zeus, was
flung down by Zeus. He fell for an entire day and landed on the island of
Lemnos
, where he was cared for and taught to be
a master craftsman by the
Sintians
, an ancient tribe native to that
island.
Return to Olympus
Hephaestus was the only Olympian said to have returned to Olympus after being
exiled.
In an archaic story,[10]
Hephaestus gained revenge against Hera for rejecting him by making her a magical
golden throne, which, when she sat on it, did not allow her to leave it.[11]
The other gods begged Hephaestus to return to Olympus to let her go, but he
refused, saying “I have no mother”.[12]
The western face of the Doric
temple of Hephaestus
,
Agora of Athens
At last Dionysus
, sent to fetch him, shared his wine,
intoxicating the smith, and took him back to Olympus on the back of a mule
accompanied by revelers, a scene that sometimes appears on painted pottery of
Attica and in Corinth,[13]
as well. In the painted scenes the padded dancers and phallic figures of the
Dionysan throng leading the mule show that the procession was a part of the
dithyrambic
celebrations that were the
forerunners, in Athens, of the
satyr plays
of the fifth century.[14]
The theme of the return of Hephaestus, popular among the Attic
vase-painters whose wares were favored among the
Etruscans
, may have carried this theme to
Etruria.[15]
As vase-painters portrayed the procession, Hephaestus was mounted on a mule or a
horse, accompanied by Dionysus, who held the bridle and carried Hephaestus’
tools, which include a
double-headed axe
.
The traveller
Pausanias
reported seeing a painting in the
temple of Dionysus in Athens, which had been built in the 5th century but may
have been decorated at any time before the 2nd century CE, when Pausanias saw
it:
“There are paintings here – Dionysus bringing Hephaestus up to heaven.
One of the Greek legends is that Hephaestus, when he was born, was thrown
down by Hera. In revenge he sent as a gift a golden chair with invisible
fetters. When Hera sat down she was held fast, and Hephaestus refused to
listen to any other of the gods save Dionysus – in him he reposed the
fullest trust – and after making him drunk Dionysus brought him to heaven.”[16]
Consorts and children
According to most versions, Hephaestus’s consort is
Aphrodite
, who cheats on him with a number of
gods and mortals, including the god
Ares. However, in Homer’s
Iliad
, the consort of Hephaestus is a
lesser Aphrodite,
Charis
“the grace” or
Aglaia
“the glorious”, the youngest of the
Graces
, as
Hesiod
calls her.[17]
There is a
Temple of Hephaestus
in
Athens
, the Hephaesteum (miscalled the “Theseum”),
located near the agora
, or marketplace. An Athenian
founding myth
tells that the city’s patron
goddess, Athena
, refused a union with Hephaestus because
of his unsightly appearance and crippled nature, and that when he became angry
and forceful with her, she disappeared from the bed. His ejaculate fell on the
earth, impregnating
Gaia
, who subsequently gave birth to
Erichthonius of Athens
;[18]
then the surrogate mother gave the child to Athena to foster, guarded by a
serpent
.
On the island of Lemnos, his consort was the sea
nymph
Cabeiro
, by whom he was the father of two
metalworking gods named the
Cabeiri
.
In Sicily, his consort was the nymph
Aetna
, and his sons two gods of Sicilian
geysers
called
Palici
. With
Thalia
, Hephaestus was sometimes considered the
father of the Palici
.
Hephaestus fathered several children with mortals and immortals alike. One of
those children was the robber
Periphetes
.
This is the full list of his consorts and children according to the various
accounts:
- Aphrodite
- Aglaea
- Eucleia
- Euthenia
- Eupheme
-
Philophrosyne
-
Aetna
- The Palici
- Cabeiro
- The Cabeiri
-
Gaia
-
Erichthonius
- Anticleia
-
Periphetes
- by unknown mothers
- Ardalus
- Cercyon
(possibly)
- Olenus
- Palaemonius,
Argonaut
- Philottus
- Pylius
- Spinter
In addition, the Romans claim their equivalent god, Vulcan, to have produced
the following children:
- Cacus
- Caeculus
Hephaestus and
Aphrodite
Hephaestus, being the most unfaltering of the gods, was given Aphrodite’s
hand in marriage by Zeus in order to prevent conflict over her between the other
gods.
Hephaestus and Aphrodite had an arranged marriage and Aphrodite, disliking
the idea of being married to unsightly Hephaestus, began an affair with Ares,
the god of war. Eventually, Hephaestus found out about Aphrodite’s promiscuity
from Helios
, the all-seeing Sun, and planned a trap
for them during one of their trysts. While Aphrodite and Ares lay together in
bed, Hephaestus ensnared them in an unbreakable chain-link net so small as to be
invisible and dragged them to Mount Olympus to shame them in front of the other
gods for retribution. However, the gods laughed at the sight of these naked
lovers and Poseidon
persuaded Hephaestus to free them in
return for a guarantee that Ares would pay the adulterer’s fine. Hephaestus
states in
the Odyssey
that he would return Aphrodite
to her father and demand back his bride price: this is the one episode that
links them.
The
Thebans
told that the union of Ares and
Aphrodite produced
Harmonia
, as lovely as a second Aphrodite.[citation
needed] But of the union of Hephaestus with
Aphrodite, there was no issue, unless
Virgil
was serious when he said that
Eros was their child.[19]
Later authors might explain this statement when they say the love-god was sired
by Ares but passed off to Hephaestus as his own son.
Hephaestus was somehow connected with the archaic, pre-Greek
Phrygian
and
Thracian
mystery cult of the
Kabeiroi
, who were also called the
Hephaistoi, “the Hephaestus-men,” in Lemnos. One of the three Lemnian tribes
also called themselves Hephaestion and claimed direct descent from the god.
Volcano god
Hephaestus was identified by Greek colonists in southern
Italy
with the
volcano
gods
Adranus
(of
Mount Etna
) and
Vulcanus
of the
Lipari
islands. His forge was moved there by
the poets. The first-century sage
Apollonius of Tyana
is said to have observed,
“there are many other mountains all over the earth that are on fire, and yet we
should never be done with it if we assigned to them giants and gods like
Hephaestus”.[20]
Symbolism
Hephaestus was reported in myth as cholōs, “lame”, and ēpedanos,
“halting”.[21]
He was depicted with crippled feet, and misshapen, either from birth or as a
result of his fall from Olympus. In vase-paintings, Hephaestus is usually shown
lame and bent over his anvil, hard at work on a metal creation, his feet
sometimes back-to-front: Hephaistos amphigyēeis. He walked with the aid
of a stick. The Argonaut
Palaimonius, “son of Hephaestus” (i.e.
a bronze-smith) was also lame.[22]
Other “sons of Hephaestus” were the
Cabeiri
on the island of
Samothrace
; they were identified with the
crab (karkinos) by the lexicographer
Hesychius
, and the adjective karkinopous
(“crab-footed”) signified “lame”, according to Detienne and Vernant.[23]
The Cabeiri were seen as lame too.
In some myths, Hephaestus built himself a “wheeled chair” or chariot with
which to move around, thus helping him overcome his lameness while showing the
other gods his skill.[24]
In Homer’s Iliad it is said that Hephaestus built some bronze human
machines to help him get around.
Hephaestus’s ugly appearance and lameness is taken by some to represent
arsenicosis
, an effect of low levels of
arsenic
exposure that would result in lameness
and skin cancers
. In place of
less easily available
tin,
arsenic was added to
copper
in the
Bronze Age
to harden it; like the
hatters
,
crazed
by their exposure to
mercury
, who inspired
Lewis Carroll
‘s famous character of the
Mad Hatter
, most smiths of the
Bronze Age
would have suffered from chronic
poisoning as a result of their livelihood. Consequently, the mythic image of the
lame smith is widespread.
Helmeted Athena with the cista and Erichthonius in his serpent form.
Roman, first century (Louvre
Museum)
In
Greek religion
and
mythology
, Athena or Athene, also
referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage,
inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength,
strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.
Minerva
is the
Roman goddess
identified with
Athena.
Athena is also a shrewd companion of
heroes and is the
goddess
of heroic endeavour. She is the
virgin
patroness of
Athens
. The Athenians founded the
Parthenon
on the Acropolis of her namesake
city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her honour.
Athena’s veneration as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the
earliest times, and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast
to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
(Ἀθηνᾶ Πολιάς “Athena of the city”). The city of
Athens
and the goddess Athena essentially bear
the same name,
“Athenai” meaning “[many] Athenas”.
Patroness
Athenian
tetradrachm
representing the
goddess Athena
Athena as the goddess of philosophy became an aspect of the cult in Classical
Greece during the late 5th century B.C. She is the patroness of various crafts, especially of
weaving
, as Athena Ergane, and was
honored as such at festivals such as
Chalceia
. The metalwork of weapons also fell
under her patronage. She led battles (Athena
Promachos or the warrior maiden Athena Parthenos)
as the disciplined, strategic side of war, in contrast to her brother
Ares, the patron of violence, bloodlust and slaughter—”the raw force
of war”.
Athena’s wisdom includes the cunning intelligence (metis) of such figures
as Odysseus
. Not only was this version of Athena
the opposite of Ares in combat, it was also the polar opposite of the serene
earth goddess version of the deity, Athena Polias.
Athena appears in Greek mythology as the patron and helper of many heroes,
including Odysseus
,
Jason
, and
Heracles
. In
Classical Greek
myths, she never consorts with
a lover, nor does she ever marry,earning the title Athena Parthenos. A remnant of archaic myth depicts her
as the adoptive mother of
Erechtheus
/Erichthonius
through the foiled rape by
Hephaestus
.
Other variants relate that Erichthonius, the serpent that accompanied Athena,
was born to
Gaia
: when the rape failed, the semen landed on
Gaia and impregnated her. After Erechthonius was born, Gaia gave him to Athena.
Though Athena is a goddess of war strategy, she disliked fighting
without
purpose and preferred to use wisdom to settle predicaments.The goddess
only encouraged fighting for a reasonable cause or to resolve
conflict. As patron of Athens she fought in the Trojan war on the side
of the
Achaeans.
Mythology
Lady of Athens
Athena competed with
Poseidon
to be the patron deity of Athens,
which was yet unnamed, in a version of one
founding myth
. They agreed that each would give
the Athenians one gift and that the Athenians would choose the gift they
preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his
trident
and a salt water spring sprang up; this
gave them a means of trade and water—Athens at its height was a significant sea
power, defeating the
Persian
fleet at the
Battle of Salamis
—but the water was salty and
not very good for drinking.
Athena, however, offered them the first domesticated
olive tree
. The Athenians (or their king,
Cecrops
) accepted the olive tree and with it
the patronage of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food.
Robert Graves
was of the opinion that
“Poseidon’s attempts to take possession of certain cities are political myths”
which reflect the conflict between matriarchal and patriarchal religions.
Other sites of cult
Athena also was the patron goddess of several other Greek cities, notably
Sparta, where the archaic cult of
Athena Alea
had its sanctuaries in the
surrounding villages of
Mantineia
and, notably,
Tegea
. In Sparta itself, the temple of Athena
Khalkíoikos (Athena “of the Brazen House”, often
latinized
as Chalcioecus) was the
grandest and located on the Spartan acropolis; presumably it had a roof of
bronze. The forecourt of the Brazen House was the place where the most solemn
religious functions in Sparta took place.
Tegea was an important religious center of ancient Greece,
containing the Temple of
Athena Alea
. The temenos was founded by
Aleus
,
Pausanias
was informed.
Votive bronzes at the site from the Geometric and Archaic periods take the forms
of horses and deer; there are
sealstone
and
fibulae
. In the Archaic period the nine
villages that underlie Tegea banded together in a
synoecism
to form one city.
Tegea was listed in Homer
‘s
Catalogue of Ships
as one of the cities that
contributed ships and men for the
Achaean assault on Troy
.
Judgment of Paris
Aphrodite is being surveyed by Paris, while Athena (the leftmost
figure) and Hera stand nearby.
El Juicio de Paris
by
Enrique Simonet
, ca. 1904
All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the
marriage of Peleus
and
Thetis
(the eventual parents of
Achilles
). Only
Eris
, goddess of discord, was not invited. She
was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the word
καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, “for the fairest”), which she threw among the goddesses.
Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful
owner of the apple.
The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to
favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a
Trojan prince. After bathing in the spring of
Mount Ida
(where Troy was situated), the
goddesses appeared before Paris. The goddesses undressed and presented
themselves to Paris naked, either at his request or for the sake of winning.
Paris is awarding the apple to Aphrodite, while Athena makes a face.
Urteil des Paris by
Anton Raphael Mengs
, ca. 1757
Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they
resorted to bribes. Hera tried to bribe Paris with control over all
Asia and Europe
, while Athena offered wisdom, fame and
glory in battle, but Aphrodite came forth and whispered to Paris that if he were
to choose her as the fairest he would have the most beautiful mortal woman in
the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was
Helen
, who was, unfortunately for Paris,
already married to King
Menelaus
of
Sparta
. The other two goddesses were enraged by
this and through Helen’s abduction by Paris they brought about the
Trojan War
.
The Parthenon
, Temple of Athena
Parthenos
Masculinity and
feminism
Athena had an “androgynous compromise” that allowed her traits and what she
stood for to be attributed to male and female rulers alike over the course of
history (such as Marie de’ Medici, Anne of Austria, Christina of Sweden, and
Catherine the Great)
J.J. Bachofen advocated that Athena was originally a maternal figure stable
in her security and poise but was caught up and perverted by a patriarchal
society; this was especially the case in Athens. The goddess adapted but could
very easily be seen as a god. He viewed it as “motherless paternity in the place
of fatherless maternity” where once altered, Athena’s character was to be
crystallized as that of a patriarch.
Whereas Bachofen saw the switch to paternity on Athena’s behalf as an
increase of power, Freud on the contrary perceived Athena as an “original mother
goddess divested of her power”. In this interpretation, Athena was demoted to be
only Zeus’s daughter, never allowed the expression of motherhood. Still more
different from Bachofen’s perspective is the lack of role permanency in Freud’s
view: Freud held that time and differing cultures would mold Athena to stand for
what was necessary to them.
Marcus Antonius Gordianus Pius (January
20, 225
–
February
11
, 244
),
known in
English
as Gordian III,
 was
Roman
Emperor
from 238 to 244. Gordian was the son of
Antonia Gordiana
and his father was an unnamed Roman Senator who died before
238. Antonia Gordiana was the daughter of Emperor
Gordian I
and younger sister of Emperor
Gordian II
.
Very little is known on his early life before becoming Roman Emperor. Gordian
had assumed the name of his maternal grandfather in 238.
Following the murder of emperor
Alexander Severus
in Moguntiacum (modern
Mainz
), the
capital of the
Roman province
Germania Inferior
,
Maximinus Thrax
was acclaimed emperor, despite strong opposition of the
Roman senate
and the majority of the population. In response to what was
considered in Rome as a rebellion, Gordian’s grandfather and uncle, Gordian I
and II, were proclaimed joint emperors in the
Africa Province
. Their revolt was suppressed within a month by Cappellianus,
governor of Numidia
and a loyal supporter of Maximinus Thrax. The elder Gordians died,
but public opinion cherished their memory as peace loving and literate men,
victims of Maximinus’ oppression.
Meanwhile, Maximinus was on the verge of marching on Rome and
the Senate elected
Pupienus
and Balbinus
as joint emperors. These senators were not popular men and the population of
Rome was still shocked by the elder Gordian’s fate, so that the Senate decided
to take the teenager Gordian, rename him Marcus Antonius Gordianus as his
grandfather, and raise him to the rank of
Caesar
and imperial heir.
Pupienus
and Balbinus
defeated Maximinus, mainly due to the defection of several
legions
,
namely the
Parthica II
who assassinated Maximinus. But their joint reign was
doomed from the start with popular riots, military discontent and even an
enormous fire that consumed Rome in June 238. On
July 29
,
Pupienus and Balbinus were killed by the
Praetorian guard
and Gordian proclaimed sole emperor.
Rule
Due to Gordian’s age, the imperial government was surrendered
to the aristocratic families, who controlled the affairs of Rome through the
senate. In 240,
Sabinianus
revolted in the African province, but the situation was dealt quickly. In 241,
Gordian was married to Furia Sabinia
Tranquillina
, daughter of the newly appointed praetorian prefect,
Timesitheus
. As chief of the Praetorian guard and father in law of the
emperor, Timesitheus quickly became the de facto ruler of the Roman
empire.
In the 3rd century, the Roman frontiers weakened against the
Germanic tribes across the
Rhine
and
Danube
, and the
Sassanid
kingdom across the
Euphrates
increased its own attacks. When the Persians under
Shapur I
invaded Mesopotamia
, the young emperor opened the doors of the
Temple of Janus
for the last time in Roman history, and sent a huge army to
the East. The Sassanids were driven back over the Euphrates and defeated in the
Battle of Resaena
(243). The campaign was a success and Gordian, who had
joined the army, was planning an invasion of the enemy’s territory, when his
father-in-law died in unclear circumstances. Without Timesitheus, the campaign,
and the emperor’s security, were at risk.
Marcus Julius Philippus, also known as
Philip the Arab
, stepped in at this moment as the new Praetorian Prefect and
the campaign proceeded. In the beginning of 244, the Persians counter-attacked.
Persian sources claim that a battle was fought (Battle
of Misiche) near modern
Fallujah
(Iraq)
and resulted in a major Roman defeat and the death of Gordian III[1].
Roman sources do not mention this battle and suggest that Gordian died far away,
upstream of the Euphrates. Although ancient sources often described Philip, who
succeeded Gordian as emperor, as having murdered Gordian at Zaitha (Qalat es
Salihiyah), the cause of Gordian’s death is unknown.
Gordian’s youth and good nature, along with the deaths of his
grandfather and uncle and his own tragic fate at the hands of another usurper,
granted him the everlasting esteem of the Romans. Despite the opposition of the
new emperor, Gordian was deified by the Senate after his death, in order to
appease the population and avoid riots.
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