Thursday, August 28, 2008

Goddess of the Week: Minerva


Aside from appearing in several universities, such as SUNY Albany, where this statue is erected, it's Minerva who sits on the seal of the state of California, next to the work "Eureka", representing her birth full-grown from the forehead of Jupiter and the also-miraculous birth of this state.
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If this sounds familiar, it's because Athena was born from Zeus's forehead, and Minerva is the Roman equivalent of Athena. Minerva, Jupiter, and Juno form the Capitoline Triad in Rome, after the temple on the Capitoline Hill by Tarquinius Superbus.
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Minerva is often shown in armor bearing a spear. She is the goddess of war and can cast Jupiter's thunderbolts. But Minerva is also the goddess of wisdom, commerce, and medicine. She often guides Ulysses and his son Telemachus in Homer's Odyssey. She was worshipped in several places and filled several roles. This is why Ovid called her, "goddess of a thousand works".

4 comments:

clairev said...

so....(ahem), when am i going to be goddess of the week?

c

Rufus said...

Well... um, that's true every week, honey! (adjusting necktie nervously)

Greg von Winckel said...

When you pose in a toga and fancy helmet?

clairev said...

greg, many thanks for deciding my Halloween costume.

wait for the post kids.

c