My question is; 'why did the people of Athens worship Athena when they had such an unfair way of treating women?' Apparently, Athena won the right to be Athens god. She competed against Poseidon. They were about to go to war for it, but then Athena suggested that they had a competition. Who ever could give the best gift to the people of Athens, would win. Poseidon went first. He plunged his Trident into the ground, and created a body of water known today as the Erekhtheis sea. The people were very happy with this, until they drank the water. It was very salty. Poseidon only controlled the sea.
When it was Athena's turn she was much less dramatic. She planted something in the ground, and out sprung an olive tree. The people then decided that the olive tree was much more useful. Not only could they use the olives to eat, they could use the wood for building, and the oil to power lamps, and to cook. Athena won, and was proclaimed the goddess of Athens. Poseidon was so mad, he turned some of the land into a sea. In the Roman version, he not only did that, but made it so Athens had water shortages, which is actually a problem in modern Greece today!
That's the mythology behind it, but people still do not know the answer to the question. My guess is that the thought of the gods as not human, so the were okay with having a strong female goddess. Even though, they did not let woman own their own land, or talk to any man except their husbands, I think they thought Athena didn't count as a female.
Click HERE for video. Click HERE for my source.
When it was Athena's turn she was much less dramatic. She planted something in the ground, and out sprung an olive tree. The people then decided that the olive tree was much more useful. Not only could they use the olives to eat, they could use the wood for building, and the oil to power lamps, and to cook. Athena won, and was proclaimed the goddess of Athens. Poseidon was so mad, he turned some of the land into a sea. In the Roman version, he not only did that, but made it so Athens had water shortages, which is actually a problem in modern Greece today!
That's the mythology behind it, but people still do not know the answer to the question. My guess is that the thought of the gods as not human, so the were okay with having a strong female goddess. Even though, they did not let woman own their own land, or talk to any man except their husbands, I think they thought Athena didn't count as a female.
Click HERE for video. Click HERE for my source.