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date: 19 May 2025

Athena 

Source:
The Oxford Classical Dictionary
Author(s):
Robert Christopher Towneley ParkerRobert Christopher Towneley Parker

In Iliad 5. 733–7, *Homer describes how Athena took off the finely-wrought robe ‘which she herself had made and worked at with her own hands’ and ‘armed herself for grievous war’. This incident encapsulates the paradoxical nature of a goddess who is as skilled in the preparation of clothes as she is fearless in battle; who thus unites in her person the characteristic excellences of both sexes. At the greater ... ...

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