Parthenon

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_Parthenon_in_Athens.jpg

 

 

 

The Parthenon (Greek: Παρθενών) is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the maiden goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their patron deity. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although decoration of the building continued until 432 BC. It is the most important surviving building of Classical Greece, generally considered the culmination of the development of the Doric order. Its decorative sculptures are considered some of the high points of Greek art. The Parthenon is regarded as an enduring symbol of Ancient Greece, Athenian democracy, western civilization^[3] and one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. The Greek Ministry of Culture is currently carrying out a program of selective restoration and reconstruction to ensure the stability of the partially ruined structure.^[4]

The Parthenon itself replaced an older temple of Athena, which historians call the Pre-Parthenon or Older Parthenon, that was destroyed in the Persian invasion of 480 BC. The temple is archaeoastronomically aligned to the Hyades.^[5] Like most Greek temples, the Parthenon was used as a treasury. For a time, it also served as the treasury of the Delian League, which later became the Athenian Empire. In the 5th century AD, the Parthenon was converted into a Christian church dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

After the Ottoman conquest, it was turned into a mosque in the early 1460s. On 26 September 1687, an Ottoman ammunition dump inside the building was ignited by Venetian bombardment. The resulting explosion severely damaged the Parthenon and its sculptures. In 1806, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving sculptures, with the permission of the Ottoman Empire. These sculptures, now known as the Elgin Marbles or the Parthenon Marbles, were sold in 1816 to the British Museum in London, where they are now displayed. Since 1983 (on the initiative of Culture Minister Melina Mercouri), the Greek government has been committed to the return of the sculptures to Greece.^[6]

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon



Athena, Brigid, St. Brigid

 

 Stained glass, St. Joseph Catholic Church, Macon, Georgia, 1903

The Greek Athena is the Celtic Brigid who may also be called Danu or Donna, all though Danu may also refer to the mother of Dagda which is the Greek Rhea.  Here is what was written about Brigid who then became the Catholic St. Brigid when Christianity invaded Ireland:

Dana or Donand, also called Brigit, their mother , was the wife of Bress, King of he Fomorians; but she belonged by birth to the other divine race, her father being Dagda, or the "good god," King of the Tuatha De Danaan; she was regarded as the goddess of literature.  Her three sons had in common an only son called Ecne, that is to say, "knowledge or poetry".

(H. D'Arbois De Jubainville and Richard Irvine Best, The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, page 82).


Brigid was also known by the name Donna.

In medieval Ireland, Brigit has a second name, Dana, or Dona, genitive Danann, Donand.  She is the daughter of the supreme head of he gods of Day, Light, and Life, and is herself the mother of three gods belonging to the same divine group, who are called, after their mother, the gods of Dana.

 (H. D'Arbois De Jubainville and Richard Irvine Best, The Irish Mythological Cycle and Celtic Mythology, page 83).

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigit_of_Kildare

Athena

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mattei_Athena_Louvre_Ma530_n2.jpg

Athena was a Greek virgin-warrior goddess who was the daughter of Zeus and Metis.  She was a goddess of war and the crafts.  Her patron city was Athens, Greece.  She is said to have found the heart of Zagreus after he was killed and to have helped defend Olympus against the Titans.

Her symbols include the owl, the shield, and the sword.  Some compare her with the Egyptian Neith, but I would compare her with Bast.  Her birth is rather strange and she is said to have been swallowed  with her pregnant mother by Zeus before her birth and been born out of his head.

There were other Athenas including a daughter of Cronus by another woman besides Rhea.
Her shield had the head of Medusa (engraved) on it.



by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com and www.hiddenhumanstory.com)



Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena