Athena/Minerva Guards the City
Posted on August 2, 2010 by bob in AroundMtgy
She watches over the city, perched atop an historic building with a reasonable view of the river, and a great view of our city’s most recent urban renewal efforts. She’s thought to be a representation of the Greek Goddess Athena, child of Zeus, who sprang from his skull after he insisted his cranium be chopped open due to a persistent headache. (Where’s a good ENT when you need one?)
Symbols often associated with Athena include the owl, snake, rooster, olive tree, and a shield bearing the likeness of Medusa, a face so horrible it was said those who looked upon her either turned to stone or were paralyzed with fear. The big question is, how could anyone paint or sculpt or draw her likeness if looking on her visage resulted in stoney silence?
Like many Greek deities, Athena was co-opted by the Romans and re-named Minerva. Those sneaky Romans also co-opted a number of others including Hephaestus, who had the honor of splitting open Zeus’ head. They re-named him Vulcan.
Our Montgomery Athena, aka Minerva, gazing down on the streets below, holds no shield and bears none of the images typically associated with her, but let’s assume for the moment it IS Athena/Minerva. A master weaver, Athena bested Arachne in a spinning contest after the latter boasted of her superior skills. When Arachne lost, she tried to hang herself with her loom (hence the phrase ‘looming death’). Athena intervened and saved young Arachne, then promptly, and without malice, of course, turned the poor girl into a spider. Hence, arachnids.
There is a strong connection between Montgomery’s Athena/Minerva and the very large, very elegant building that supports her. The original tenants of the building were purveyors of Dry Goods, textiles basically, which have to be woven. But not, hopefully, by a psychotic loomer attempting to best a Goddess.
So where is our Athena/Minerva? You’ll have to look up. Not look-it-up, but look UP. When you spot her, take a photo of yourself with her (as close as you can get, which, trust me, will not be very close), and send it to Prime Montgomery.
Oh. And watch out for spiders.
July “Around Montgomery” FOUND!
Congratulations to Matt Deavers.
“My 11 year old grandson, Matt Deavers found this painting in downtown Montgomery right behind the parking deck for Biscuits baseball,” writes Barbara Deavers. “We were on our way to the Biscuits game on July 9th and saw the painting as we were getting out of our car. We had been looking for it earlier in the day and there it was right in front of us.”
