See U in History
The dispute between Athena and Poseidon
There was a region in Ancient Greece known today as Attica.
Cecrops was its ruler, a being that was born of the land itself, having a serpent tail and the torso of a man.
The city of Cecropia flourished under his rule.
It was surrounded by the seas and so the cult of Poseidon was quite strong in the region.
The god felt the need to have a city devoted to his glorification.
He visited the city’s acropolis and there, before the king and his people, he proclaimed:
- Devote this city to the lord of the seas and you will have the ocean as your backyard,
your people will subjugate all others on the sea.
Change the name of the city to Poseidonia and you will make me extremely happy.
The god hit the ground with his trident and originated a spring of salt water.
- This is my gift to you, before you set sail, do kneel before this spring and it will tell if it safe to navigate.
All of a sudden, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, appeared.
And she also had the ambition to conquer for herself the honor of having a city that worshipped her.
She spoke to the crowd, already stunned by Poseidon’s visitation,
and now perplexed for having the opportunity to witness such a majestic deity.
- People of Cecropia, if you choose me as the city’s protector,
beauty and wisdom will bear fruit in it.
Arts and sciences will flourish with no equivalent in the whole world.
The goddess stuck her spear in the ground and from the hole a beautiful olive tree was born.
- This is my gift,
I know how arid the land that surrounds you is,
but with this plant you can have food from its fruits.
And you can also use its oil to light and warm your homes.
The people were amazed by such gift.
Cecrope, dreading the possibility of enraging the neglected god,
thought it was fair to let the city choose the one they wanted to worship.
Men lived off the sea and therefore they all voted for Poseidon,
on the other hand women lived on land and so they regarded Athena’s gifts as more valuable.
Since there were more women than men in the city, Athena won.
Poseidon got furious and did not accept the crowd’s decision.
- There’s only one honored way to decide this, pick up your weapons and fight me.
Poseidon was one of the most powerful gods and so he believed that Athena was no match for him.
But the brave goddess felt no fear in her heart and got readied for the clash.
But when the battle was about to begin, Zeus intervened to mediate the dispute.
- I will take this clash to the divine council of the Olympus and they will decide the fate of the city.
At Mount Olympus, the gods reunited to solve the clash between Athena and Poseidon.
Zeus presided over the meeting, and let the other gods found a consensus.
All male gods voted for Poseidon and all goddesses voted for Athena.
Since he was presiding it, Zeus abstained from the suffrage and so Athena won by just one vote.
And so the ancient city of Cecropia is now known as Athens.
In honor of the goddess, a beautiful temple in her honor was built at the top of the Acropolis.
However, Poseidon’s wrath made the Athenians life much harder, since they were no longer welcome in the seas.
Worried, they met the Oracle of Delphi,
the Pythia informed that Poseidon’s wrath would only be stopped if the women of Athens were punished.
To be reconciled with the god, all the women of Athens were punished and they no longer had the right to vote.
To establish peace between the Athenians and Poseidon,
a beautiful temple honoring the god was built in Cape Sounion.
The god showed his magnanimous character and forgave the people of Athens, allowing the city to keep the god’s gift.
Hence emerged in Greece the city that would stand out among all others.