_Vatican Gallery, Rome_]
To Athena Ulysses owed his safe return to Ithaca after the adventures
related in the Odyssey. It was her adroit planning which brought
together the long lost father and his son Telemachus, with the faithful
wife Penelope. She also found ways to help Jason when he went in search
of the golden fleece; she aided Hercules in his labors and guided the
hand of Perseus when he cut off the Gorgon's head.
Athena was also the patroness of the industrial arts. She was skilful in
weaving and needlework, making both her own and others' beautiful robes
and teaching the craft to some favored mortals. She was, in short, the
personification of "inspired and impulsive wisdom in human conduct and
human art, giving the instinct of infallible decision, and of faultless
invention."[11] Finally, and not least important, Athena was one of the
agencies in the productiveness of the earth, and hence the patron
goddess of farmers.
[11] From Ruskin's _Queen of the Air_.
Our statue shows as many as possible of the attributes of the goddess.
The figure is tall and stately and magnificently developed. The Greek
ideal of beauty was to let nature have its way in the human body,
unhindered by any such restraints of clothing as our modern fashions
have invented. The broad shoulders and ample waist bespeak the splendid
strength of the goddess.
The neck rises from the shoulders like a column to support the well-set
head. A tunic falls in straight folds to the feet, and over this is worn
a long mantle gathered over the left shoulder. Upon her breast hangs the
shield, here made very small, and the helmet and spear complete her
equipment as a goddess of war. At her side coils the emblematic serpent.
Her aspect is far from warlike. The face is intellectual and the
expression thoughtful. This is the goddess of wisdom reflecting upon
grave concerns. The mouth is set somewhat proudly, and the countenance
is full of a dignified reserve. The masterful element, so strong in her
character, is admirably expressed. There is something almost austere in
the beauty of this virgin goddess. A majestic being like this is not one
to be familiarly approached.