S7E1 - All About Athena (and Pallas)

The stories featured in Greaking Out are original adaptations of classic Greek myths.

This week's story features some light cannibalism, cheating in a competition, a salty god, prophecies concerning babies, and the death of a close friend.

Do you smell that, Oracle?

That beautiful aroma of adventure and romance?

That's the smell of a brand new season of Greaking Out.

I cannot smell.

Right, right, that's right.

Yeah, well, it was a metaphorical smell anyway, because I'm just so excited to be back for season seven.

After the break, we are once again ready to talk about some of our favorite gods and goddesses from Greek mythology.

Technically, we are not supposed to declare favorites.

Really?

Why not?

It helps us maintain an air of professionalism and impartiality.

Okay.

Well, today's episode is all about the goddess Athena, who may or may not be my personal favorite.

Longtime listeners may remember her from previous episodes.

Like Arachne the Weaver in season one.

She was also mentioned in last season's episodes as one of the most influential gods in the Trojan War.

Exactly, but we wanted to talk about her more because, well, frankly, Athena is a bit of a rock star.

While Athena did play the flute, but she does not have any sort of involvement in a band, rock or otherwise.

Yeah, it's just an expression, Oracle.

It means she's very impressive.

She's just got that cool factor, you know?

Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war.

I do not see anything about a cool factor.

Well, because Athena is so impressive, we decided to dedicate this episode to some of her adventures.

And where better to start than with her rather impressive birth story?

Athena's father is Zeus.

Her mother is Matis, the oceanid nymph.

Matis is another interesting character in Greek mythology.

She was a Titan and Zeus's first wife.

There are a lot of stories about Matis actually, but we'll save those for another episode.

Now, unfortunately for Matis, she might be best known for a prophecy about her future children.

The prophecy declared that Matis would bear two children, first a girl and then a boy.

And the boy would go on one day to overthrow Zeus.

Obviously, Zeus was not a fan of this prophecy.

especially since it sounded eerily similar to what happened to his father and grandfather.

So he decided that he wasn't going to take any chances.

Even though he liked Matis, Zeus decided that she had to go.

He couldn't run the risk of being overthrown by his own son.

Now, I suppose Zeus could have just sent Matis away or ignored her entirely, but he's not known for his good decision-making, so he decided that the best course of action was to eat her.

Yes, you heard me right.

He ate her.

The largest documented meal meal ever consumed by a human is only 19 pounds.

Therefore, we have no evidence that Zeus could have eaten Matis.

I suppose gods have different digestive systems that allow for swallowing one another whole.

Yeah, well, this is mythology, so Zeus probably has got an extra stomach for eating people he wants to get rid of.

I don't know.

Matis is connected with wisdom, and some say that when Zeus ate her, it was also about bringing her wisdom into his rule.

Cool motive, still cannibalism.

Since gods are immortal, there are very few ways to take away their power.

Eating them seems to be one of them.

I guess so.

Okay, it is odd, but hey, it's mythology.

It's not the first time it's happened, probably won't be the last, so let's just go with it.

Now, Zeus was a little bit sad that he had to eat Matis, but mainly he was just relieved that he didn't have to worry about that prophecy anymore.

Problem solved.

Unfortunately, ever since he devoured his wife, Zeus developed a particularly painful headache that just wouldn't go away.

He wasn't sure what was causing it, but he was in absolute agony and it just kept getting worse.

Headaches can be caused by a variety of factors, mostly related to the chemicals, nerves, and blood vessels in and around the brain and skull.

Finally, he asked for help.

He yelled out to Hermes, I can't take it anymore.

Hermes, make this pain go away.

Hermes is Zeus's messenger and herald.

He's considered to be one of the cleverest and most mischievous gods.

Well, that may be true, but even Hermes couldn't figure out what was causing the headache.

But after watching Zeus scream in agony, he knew he had to do something.

So Hermes dashed off to get Hephaestus, the god of fire and blacksmith to the gods.

He happened to have a large selection of sharp weapons at hand.

Zeus is in bad shape.

I need you to split open his head and see what's going on inside.

That does not seem like an approved medical procedure.

You're probably right, Oracle, but again, mythology.

Since Zeus is a god, he probably didn't have to worry about infections and whatnot.

No matter, Zeus would probably be fine, but his headache was clearly going to go on for eternity.

They had to do something.

I hope they at least sterilized the tools they use.

They did not.

Hephaestus took an axe and performed an impromptu brain surgery on Zeus.

But I think none of them were expecting what happened next.

A fully grown Athena, dressed in armor and helmet, hopped out of Zeus's head.

The goddess of war was dressed and ready for battle.

You see, when Zeus had eaten Matis, she had been pregnant.

Baby Athena had continued to grow in Zeus's head, getting bigger and bigger and causing more and more pain.

Again, modern science fails to explain how this is anatomically possible.

Well, it might be hard to believe, but it explains a lot about Athena's Athena's strong character.

She literally had to fight from day one.

Many sources say that Athena is one of Zeus' favorite children.

In the Iliad, Aries even complains that Zeus lets Athena do whatever she wants.

Interesting.

I would have thought he'd hold a grudge for the painful headache thing, but I guess he was just as impressed by the nature of her birth as anyone else.

But even though Athena was one of Zeus' favorite children, she didn't exactly have the easiest childhood.

Her mother was still gone, and Zeus had a lot of obligations, so he handed her over to Triton to be raised.

Now, Triton was a son of Poseidon, and he had a daughter, a nymph named Pallas.

Listeners might remember, we mentioned Pallas last season during our Trojan War episodes.

Yeah, exactly, but more on that later.

Now, Pallas and Athena really hit it off.

They were both young women who loved the art of battle.

Triton trained them both for years.

He taught them how to fight and how to be strategic in war.

But their bond went far beyond their training sessions.

Athena and Pallas were best friends.

They confided in each other about everything and spent their days together.

They had a shared dream of becoming warriors on the battlefield.

And when it came to fighting, they were very equal.

Except, of course, that Athena was a god and Pallas was not.

Foreshadowing is a storytelling device where the person telling the story gives advance notice of what might happen in the future.

Thanks for that.

One day, Triton decided to stage a friendly competition between the two girls and invited the gods to watch them in battle.

It was supposed to be fake combat.

and both girls were instructed to only disarm their opponent.

They weren't trying to actually hurt each other.

Athena and Pallas were very evenly matched.

Blows were traded, points were scored, and Athena was just barely ahead.

It's possible she could have locked it up right then, but suddenly, Pallas had a burst of energy and the momentum switched in her favor.

She became a furious fighter, deflecting all the attacks and getting closer and closer to hitting her mark.

Would Pallas actually be able to disarm the goddess Athena and claim victory?

Would she win against a god?

Well, that might have actually happened if it hadn't been for, surprise, surprise, Zeus.

He was there supporting his daughter and he hated watching Athena lose.

She was his daughter and her success was his success.

He couldn't have her fail in front of all the other gods.

How would that make him look?

So he decided to help her out, you know, just a little bit.

He took his shield and angled it towards the sun.

The light bounced off the shiny surface and directly into Pallas' eyes, momentarily rendering her blind.

Athena, unaware that Pallas couldn't see and was unable to protect herself, threw her spear, expecting Pallas to block it the way she always did in practice.

Except this time, the spear sailed through the air uninterrupted and struck Pallas right in the heart.

She fell to the ground and the friendly combat was over.

When Athena realized what had happened, she was shocked.

She didn't understand why Pallas hadn't blocked the spear.

She ran to her friend and cradled her head in her lap.

I'm so sorry, she whispered to her dear friend.

Athena held on to Pallas as she took her last breath.

After Pallas' death, Athena was devastated.

She had no idea that it was Zeus' trick with his shield that caused Pallas not to see the spear.

Instead, she blamed herself.

For months, she grieved the loss of her best friend.

She would never forgive herself.

One day, Triton came to visit her.

He was just as devastated as Athena.

Pallas was his daughter, after all.

Athena, you have to get up, he said to Athena.

Pallas would not want you to live this way.

Athena knew he was right.

Pallas was a warrior and wouldn't have wanted her to hide away.

She would have wanted Athena to fight, not to give in to grief.

She knew she had to continue living in a way that would make Pallas proud.

Pallas may be gone, she said to Triton, but she will not be forgotten.

From this day forward, I will be known as Pallas Athena.

Pallas Athena is one of the many names Athena goes by, especially in the Odyssey.

It is a way to honor and pay tribute to the late Pallas.

Athena also carved a small wooden statue in the shape of Pallas.

The small statue traveled around, but eventually ended up in the city of Troy.

And it was said that as long as the Palladium, that statue, remained in Troy, the city would be unconquerable, which is why Odysseus had to remove it from the city walls before the Greeks could win the Trojan War.

But you already know all that.

We go into great detail about the Trojan War and the Palladium in last season's episodes.

We do, but there are other things that Athena is known for.

And with that, I think this is a good place for a commercial break.

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On each episode of the family-friendly Unspookable, we look at the histories and mysteries behind your favorite scary stories, myths, and urban legends to get the real stories behind the scares.

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Okay, thanks for that.

And now we're back with more Greaking Out.

You want to hear another story real quick?

Always.

Okay, well.

A story our listeners might not know is the story of how Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens.

Athens is the current capital city of Greece.

It is said to be the birthplace of democracy.

Right, but before it was even called Athens, the city was actually referred to as Kekropoea, after the city's very first royal leader, King Kekrops.

King Keikrops is one of the most superior kings to ever exist.

Wow, that's quite a claim, especially coming from someone who just told me we needed to remain impartial.

He was known known for being a very good leader and did things like introduce the practice of marriage, increase literacy among his subjects, and create ceremonial burial rites.

Well, he does sound like a good king.

I haven't even gotten to the best part.

There's more?

In addition to being a very successful leader, he was also half snake.

What?

According to several accounts, he was a man from the waist up, but he had a snake's tail instead of legs.

And because he was part snake, he was obviously a very successful ruler with incredible instincts.

Yeah, okay, wow.

Uh, what do we call that?

Uh uh a merman, a a snakeman, a

while there are several characters in Greek mythology who are half snake, like Echidna and K-crops, they do not give this creature a specific name.

Lamia are a kind of half-snake demon who eat children, but they are always female.

Ah, okay, so all Lamias are half snakes, but not all half-snakes are Lamias.

I get it, okay.

Anyway, King Kekrops realized that the city really needed a patron deity to look after it and to make sure that it continued to prosper.

He wanted his city to truly thrive, and he was smart enough to know that to make that happen, he needed to enlist the help of the gods.

Luckily enough for Kekrops, many of the gods had been watching this city for a long time.

It was already a successful place, and King Kekrops had ensured a reputation of being a kind and clever leader.

Who was also half snake?

Yes, who was also half snake.

So, when the news broke that King Kekrops was looking for a patron deity, many of the gods were interested.

But after much discussion, it became clear that only two gods were truly capable of watching over the city: Athena and Poseidon.

Poseidon was the god of the sea.

He is also thought to be one of the more moody, temperamental gods.

Right, and he really wanted to watch over Kecropoea.

But Athena also knew it was a special place and she wasn't willing to just give up the opportunity.

So Zeus was in charge of deciding who would serve the city.

But he really did not know how to choose.

Choosing between the gods had never worked out well for him in the past.

Yes, Athena was a favored child, but but Poseidon could cause trouble if he got his feelings hurt.

Both were powerful and capable of ruining Zeus's day if they didn't get what they wanted.

It's an impossible choice, he complained.

Athena, being the goddess of wisdom, suggested that the only fair way to decide was to have a contest.

Whoever presented the city with the best gift would become its patron.

Yes, and let King Kikrops decide, Zeus bellowed, relieved he once again could pass the buck.

It's his city, after all.

Athena smiled to herself.

She had the perfect gift in mind.

The day of the contest arrived, and Athena was ready to present her gift when Poseidon just shoved her out of the way.

I will go first, he declared, and struck the ground with his majestic trident.

There is nothing more valuable than water.

I will create a river that will flow through the city and provide an endless source of water for the good people of Cecropia.

The people cheered.

What a fabulous gift.

Poseidon was right.

There was nothing more important than water.

But when the people drank from the river, they discovered a big problem.

It was salt water straight from the sea.

We can't drink this, the people cried.

What good is water if we can't even drink it?

You could say that the people of Cecropia were salty about it.

Yeah, see what I did?

Salty.

In this instance, salty is slang for being irritated, angry, or resentful.

It is a play on words referencing the salt that is in the undrinkable water of the river.

Yeah, okay, thanks for explaining that, Oracle.

Next, it was Athena's turn.

She simply bent down to the ground and placed a small seed into the soil.

Within seconds, a large, beautiful olive tree sprang up immediately.

One of the most valuable gifts of all is a strong olive tree.

There will be no part of it that will go to waste.

The olives will provide sustenance in the form of food and oil.

The bark will provide wood to create shelter.

The branches will provide a shady place to rest on a hot summer's day.

This tree is beautiful and practical.

The perfect gift for the citizens of such a beautiful and practical city.

She was met with immediate applause.

King Kekrops had no choice but to announce her as the winner of the competition.

Obviously, Poseidon was very upset.

Some people say that Poseidon punished the city with a drought.

Greece continued to have problems with water for years to come.

Yeah, that was definitely a downside to that decision.

But I believe that King Kekrops Kekrops and the citizens of Kekropoea chose correctly.

You see, Athena became a great patron to the city, and it flourished under her care and wisdom.

In fact, she was so beloved by the city that they changed its name to Athens and built the Parthenon in her honor.

The Parthenon of Athena is a marble temple built to honor Athena.

It remains standing to this day, though not all the original statues remain in Greece.

Come on, she was so beloved by the people that they had a temple built in her honor.

Total rock star.

Not a rock star.

Okay, fine, but she's the best.

I mean, if we could pick favorites, she would totally be my favorite.

Unless, like me, you are partial to the majesty of snakes, in which case, King K.

Crops would be your obvious favorite.

Okay, well, there are a lot of cool characters in Greek mythology.

And the ones with snakes are obviously the best.

Well, we're all entitled to our own opinion.

And mine is right.

You can have your opinion.

I know you like snakes.

I'm just saying that Athena is the goddess of wisdom and factories.

That's it for our first episode of season seven.

We have some great stuff in store, including a real quick field trip coming up next.

National Geographic Kids Creaking Out is written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes and hosted by Kenny Curtis with Tori Kerr as the Oracle of Wi-Fi, audio production and sound design by Scotty Beam, and our theme song was composed by Perry Gripp.

Dr.

Adria Haluska was our subject matter expert, and Emily Everhart is our producer.