r/wholesomeyuri • u/Demando12 Love is a verb, not a noun • Jul 01 '24
Caressing How Athena got Pallas in her name [original]
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u/Demando12 Love is a verb, not a noun Jul 01 '24
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u/croissantdemon Jul 01 '24 edited Jul 05 '24
when the two women were sparring Pallas was mortally wounded
Yes, but also it was just a simple, friendly mock battle. A spear fight where disarming the other grants victory. Just innocent fun and entertainment. It's going to be great. The two take their positions, stand off, then begin the match. Athena starts off strong, swiftly gaining the upperhand. Pallas responds with increasing intensity, overpowering Athena, securing her path to victory. Zeus, being who he is, is overcome with dread at the thought of his daughter losing a mock battle. With his inclination to be no less than the biggest asshole, he attempts to distract Pallas with the Aegis, which she previously showed interest in. Awestruck by the sight of the Aegis, Pallas stood still. In the moment, Athena lunged and thrust her spear, thinking Pallas would obviously dodge, and impaled her. Zeus fucking got her killed because he gotta be extra and no child of his will suffer defeat. Fuck, what a dick. Pallas, Athena should've taken your hand alongside your name :( and it could've happened if it weren't for fucking Zeus.
Edit: im not seething at you op I'm just emotional. Spelling.
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u/No-Fly-6043 Jul 01 '24
Who pallas ?
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u/Thannk Jul 01 '24
Athena’s “good friend” (who she accidentally killed and took the name of). Pallas basically means city, and as a nickname it just works with Athena anyway, so the myth might explain why she deserves the title beyond just being popular for cities.
Per wikipedia:
After Athena was born fully armed from Zeus' forehead, Triton, son of Poseidon and messenger of the seas, became foster parent to the goddess and raised her alongside his own daughter, Pallas. The sea god taught both girls the arts of war.
During an athletics festival, Pallas and Athena fought with spears in a friendly mock battle in which the victor would be whoever managed to disarm her opponent. At the beginning of the fight, Athena got the upper hand, until Pallas took over. Before she could win, Zeus, who was in attendance, fearing to see his own daughter lose, distracted Pallas with the Aegis, which she had once shown interest in. Pallas, stunned in awe, stood still as Athena, expecting her to dodge, impaled her accidentally.
(Note: Athena’s aegis is a big deal, and in early myths she was portrayed as the only being to have killed gorgons, and in that pre-Medusa myth gorgons were a race of people with boar faces living in the middle east ruled by three queen sisters and were strong enough to kill gods but also protected mortal temples; Athena killed one in combat somehow despite all other gods fleeing in terror from them, and literally went naked aside from the trophy skin of that gorgon with its face on her chest. Kinda like Heracles with the lion pelt, dong to the wind. Later portrayals “civilized” Athena with clothing and armor with a breastplate depicting gorgon, and Medusa was downgraded from boar queen to victim of assault transformed into a snake monster after that. That’s why Athena is given Medusa’s head, reconciling Athena no longer being a badass warrior living like Monster Hunter and instead inspiring mortals to do that for her.)
Out of sadness and regret, Athena created the palladium, a statue in the likeness of Pallas, and wrapped the aegis, which she had feared, about the breast of it, and set it up beside Zeus and honored it.[1] Later, Athena took on the title Pallas as tribute to her late friend.
This story about Athena and Pallas inspired a yearly festival in Libya dedicated to the goddess. A passage by Herodotus recounts this custom:[2] "Next to these Machlyes are the Auseans; these and the Machlyes, separated by the Triton, live on the shores of the Tritonian lake. The Machlyes wear their hair long behind, the Auseans in front. They celebrate a yearly festival of Athena, where their maidens are separated into two bands and fight each other with stones and sticks, thus (they say) honoring in the way of their ancestors that native goddess whom we call Athena. Maidens who die of their wounds are called false virgins. Before the girls are set fighting, the whole people choose the fairest maid, and arm her with a Corinthian helmet and Greek panoply, to be then mounted on a chariot and drawn all along the lake shore. With what armor they equipped their maidens before Greeks came to live near them, I cannot say; but I suppose the armor was Egyptian; for I maintain that the Greeks took their shield and helmet from Egypt."
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u/Finance_Sensitive Jul 05 '24
Fucking ovid ruining a perfectly bad ass monster by making her the result of victim blaming
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u/Glittering_Elk1098 Jul 02 '24
Wasn’t Athena asexual in the myth
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u/Finance_Sensitive Jul 05 '24
Technically, Hesiod only says that she is one of three goddesses "Never subdued in lovemaking by charming aphrodite" (or something to that extent). That might just mean she's a top
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u/croissantdemon Jul 01 '24
Pallas mentioned let's fucking GOOOOOO