Polytheism and Anthropomorphism

The focus for this posting is on anthropomorphism in Ancient Greek Religion and how this links with the polytheistic practices of religion in Ancient Greece. The image I have chosen to support this post is Sandra M. Stanton’s ‘Athena with her owl-byform at the Olive Tree’ (http://www.mythinglinks.org/Olive~Athena~Owl~mellowed04.JPG). I have chosen this painting to support my discussion on anthropomorphism as it encompasses several elements of the topic. The first topic for discussion is that in the painting, the representation of Athena is shown with an owl. The owl was often linked to Athena (it can also be seen upon the Athenian coin at http://www.ancientgreece.com/media/public/gallery/files/a5___.jpg ) as a symbol of wisdom. This relationship between Athena and the image of the owl has given rise to the question ‘Is the owl a theriomorphic form of Athena?’ .. that is to say, does the owl actually contain the essence and being of the goddess or is it a separate entity that is simply linked to the goddess? Of course, there is no definitive answer to such questions. The selected image also links to anthropomorphism because of the olive tree in the background of the painting. The Greeks also liked to link aniconic objects with religion in the Ancient world. The most sacred and holy object to the Athenians was the image of the Athena Polias or the ‘wooden Athena’ - a formless piece of olive wood, which the Athenians believed to contain the essence of/be the goddess. Such importance was placed upon this object, that when the Persians invaded the city, the ‘wooden Athena’ was removed from the city to protect it from damage. The Athena Polias was also adorned with a new robe and jewellery each year, demonstrating the importance of the piece to the Athenians.
The Greeks also anthropomorphised their deities by attributing many epithets to each god or goddess. Athena is also an excellent example of this as she was Athena Polias (of the city), Ergane (woolworker), Glaukopis (gleaming eyed), Athena Nike (victory) and many, many others (which can be found in Robert. E. Bell’s text Women of Classical Mythology: A Biographical Dictionary, 1991). This concept of attributing epithets to the deities almost completely separate entities entirely and subsequently inextricably links anthropomorphism and polytheism, as not only is there a huge collection of Greek gods, but these deities are broken down even further into what could be regarded as many more ‘sub-gods’ by each being attributed different epithets, allowing them to be regarded (and also worshipped) as separate beings.

http://ablemedia.com/ctcweb/consortium/ancientolympians.html is a very useful site for follow up information on epithets and associated items and beings of the Olympian Twelve.

More indepth information on Athena’s relationship with the owl can be found at http://socyberty.com/history/the-owl-of-athena-statue-and-coin/ .

Kroll’s article on ‘The Ancient Image of Athena Polias’, which can be found in Vol. 20, Studies in Athenian Architecture, Sculpture and Topography. 1982. Is a very useful source of information on the aniconic form of Athena - the ‘Wooden Athena’.