 
Metis (Μητις) is the Greek Goddess of wisdom, counsel and cunning, the mother of Athena; I have given Her the light eyes of Her daughter to show the connection. She is one of the elder Titan Goddesses. According to a prophecy, any son of Metis would be greater than his father; as Zeus only learned of this after getting Her pregnant, He decided to swallow Metis whole to prevent being overthrown (which, of course, He had done to His own father). Their daughter Athena was in due time 'born' from Zeus's head, as Zeus was naturally lacking in the proper body parts for such an occasion; She was born in full armor, which Her mother Metis had provided for Her from within the body of Zeus. That is on the surface of course a ridiculous legend, and I can't help but think it proves how little bearing common sense has on patriarchal narratives; however it can also be read as an allegory with Metis being Zeus's personified wisdom from Whom the Goddess of war, culture, and wisdom was born. Of course the Goddess Athena is very, very old (Her worship may date back to the Neolithic, in fact), and so of course rather older (or was established in what would be Greece earlier) than the quintessentially Indo-European Zeus. This design is available on prints through ArtPal and on greeting cards. |