Why Little Girl Goddess?

littlegirlgoddess — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:01:17 +0000

So, hi. I’m Emily. This is my blog. Fascinating so far? Right. I know. Because I lack anything awesome to say we shall start today’s lesson with an explanation of my blog’s name. “Little girl goddess” is something one of my art history professors said once in a lecture about Greek Art. If you’re familiar with the story of Athena you will know that she popped out of her father’s skull, as a fully formed adult goddess. The story goes something like this:

Zeus gets himself a consort named Metis. But alas, there is a prophecy that says any offspring of that union will be more powerful than Zeus; he can’t have that. So, as any rational man would do, he swallows Metis. But, Metis is already pregnant with his daugher, Athena. Metis gives birth to and nutures Athena all the while living nice and toasty warm inside of Zeus. One day, Zeus gets a killer headache so one of his little helper gods cracked his head open with an axe. And out pops Athena.

Several millenia later Larry Ball is recounting this story to a classroom full of college kids while describing this amphora:

and tells us that, “Athena never did get to be a little girl goddess.” It made me happy then, it makes me happy now.

I hope to have more insightful and interesting things to say in the future but for now I must go watch some Battlestar Gallactica NCIS.

little.girl.goddess

Why Little Girl Goddess?