Speaker 1
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 wear better to start than with her rather impressive birth story. Athena's father is Zeus. Her mother is Maitis, the ocean-ed nymph. Maitis is another interesting character in Greek mythology. She was a Titan and Zeus' first wife. There are a lot of stories about Maitis, actually, but we'll save those for another episode. Now, unfortunately for Maitis, she might be best known for a prophecy about her future children. The prophecy declared that Maitis 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 Maitis, 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 Maitis 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 ever consumed by a human is only 19 pounds. Therefore, we have no evidence that Zeus could have eaten Maitis. 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. Maitis 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.