How the Ancient City of Athens Got Its Name

 

 

In ancient times, the most well-known city of Greece and center of commerce, a beautiful city, atop a hill, was named Cecrops, after its ruler, a mythical creature, half man and half snake.

 

 

The twelve Gods of Mount Olympus, a wonderful place to live at the time, thought the grass looked greener over there in Cecrops and got to thinking;

  “Why should we take no credit for this thriving city?”

  “It should be named after one of us!”

 To cut a long story short, after a heated debate, two Gods were declared suitable of honouring this great city of Greece with their name; Athena and Poseidon but which one?

 

The Competition between Poseidon and Athena

 

 

 Both contenders, Poseidon, God of the sea, and Athena, Goddess of wisdom, begged Zeus, ruler of all Greek Gods, to become the Patron God of Cecrops.

After much deep thought, Zeus came up with an idea; each contender would present a gift to the ruler Cecrops and his citizens, the citizens would then choose which gift they preferred and the city would then take the giver’s name.

 Poseidon and Athena went away to think about what could be the best ever gift for the people of Cecrops.

 After weeks of much thinking and preparation the two Gods returned to the city on the hill and were ready to present their carefully thought-over gifts to its citizens.

 

Athena Wins

 The City is Renamed Athens

 

First up in the contest was Poseidon, who struck the rock with his trident and out flowed water, symbolizing naval power.

  (There are other versions that state Poseidon’s gift was a horse.)

 “Choose me” said Poseidon “Here is a never-ending flow of water, never again will you go thirsty, never again will you experience drought”

 But when the people tasted the water, it was salty; of course, Poseidon is God of the sea!

 Now it was Athena’s turn, in her hand she held a single seed which she threw to the ground, where it instantly took root and became an olive tree, symbol of peace and prosperity.

 (Some versions of the story have Athena striking the ground with her spear and an olive tree appeared)

 

 

“Choose me” said Athena “I shall plant these trees throughout the region, you shall never want for food, oil or firewood”

 The citizens weren’t stupid, they rose to their feet, chanting” Athena, Athena, we name our city Athena”, and the rest is history!

 

The Sacred Olive Tree of Greece

 

 

A sacred olive tree, thought to be the one originally created by Athena all those thousands of years ago, was still growing on the Acropolis, in the 2nd century AD, according to Pausanias (Greek traveller and geographer).

Herodotus (Greek historian) claims the tree was burnt in The Persian Wars 499-449 BC and that shoots shot forth from the stump of the burnt tree and that is the olive tree which remains on the Acropolis today.

So, it is no surprise, why the olive tree has been sacrosanct for Greeks since ancient times.

It is a symbol of peace, wisdom and triumph and so revered  was the olive tree to the Greeks, that olive groves were considered sacred ground, only virgins and chaste men were allowed to cultivate them.

 

 

Solon (638-558 BC), an Athenian statesman, lawmaker and poet created a law prohibiting the cutting down of olive trees.

 The punishment was death!

Hercules, the hero of Greek mythology, was protected by a wreath of olive leaves, (Kotinos in Greek) and it was a wreath made from olive leaves that was used to crown champions at the ancient Olympic games; leaves used for these wreaths were taken from a sacred olive tree near the temple of Zeus at Olympia.

 

 

The Olive Tree – A Tree of Peace

 

The ancient Greek philosopher, Sophocles, said, of the olive tree;

 “The tree that feeds the children”

 Homer, great Greek poet, author of “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey”, when referring to Greek olive oil, called it “Liquid gold”.

In the first book of The Old Testament, Genesis, a dove released by Noah, returned with an olive branch, to show that the floods had receded.

The olive tree has been a symbol of peace ever since.

 

The Most Ancient of Trees

 

 

Olive trees have been thriving in Greece for well over ten thousand years.

One of the seven oldest trees in the World is the olive tree of Vouves  (a village on the island of Crete), which is thought to be between three and five thousand years old and still produces olives which, as you can imagine, are highly prized!

As you can see from the above, the olive trees of ancient Greece were sacred, no other tree came close.

 It comes as no surprise then, to learn, that this glorious tree played a part in the naming of one of the oldest cities in the world, continuously inhabited for at least 5000 years, the most powerful city of ancient Greece; Athens.

 

Related Post:

 

How the Aegean Sea Got Its Name – The Myth of King Aegeus