The city of Athens is ancient; people have been living here since the neolithic era, and probably much before.  The location owes its name to a tradition that long ago, divinities offered their patronage to the city, and it came down to a choice between Poseidon, the god of the sea, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom.  To be under the care of the sea-god would perhaps have made sense, for the broad, glittering plain of the Aegean is visible from the heights of the Acropolis, and early pottery from the region was abundantly decorated with fish and wide-eyed octopi – but when Poseidon gave the city a spring, it yielded salt water, whereas the gift that Athena offered was the fruitful, long-lived olive tree. 

Olive oil, like wisdom, can soften most difficulties in life; it can nourish us, it can cleanse and heal our bodies, and when consumed by fire it provides heat and light.  But notwithstanding her helpful  and soothing gift, the ancients portrayed Athena as a warrior.  Evidently, wisdom may also mean being prepared to fight.  And it is a historical fact that one invader, spotting the 10 meter high bronze statue of Athena, helmeted and armed with a spear, towering above the Acropolis, turned his army around and left without attacking the city.  

There is another apparent paradox in the portrayal of Athena, which is that she is often shown wearing a gorgon’s head upon her chest.  The gorgon is a very ancient and widely spread mythical figure that sums up everything we don’t want to meet in the dark : large, ugly, fierce, sometimes with bronze claws, boar’s tusks and scaly skin, and with snakes for hair.  Worst of all, a gorgon was said to be so hideous that merely to look upon her would turn any human to stone.  Why would the image of divine wisdom wear the head of a gorgon over her heart?

According to the legend, the hero Perseus was given the task of slaying the gorgon named Medusa by a king who wanted to be rid of him, for it seemed an inevitably fatal challenge.  With the help of Athena, though, it was possible, for she gave Perseus a mirror-like shield, and by looking in the mirror instead of at Medusa, he was able to strike the blow that killed her.  He presented the head to Athena, and she wore it as a tribute, but even the lifeless head still had the power to petrify whoever looked at it.

This symbol, of Athena’s heart protected by the life-threatening head of Medusa, might make the student of the spiritual path think of several points.  One is that the path to wisdom is not easy or smooth; it very often means choosing what is difficult or even repellent.  And ultimately, the image can make us think of the words from the Bible, “No man shall see Me and live,” and of the Sufi injunction, to die before death in order to know Perfection. To truly perceive the heart of wisdom, one must oneself cease to be.