The goddess Athena and the Epithet Tritogeneia

The goddess Athena, born from the head of her father Zeus, came into this world

formidably dressed in full armor and endowed with wisdom, an astuteness in the arts

and crafts (of both men and women), and an aptitude for war that not even Ares, the

god of war, possessed. She was generous and protective of those she loved, especially

young men who exhibited exceptional courage and adroitness (such as her half-brothers

Perseus and Herakles, Bellerophon, Cadmus, Danaüs, Epeius, and Jason).

The epithet bestowed upon her and which was frequently used is Tritogeneia or

Tritogenis (Τριτογένεια). It has been interpreted in many different ways. By examining

the epithet one can see it is made up on the words trito and geneia (γενεή/γενεά

meaning birth- hence genus). The word Trito has been connected with her birthplace

and there are rivers named Triton or Tritonis which had claimed to be the place of her

birth, as in Arcadia near a spring called Tritonis, and Boeotia alongside the banks of the

river Tritona where she was said to have been raised. Even the Lybians claimed she was

born near a large lake which bore her name and raised by the sea-god Triton.

A further look at the epithet gives us the Aeolic word (Ancient Greek dialect) τριτώ

which means head, and this refers of course to her birth from the head of Zeus. In

addition, after the birth of Artemis and Apollo, Athena was the third in line, hence τρίτο.

However, even more interesting and profound was what Democritus (c. 460- c. 370 BC,

a pre-Socratic philosopher who formulated the atomic theory of the universe) had said

about this epithet. He maintained that Athena was thus called because she granted to

those who requested her assistance, three attributes: 1.εὖ λογίζειν (the ability to think

and analyze well) 2.εὖ λέγειν (the ability to speak wisely) 3. πράττειν ἅ δεῖ (to take

proper action in any situation- to do the right thing).