Sing to me, oh Muse,
That wondrous tale of old,
When Athens a goddess claimed,
And immortality took hold.
Mighty Athena,
With eyes that flash,
And beauty so rare,
Did with Poseidon clash.
And what began with a wave
Ended with an olive branch.
Said great Poseidon,
"What fine land this would be
Should I be made father
To this people
As I am to the sea."
As he spoke, his trident flew
And upon the rock it struck.
From within did water eschew
And around the land did swell.
"This is hardly a gift to the land,"
Came a voice to his right.
Upon turning, he saw Athena,
Her grey eyes flashing bright.
Imposing she was
Her hair the color of night
Which no sun could illuminate
And her figure was slight.
Poseidon felt annoyance
At the goddess' retort.
Not one to lose a challenge,
He let out a derisive snort.
"Think thou, young Pallas,
Thy merit is worth
To tell me what gift
A city should see?"
"Nay," replied she
With a twitch of her brow,
"Think I do not-
For certain I know
That it hardly is fitting
For terror to strike.
The mortals will shun you
And your temples alike.
To drown them will simply
No respect for you win."
"Be gone, then, you wench!"
Poseidon did shout.
"What knows thou of respect
From both gods and men?
The mortals dare not rile me,
Lest they lack common sense.
The wave is quite vital
To both man and beast.
For without it, the life's thread
Is soon cut quite short.
Aideous, my elder brother
Then claims as his own."
END
PART II. The Challenge
"Let us each a claim stake,"
Cunning Athena declared.
"To the victor the city,
To the loser despair."
And saying thus caused
To appear an olive tree.
Concur did Poseidon
With a great booming laugh.
"The people shall choose me,
Or face my fearsome wrath."
So went they to Cecrops,
Who reigned o'er the land.
And there did both argue
For him to understand
Why one gift did satisfy
And the other did not.
The king prayed the two
To recount the deeds
Of their separate histories.
Spoke up Poseidon,
"I am a son of Cronus.
For when I was born,
He cast me into darkness.
My siblings and I were forlorn.
The Lord Zeus then freed us,
My siblings and I.
And with him we drove
The Titans from sky.
We then claimed realms,
To each his very own.
Hades chose the netherworld,
So dark and so cold.
I chose the sea's depths
Which are so very blue
That they render the dullness
Of the fairest of jewels.
And Zeus took the heavens,
Ruled both sky and cloud.
He is Master of us all,
To him we submit.
Choose me to
Patron this grand land.
My seas are
'Quipped to safe passage
Noble ships
From territories far.
And ready am I
To cast deep
Foes that would harm thee.
Choose me,
O son of Earth!
Choose me!
I have proved my worth.
For I, to Athena
Am senior
In this, the world's order."
"That is all very well,"
Cecrops did say.
"But pray us hear
What the lady has to say."
Poseidon stepped back
And with a great leer,
Let Athena come forward
And all men felt fear.
Her eyes swept
From man to man.
Her low voice was
Of the night owl.
Thus she did begin.
"Daughter of Zeus
Am I and
His wit I possess.
Favored am I,
The child of Craft.
Emerge did I
From my father's great brain.
He'd swallowed my mother
And for this felt pain.
Young I might be
To both gods and men.
But even the cub
In the lion's dark den
Is bound to have right
To glory and awe.
"I provide wisdom,
Weapon of might,
That makes the war's victory
All the more bright."
"Look to thy spring,"
Said she to the other.
"It reeks of bitter salt,
And does stain the water.
If let, it will stay
And every living thing slay."
To Cecrops she said,
"Choose, great king-
"The olive or the spring?"
PART III. The Choice
And thus did two gods
Await the choice to be made.
But the king was uneasy
With the choice he must make.
To take the gift of one god
Was to rouse the other's wrath.
The best choice, he felt
Lay in an alternate path.
Said he to his subjects,
"Choose whom thou will
To guard this great land
From those who wish ill.
But 'ware which god
Thou choose to reject.
If prayers reach not,
Nothing can protect
Our people from disaster.
"Careful that choice
Does not death bring.
Or worse, a curse,
Upon every living thing.
Our crops might wither,
Our women cast empty-
Thy choice alone decides
The fate of this city. "
Vote did the people,
Both races that day.
Man look'd to Poseidon,
To him they would pray.
Many cities he owned
To his glory it sang.
But this land under a goddess?
Nothing else caused such a pang.
Bright-eyed Athena
The men did scorn.
Their pride was vast
And hardly newborn.
"Who be this goddess
That she should rule
O'er us and our line?
Why, only a fool
Would serve a woman!
"Virgin is this goddess
And if rule she should
Our wives will mock us
This behavior won't be stood.
They'll abandon the kitchens,
And take claim on war.
"Our worth will be next.
By unmanning us all
We will be brought low
And our merit will fall.
"The world will tell
Our state near and away,
And other men will crow,
'These fools are Gaia's prey!'"
Women went for Athena,
That goddess of note.
To the eastern sky
Each woman cast her vote.
Said they in secret,
"Perchance the lady
Will grow our place
In this man-ruled city.
"We may raise our sons
To give their mothers respect.
They will grow and maybe
Love their wives and protect
Them from misfortune. "
So the votes were cast,
Drawn up and polled.
And all the land waited
For the future to unfold.
The call rang out
Throughout the land.
The victor was Athena,
Goddess so grand!
The land became
Her glorious domain.
It prospered and on it
Good fortune did rain.
It came to pass,
As often happens,
The city took a name
And was called Athens.
O, Muse, do speak
Of Poseidon's dreadful rage.
How he cursed the city
Inhibited her every stage.
And though woman was suppressed,
Her spirit could not be caged.
For in time
The tide would turn
And break the curse.
No woman would be spurned.
THE END