Backup 1
We note five key attributes in Homer's Odyssey attributed to Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, that are common to Divine Wisdom in later Jewish Wisdom texts.
A)- She is with the Father:
"The two helper Gods, Athena with father Zeus, rule over all men alike and the immortal Gods--" Odyssey 16.260

B)- She comes down from heaven and helps mankind:
"Athena comes down from heaven and draws near to Ulysses---" Odyssey 20.30
"Athena puts strength and courage in his heart---" Odyssey 1.319
"Athena goes to each man's side, speaks and rouses the spirit and heart of each man---" Odyssey 8.7

C)- She grants glory:
"Athena grants glory---" Odyssey 9.317

D)- She knows everything:
"Ulysses answers Athena: Your mind knows all things---" Odyssey 13.420

E)- She loves you:
"For never yet have I seen the Gods so manifestly showing love, as Pallas Athena did to him, standing manifest by his side..."
Odyssey 3.222

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Backup 2
We suspect Jewish OT Biblical writers "hid" Athena by taking Her deeds and re-labeling them as deeds of Divine Wisdom.

300-100 BCE- JEWISH OT BIBLICAL WRITERS WROTE WISDOM BOOKS Proverbs/Wisdom of
Solomon/Ecclesiasticus/etc--- I observe these books included ideas and concepts that were Greek, not Jewish thinking.
Ref book of Proverbs---"called by some a foreign body in the Bible, Proverbs ignores major religious themes---and makes creative use of non-Israelite wisdom traditions---." New English Bible p. 675.

The author of The Wisdom of Solomon "was an Alexandrian Jew, well read in his own tradition and in Greek thought, who wrote in Greek...he is aided by the Platonic distinction of body from soul and the Greek ideas of providence" etc -NEB p.97. Concerning the Greek concept of immortality, the NEB has the following notes: "The immortality reserved for the righteous is of the soul; it is a Greek concept and supplants the Jewish resurrection of the body..." (Dan. 12.2). NEB p. 99. "These doctrines are Platonic and foreign to the OT." NEB p. 104
"The supposition of a Solomonic authorship for Proverbs is excluded by the whole coloring of the book, in which
monotheism and monogamy are assumed, without discussion, to be generally accepted, while in Solomon's time and by Solomon's self the worship of many gods and the taking of more than one wife were freely practiced, without rebuke from priest or prophet. The high ethical conception of the kingly office in Proverbs is out of keeping with the despotic character of Solomon's government." (see footnote 4-1)


It is my belief that Jewish OT Wisdom writers patterned their Divine Wisdom after Greek writings that included
Homer's description of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.


For example, I note the same five key attributes (that were used by Homer to describe Athena) have been replicated in the Jewish Wisdom texts:
A)- She is with the Father:
"Because it is given her to live with God, and the Lord of all things has accepted her." Wisdom 8:3

B)- She comes down from heaven and helps mankind:
"Send her forth from the holy heavens, and from thy glorious throne bid her come down..." Wisdom 9:10
"Wisdom it was who kept guard over the first father of the human race..." Wisdom 10:1

C)- She grants glory:
"In my hands are riches and honour..." Proverbs 8:18

D)- She knows everything:
"For she knows and understands all things..." Wisdom 9:11

E)- She loves you:
"Those who love me I love...." Proverbs 8:17

Other Greek concepts and ideas that I found in the Jewish Wisdom books were:
A)- Wisdom created by the divine, and known as Wisdom:
"Hear how Wisdom lifts her voice---The Lord created me in the beginning of his works, before all else that he made---"
Proverbs 8:1, 22
"and Zeus gave birth, as though a woman, to Athena, Ever-virgin Goddess, known as Divine Wisdom." -( footnote 4-2)

B)- Wisdom with God at creation:
"...when he prescribed its limits for the sea and knit together earth's foundations. Then I was at his side each day, his darling
and delight, playing in his presence continually, playing on the earth, when he had finished it, while my delight was in
mankind." Proverbs 8:29-31
"Prometheus, guided by Athena, is modeling the first man." -(see footnote 4-3)

C)- Wisdom provides counsel, protection, a king maker:
"Through me kings are sovereign and governors make just laws. Through me princes act like princes, from me all rulers on
earth derive their nobility." Proverbs 8:15-16
"As the guardian of the welfare of kings, Athena became the goddess of good counsel, of prudent restraint and practical
insight---" -(see footnote 4-4)

D)- She oversees war:
"Wisdom prevails over strength, knowledge over brute force; for wars are won by skillful strategy, and victory is the fruit of long planning." Proverbs 24: 5-6
"Athena's moral and military superiority to Ares derived in part from the fact that she represented the intellectual and civilized side of war and the virtues of justice and skill, whereas Ares represented mere mere blood lust." -(see footnote 4-5)

E)- She provides immortality:
"Through her I shall have immortality,---" Wisdom 8:13
"in kinship with wisdom lies immortality---" Wisdom 8:17
Athena gifted Diomede with immortality---- (see footnote 4-6)
"Dionysos is then reborn due to Athena---" (see footnote 4-7)

Jewish OT Wisdom writers claim (Ecclesiasticus 24:11-12) that God settled Wisdom in Jerusalem, the city He loved , but the thinking of the people living there doesn't match the Greek thinking and concepts in the Wisdom texts. The geography doesn't match the thinking. Athens would be a much better fit. I believe the Jewish OT Wisdom writers just "lifted" the Greek texts ref Wisdom from Homer/ Plato, etc..

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Backup 5
527-565 CE- CHRISTIAN ROMAN EMPEROR JUSTINIAN (RULING FROM CONSTANTINOPLE) EMBRACED CLASSICAL GREEK THINKING---he built the magnificant church Hagia Sofia (Divine Wisdom) in Constantinople which was described at the time using thinly veiled references to Athena.
"In time, however, Christian thinkers began to realize that there was much to be carried over into Christian
teaching from the Classical Greeks. Socrates and Plato, for example, often seemed to approximate Christian thought...
However, the fathers of the Christian Church and other later thinkers had the insight to perceive that it was possible to make some basic distinctions, and separate those elements from classical literature that were not in accord with Christianity, keeping all the rest...
This conviction brought about the establishment of a "new" Christian culture, one utilizing all the best writings of the
classical Greek thought and fusing it into the writings and teachings of the Orthodox Church.
The process of such a fusion took centuries, and its final step was not to be completed till the age of Justinian...
Justinian decided to put an end to the idea of Paganism as heresy. He saw, however, that there was a major problem in the manner in which Pagan writing was being taught in the schools and universities. In particular, it was being taught in two different ways.
In the schools of Constantinople, Gaza and Alexandria, the classics were being taught by teachers who were themselves
Christians...
One center of learning that even until Justinian's time had never associated itself with Christianity was Athens. There the
professors were still Pagan and were teaching the classics from entirely the Pagan point of view. This was found
unacceptable. Not the fact that they were teaching classical works, but that they were themselves not Christians. Justinian
gave them the opportunity to become Christian but they refused. As a result Justinian closed down their schools in 529, his second year as emperor...
Constantinople produced a number of distinguished literary figures in Justinian's time. Many of their works were largely influenced by the teachings of Aristotle, Plato and other ancient Greek philosophers and play writers, whom they had all studied...
Paul the Silentiary was also in this list of distinguished scholars at the time of Justinian..."
(see footnote 7-1)
562 CE---PAUL THE SILENTIARY WROTE IN THE STYLE OF HOMER IN PRAISE OF JUSTINIAN'S NEW CHURCH AGIA SOPHIA (DIVINE WISDOM)---USING THINLY VEILED REFERENCES TO ATHENA:
Paul wrote in the style of Homer. "He wrote a famous description of St. Sophia in 887 hexameters, about the
length of one of the longer books of Homer. Homer became the vehicle for the praise of the noblest church in the empire.
Paul's monograph on Agia Sophia reflects a real Christian feeling via the subtlety and similes of the Homeric style."
(see footnote 8-1)
"The poem was recited at the second dedication of the church (A.D. 562), in the episcopal hall of the patriarchate."
(see footnote 8-2)
"Paul the Silentiary wrote encomium [hymn of praise] The Magnificence of Hagia Sophia, which became famous..."
(see Paul's poem below--see footnote 8-3)
(Note below the thinly veiled references to Athena Goddess of Wisdom, frequently portrayed wearing a helmet,
known as "the protector of the city", and also to the Homeric echo of Odysseus in his wanderings in the
Aegean.)


"Above all rises into the immeasurable air the great helmet [of the dome], which, bending over, like the radiant heavens,
embraces the church. And at the highest part, at the crown, was depicted the cross, the protector of the city. And
wondrous it is to see how the dome gradually rises wide below, and growing less as it reaches higher. it does not however
spring upwards to a sharp point, but is like the firmament which rests on air, though the dome is fixed on the strong backs of the arches....
A thousand others [lamps] within the temple show their gleaming light, hanging aloft by chains of many windings.
Thus through the spaces of the great church come rays of light, expelling clouds of care, and filling the mind with joy. The
sacred light cheers all: even the sailor guiding his bark on the waves, leaving behind him the unfriendly billows of the
raging Pontus, and winding a sinuous course amidst creeks and rocks, with heart fearful at the dangers of his nightly
wanderings-perchance he has left the Aegean and guides his ship against adverse currents in the Hellespont, awaiting with taut forestay the onslaught of a storm from Africa-does not guide his laden vessel by the light of Cynosure, or the circling Bear, but by the divine light of the church Itself. Yet not Only does it guide the merchant at night, like the rays from the Pharos on the coast of Africa, but it also shows the way to the living God."
(see footnote 8-3)

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