Metis, Mother of Athena

Greetings
In many myths, the actions of the Gods usually have some sort of "inner" meaning. What does Zefs swallowing Metis and then giving birth to Athena symbolize? Is it possible that Metis progresses to Athena by the action of Zefs swallowing her?

Many thanks

Dimitrios65 wrote:Greetings
In many myths, the actions of the Gods usually have some sort of "inner" meaning. What does Zefs swallowing Metis and then giving birth to Athena symbolize? Is it possible that Metis progresses to Athena by the action of Zefs swallowing her?

Many thanks

Metis is another name for Phanes/Protogonus/Erikapaios in the Orphic tradition.

In the Orphic creation myth, Zeus swallows Phanes in order to recreate the Cosmos anew. In the myth of Athena's birth, Metis was said to be Athena's mother and Zeus' wife before Hera, and Zeus became afraid after copulating with her because Gaia prophesied that Metis would bear a son that would overpower Zeus; Zeus tricked her (already pregnant with Athena) into turning into a fly and then swallowed her, and Athena was later born fully grown and clothed in armor out of Zeus' head. These myths are not different at all in their underlying meaning.

Athena is the Olympian manifestation of Divine Wisdom itself, born solely of the mind of Zeus through the harnessed power of Phanes-Metis, the Creator.

Modern readers tend to think of Athena emerging from Zeus' head because knowledge and wisdom are centered in the brain, but we have to remember that (iirc) the Greeks didn't know what the brain was for and tended to view the heart as the seat of consciousness. I've read that a better way to interpret Athena's emergence from the head is that the head is the furthest point on the body from the genitals. This symbolizes that the goddess of wisdom is not swayed by passions and emphasizes her nature as a virgin goddess.

I don't remember which source this came from though, so take it with a pinch of salt.

The etymology of the name "Metis" is "wisdom," "skilled," or "craft." It's where Zeus derives the epithet "Mêtieta."

Certainly, the interpretation you give is valid, but as Metis has very specific meanings which refer to intellectual abilities, it's relying on etymology to explain the myth.

cypris wrote: (iirc) the Greeks didn't know what the brain was for and tended to view the heart as the seat of consciousness.

The Egyptians rooted all awareness and the soul itself in the heart. Greek reckoning sometimes did tie the soul to the heart, but the Greeks were well aware of and recognized that thought/wisdom/mental processes derived from the head.