Lemnian Athena in the context of "Lemnos"

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⭐ Core Definition: Lemnian Athena

The Lemnian Athena, or Athena Lemnia, was a classical Greek statue of the goddess Athena that stood on the Acropolis of Athens. According to the traveler Pausanias, who visited Athens in the 2nd century CE, the statue was created by Pheidias, a sculptor of the 5th century BCE, and dedicated by the inhabitants of the island of Lemnos. In addition to Pausanias, two other authors of the Roman period, Lucian and Aelius Aristides, mention the statue by name, and it may also be alluded to by Pliny the Elder and the Late Roman rhetorician Himerius. The ancient sources suggest that the statue was greatly admired: Pausanias calls it "the most worth seeing" (θέας μάλιστα ἄξιον) of all of Pheidias's works, and in Lucian's dialogue the answer to the question "Which of Pheidias's works do you praise the most?" is "What other than the goddess of Lemnos?"

Since the 1890s the name "Athena Lemnia" has been associated with a specific ancient statue type, which depicts Athena without a helmet and wearing an aegis diagonally across her breast. This type is known from several Roman copies or free imitations, of which the most important are:

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Lemnian Athena in the context of Athena Promachos

The Athena Promachos (Ἀθηνᾶ Πρόμαχος, "Athena who fights in the front line") was a colossal bronze statue of Athena sculpted by Phidias, which stood between the Propylaea and the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens. Athena was the tutelary deity of Athens and the goddess of wisdom and warriors. Pheidias also sculpted two other figures of Athena on the Acropolis, the huge gold and ivory ("chryselephantine") cult image of Athena Parthenos in the Parthenon and the Lemnian Athena.

The designation Athena Promachos is not attested before a dedicatory inscription of the early fourth century CE; Pausanias (1.28.2) referred to it as "the great bronze Athena" on the Acropolis.

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