Why is Athena Glaukopis?
„The air they called Athena, as the name is translated. They considered her to be the daughter of Zeus and conceived of her as a virgin, because of the fact that the air is by its nature uncorrupted and occupies the highest part of the entire universe. For the latter reason also the myth arose that she was born from the head of Zeus. … They add that she is also called Glaukopis, not because she has blue (γλαυκόσ) eyes, as some Greeks have held – a silly explanation, for sure – but because the air has a bluish cast.” (Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 1.12.7-8).
„The grey (γλαυκός) colour [of Athena's eyes] points to the same kind of thing: for the strongest wild animals, such as leopards and lions, are grey-eyed, their flashing gaze hard to return. But some say that Athena was made like this because the aether is grey. … Snakes, like the owl, are associated with her because their eyes, which are grey, have some similarity with hers: for the snake has a terrifying way of looking. … The olive is her gift because it is evergreen, and because it is somewhat grey.” Cornutus, Greek Theology 20.36-38) + „He [Zeus] is crowned with olive because olive is evergreen, lustrous, and useful for many things; or because of the similarity of its grey colour to heaven.” (Cornutus, Greek Theology 9.9).
„But when I saw that the statue of Athena had blue (γλαυκός) eyes I found out that the legend about them is Libyan. For the Libyans have a saying that the Goddess is the daughter of Poseidon and Lake Tritonis, and for this reason has blue eyes like Poseidon.” (Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.14.6)
„Eustathius could not make up his mind, either. His longest discussion rejected the idea of colour. Athene was γλαυκῶπις not because of the colour of her eyes, but because her gaze was terrible, like that of lions and basilisks. On the other hand, the word was used to indicate her relationship with Zeus. …” (P.G. Maxwell-Stuart, Studies in Greek Colour Terminology: Volume 1. γλαυκός)
