to stone,” I know at once that this is the problem she brings to every
relationship. This is why her life lacks intimacy and is often lonely.
When a woman is metaphorically wearing Athena’s armor with the
Medusa aegis on her breastplate, she is not showing any vulnerabil-
ity. Her well-armored (usually intellectual) defenses are up, and her
authority and critical gaze keep others at an emotional distance.
If she is dismayed by the Medusa effect she has on others, an
Athena woman would do well to remember that the Gorgon
breastplate was something Athena put on and could take off. Like-
wise, if an Athena woman “takes off her armor and aegis,” she will
no longer have a Medusa effect. Her Medusa aegis is gone when she
no longer sits in judgment on others, inwardly claiming the authority
to validate or invalidate the way other people feel or think or live.
When she becomes aware that she has something to learn from
people and something to share with them, and thus is involved as
a peer, she will have shed her Gorgon breastplate and the Medusa
effect.
CRAFTINESS: “DO WHATEVER WORKS”
The Athena woman with an objective to reach or a problem to
solve is concerned almost exclusively with the questions “How can
I do it?” and “Will it work?” She can be “crafty” or unscrupulous
in achieving her goals or defeating her rivals.
This craftiness was characteristic of the goddess Athena. For ex-
ample, in the climactic confrontation of the Trojan War between the
Greek hero Achilles and the more noble Trojan hero Hector, Athena
used decidedly “dirty tactics” to help Achilles win. She deceived
Hector into believing that his brother was at his side as his spear
carrier when he faced Achilles. Then, after he had hurled his only
spear and had turned to get another from his “brother,” Hector
discovered that he was alone and knew his end was near.
The goddess did not concern herself with asking “Is this fair?” or
“Is this moral?” What mattered was that it was an effective strategy.
The dark side of an Athena woman is related to this aspect of Athena.
When she assesses other people’s behavior, effectiveness is the
main criterion. It is not part of her thinking nature to be concerned
with feeling values such as right and wrong, or
Athena: Goddess of Wisdom Growing beyond the confining