So today I got this idea floating in my head after reading this ancient myth to my kid at bedtime – you know, that story where Athena and Poseidon are battling it out to become the patron god of this city, each giving a gift. Athena throws down an olive tree, Poseidon whacks the ground and brings forth... saltwater. The city folks pick the olive tree, obviously, naming the place Athens. But later, I'm washing dishes and got wondering: which gift was actually better? Felt like pulling that question apart.
First Thing I Did: Digging Up the Deets
Before I could decide who won the gift-off, I needed the facts straight. Didn't wanna just rely on memory. So I grabbed my laptop and searched online for all the different versions of this old myth. Turns out, there's a few ways the story gets told! Some said Poseidon offered a spring, others said he made the first horse pop up instead of water. The details matter, right? I copied all this stuff down in my big, messy notebook – dates of the myths, who told them, the works.
Then, I tried to think about what those gifts really meant back then, not just what they seem like to us now snacking on olives.
Putting Them Head-to-Head
Okay, time for the showdown. I got a pack of sticky notes – different colors – and started listing things out.
- What Athena's Olive Tree gave: Food (olives, oil!), Wood for building stuff or burning, Medicine apparently? Also this big thing: Peace. Like, you don't just grab an axe and chop a tree overnight; you gotta settle down, plant it, wait years. It's a long game.
- What Poseidon's Salt Water Spring / Horse gave: If it's salt water, that's kinda... useless for drinking or crops? But wait – Salt was super valuable back then to keep food from rotting! So maybe that was the point? Was it about salt? The horse version? That meant Speed, Power, War. Also, Trade potential using horses? Strong, but war vibes, man.
I made this little table on another sticky-note page:
Gift Breakdown:
- Athena (Olive Tree): Direct Food/Wood/Medicine, Symbol of Peace & Prosperity, Slow Growth = Stability.
- Poseidon (Salt Spring/Horse): Potential Resource (Salt) OR Mighty Animal, Symbol of War/Strength/Power, Immediate Impact.
Putting it all out like this really showed how different these gifts were. Like, totally different vibes and purposes.
Letting the Family Pick a Side
Figured why not? I dragged my partner and kid into the argument. We sat at the kitchen table. I laid out my sticky-note mess – the lists, the table. "Okay team," I said, "Imagine you're an ancient Greek villager. What gift helps you survive better long-term?"
- The Kid (8 years old): "The horse! Horses are cool. You could ride it!" Pure immediate coolness factor.
- The Partner (Practical): "Food. Every single day. Oil for cooking and lamps? Wood that regrows? Medicine? The tree wins easily. Salt? Useful, but you gotta find the rest still. A horse? Great, now you gotta feed it." Pointed out the ongoing cost.
Partner's argument nailed it for me too. Poseidon’s gifts felt either flashy-but-useless (bad water), useful-but-limited (salt), or powerful-but-costly (horse needs food!). Athena’s was the ultimate long-term investment – self-sustaining food, resources, stability.
So Who Gave the Better Gift?
Going through this whole process – digging up the story, breaking down the gifts piece by piece, seeing what mattered for survival back then – it became super clear.
Athena gave something that could sustain a whole community for generations. It wasn't flashy, it wasn't instant, but it built a foundation for peace and life to actually flourish. Poseidon’s gifts? They kinda depended on what specific myth you're reading, but even then, they were either impractical or geared towards conflict and might.
The winner? Athena. Hands down. Understanding why – beyond the obvious "olives taste better than saltwater" – felt really satisfying. It was a practical thing wrapped in an old story. Kinda neat how those ancient folks saw the world.
Ended up planting an olive tree sapling in my backyard after this. Seems like a solid gift to the future, you know?
