In Greek mythology, Ate (grc|Ἄτη|Átē|Delusion, Recklessness, Folly, Ruin)[1] is the personification of moral blindness and error. She could blind the mind of both gods and men leading them astray. Ate was banished from Olympus by Zeus for blinding him to Hera's trickery denying Heracles his birthright. Homer calls Ate the daughter of Zeus, while Hesiod has Ate as the daughter of Eris (Strife).[2]
Like all the children of Eris (Strife), Ate is a personified abstraction, allegorizing the meaning of her name, and represents one of the many harms which might be thought to result from discord and strife.[3] The meaning of her name, the Greek word atē (ἄτη), is difficult to define.[4] Atē is a verbal noun of the verb aáō (ἀάω).[5] According to The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, aáō means to "lead astray", "befuddle", "blind", or "delude",[6] while ἄτη can mean: (1) the state of "delusion, infatuation (inflicted on a person's mind by a god, esp Zeus)", (2) "reckless behavior ... recklessness, folly", and (3) "ruin, calamity, harm".[7] As informed by the meanings and usage of the unpersonified atē, personified Ate can apparently represent any part (or all?) of the causal sequence: (1) a blinding or clouding of the mind - causing (2) ill-considered and reckless actions - causing (3) the ruin such actions entail.[8] She is thought of as being the instigator of delusion and its resulting destruction.[9]
Beyond being a mere personification, Ate has little actual identity.[10] In the Iliad, Agamemnon, the leader of Greek expedition against Troy, tells the story of Ate's deception of Zeus, and her subsequent banishment from Olympus, an etiological myth supposedly explaining how Ate entered the world of men.[11] As told by Agamemnon, Hera tricked Zeus into swearing an oath that resulted in Zeus' son Heracles losing the birthright Zeus had intended for him. Zeus blamed Ate for clouding his mind causing him not to see Hera's deception. In great anger Zeus grabbed Ate by the hair and flung her from Mount Olympus, and thereby Ate came to inhabit the "fields of men".[12] According to the mythographer Apollodorus, when Ate was thrown down by Zeus, Ate landed in Phrygia at a place called "the hill of the Phrygian Ate", where the city of Troy was founded.[13] The Hellenistic poet Lycophron, in his Alexandra, also mentions the place calling it "the high Hill of Doom [Ate]".[14]
Homer's Iliad calls Ate the eldest daughter of Zeus, with no mother mentioned.[15] However, Hesiod's Theogony has Ate as one of the several children of Eris (Strife), with no father mentioned. Her syblings include (among several others) her brothers Horkos (Oath), and the Machai (Wars), and sisters Limos (Famine), and Dysnomia (Lawlessness).[16] Aeschylus, in his tragedy Agamemnon, has the Chorus call Peitho "the unendurable child of scheming Ruin [Ate]".[17]
Ate is closely associated with Zeus. In the Iliad, Ate is called the "eldest" daughter of Zeus, an apparent indication of her power and her importance to Zeus.[18] Ate (or the impersonal atē) is often referred to as the agent (or instrument) of Zeus' divine retribution.[19] In the Iliad, Zeus is begged to send Ate so that the denier of "Prayers ... may fall and pay full recompense."[20] Although Agamemnon blames Ate for blinding him (which led to his dishonoring Achilles), he also says that it was Zeus (via Ate?) who robbed him of his senses.[21] According to Hesiod, Zeus never sends war, nor famine, nor "calamity [''atē'']" to those who honor Justice,[22] while Solon says that "Zeus sends [''atē''] to punish" men.[23]
Ate also appears as an agent of Zeus' justice in Aeschylus's tragic trilogy the Oresteia. In Agamemnon, the first play of the trilogy, Ate is linked with Helen of Troy, and Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra, both of whom act as agents of Zeus' retribution. Helen, who plays an instrumental role in Zeus' punishment of Troy, is likened to a "priest" of Ate, while Clytemnestra, who, by killing Agamemnon, is the direct instrument of Zeus' punishment, says that she did so with the aid of "Ruin [Ate]". In the Libation Bearers, the second play of the Oresteia, Aeschylus describes Zeus as one who sends Ate to avenge "reckless human violence!"[24]
Personified Ate occurs several times in Greek literature, from the Archaic through the Classical periods.[25]
In Homer, atē is something inflicted by the gods; it causes delusion, then folly, then disaster.[26] Ate, as the personification of atē, receives its fullest development in Homer's Iliad, his epic poem about the Trojan War.[27] However, to what extent Homer may have considered Ate to be an actual divinity as opposed to a mere allegory is unclear.[28] The references to the goddess in the Iliad revolve around Agamemnon's folly in having robbed Achilles, the Greeks greatest warrior, of his war prize, the slave Briseis, and Achilles' subsequent refusal to fight, which brought the Greeks to the brink of defeat. While the concept of atē is a central theme in the Iliad,[29] occurring many times, Ate, as the personification of atē, is explicitly found in just two speeches, one in Book 9, and the other in Book 19.[30]
During the embassy to Achilles in Book 9, Achilles' old tutor Phoenix, trying to persuade Achilles to accept Agamemnon's offer of reparations, and return to battle, tells the following parable in which the "fleet of foot" Ate ("Blindness") outruns "halting" Prayers:[31]
In this allegory, Ate appears twice. First Ate causes damage to human beings. Then Prayers follow after Ate to repair her damage. But if the repair offered by Prayers is rejected (in this case if Achilles rejects Agamemnon's appeal) then Ate appears again as the punishment for such rejections. Ate both runs in front of Prayers, and when Prayers are refused, Ate also follows close behind.[32] These two appearances can also be seen as examples of the Homeric Ate's dual role, as both cause and effect. Here Ate is both the cause of the original offense (Agamemnon's insult to Achilles), and the disastrous consequences which would (and will) follow from Achilles' refusal of Agamemnon's attempt to make amends.[33]
In Book 19, Agamemnon attempts to excuse himself for having taken Briseis from Achilles, by blaming the "accursed" Ate (among others) for blinding his mind:[34]
Phoenix's speech in Book 9 and Agamemnon's in Book 19 reveal different aspects of Ate's nature. The first emphasizes Ate's strength and speed, and her use by Zeus to punish (in this case, those who disregard Prayers). The second describes Ate's soft feet, walking not on the ground, but above the "heads of men", where, apparently unnoticed, she brings "men to harm".[35]
To further excuse his conduct,[36] Agamemnon tells the story - as an illustration of Ate's great power[37] - of how:
According to Agamemnon, when Alcmene was about to give birth to Zeus's son Heracles, Zeus, in his great pride, boasted that on that day would be born a man, of Zeus's blood, who would be king of the Argives. But Hera tricked Zeus into swearing an unbreakable oath such that whatever man, of Zeus's blood, born that day would be king. Then Hera delayed the birth of Heracles, and caused Eurystheus, the great grandson of Zeus, to be born prematurely, and thus Heracles lost the birthright Zeus had intended for him. Zeus (like Agamemnon) blamed Ate for blinding him to Hera's trickery.[38] As punishment, an enraged Zeus:
Hesiod presented Ate as one of the several offspring of Eris, all of whom were personifications representing some of the many harms which can arise out of discord and strife.[39] Hesiod particular associates Ate with her sister Dysnomia (Lawlessness). While listing the children of Eris, he lists both on the same line (230) of his Theogony and says they are "much like one another".[40]
In a passage in his Works and Days (213 - 285), Hesiod describes various relationships between several personifications, including Ate. The passage, which discusses the superiority of Dike (Justice) over Hybris, also mentions Eirene (Peace), who attends those who "heed" Dike (228), and Ate's brother Horkos (Oath), who "runs along side crooked judgements" (219).[41] In particular Hesiod associates Ate with "war", which might refer to Ate's brothers, the Machai (Wars), and her sister Limos (Famine) as all being punishments for those who "foster" Hybris:[42]