ABSTRACT
When Athena is envisaged today it is frequently as the warrior female, a symbol of qualities such as justice, wisdom and the arts. She is also regarded as an image of nationhood thanks to her role as protectress of ancient cities, above all Athens, where her temple the Parthenon remains the city’s most distinctive landmark. Her image endures in representations of armed females: the likes of Britannia, the Statue of Liberty, and Justice, a statue of whom towers above the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court of England. Representations of the goddess herself are found in many Western cities including my own city, Cardiff, where a bust by William Taylor from 1896 stands on top of a nineteenth-century building in the Hayes. This building was originally a public library, so what the artist was drawing on was her association with learning. Now, incidentally,
it is an arts centre, in which role it continues to be appropriate as a building with an Athena connection.
