Events Schedule

Lecture 3: Goddess in a Business Suit:

Athena, Archetype of the Woman Professional.

Presenter: Author Tim Ward (Savage Breast, Arousing the Goddess, What the Buddha Never Taught)
Length: 60-90 minutes

The Greek Goddess of War and Reason, Athena -- strong, intelligent, ready to fight for her cause -- seems the perfect archetype for the modern professional woman. Like the goddess who as born by bursting through the head of Zeus, women in recent decades have indeed burst through patriarchal Western culture and into the public domain. Yet the glass ceiling remains, as does sexual harassment and unequal pay. Even the president of Harvard University has publicly speculated about the deficiencies of women in leadership positions in math and science. A closer look at Athena can tell us much about the unconscious forces at work today in both men and woman as we adapt to the increasing power and voice of women. How will the resurrection of the spirit of Athena in living women affect our relationships, marriages, and children?

"Athena can be seen as a goddess of skillful adaptation, one who twists her strength into the male mold in order to wield power in an environment that's often hostile to women. Athena, after all, is the only deity Zeus trusts enough to allow her to hurl his thunderbolt. But like that thunderbolt, much of women’s power in today’s world is still derived from men, and it is still used to carry out men’s purposes....Like Athena, women can most easily succeed in politics, business, science and academia by playing a man’s game in what remains a man’s world. So, while modern women may find in Athena a way to burst into the world of men, they can easily be trapped in their armor and in their role in the service of Zeus."

Author Tim Ward, Savage Breast, One Man's Search for the Goddess

Questions for discussion:

• What causes a woman, consciously or unconsciously, to emulate Athena?


• What triggers a man's projection of the Athena archetype onto a woman?


• Athena's relationships with other women


• Athena's strategies for exerting influence over men


• Men's responses to Athena in the workplace--is she really "one of the boys?"


• Does Athena work towards female solidarity, or against it?


• How can professional women evolve beyond the Athena archetype