Editing Ate (mythology) (section)

==Ancient Greek sources==
Personified Ate occurs several times in Greek literature, from the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic]] through the [[Classical Greece|Classical]] periods.<ref>Whether to capitalize ''atē'' or its translation, to indicate personification or not, is an editorial choice made "according to the degree of prsonification suggested by the phrase." (West 1978, p. 210 on 213 Δικης). So "occurs" here means the capitalization of the word by the editor/translator being cited, while at the same time understanding that, according to Padel, [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/181/mode/2up p. 181]: "orthography makes no difference to how she [Ate] operates".  For discussions of the use of both Ate, and the much more frequently occurring ''atē'' (particularly as used in Homer and Greek tragedy), see: Dodds, pp. 2&ndash;8, 37&ndash;41; Doyle 1984; Padel, [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/167/mode/2up pp. 167&ndash;196]  (Chapters 16, 17, 18), [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/249/mode/2up pp. 249&ndash;259] (Appendix); Sommerstein 2013.</ref>

===Homer===
In Homer, ''atē'' is something inflicted by the gods; it causes delusion, then folly, then disaster.<ref>Sommerstein, p. 3; Padel, p. [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/9/mode/2up 9].</ref> Ate, as the personification of atē, receives its fullest development in [[Homer]]'s'' [[Iliad]]'', his epic poem about the [[Trojan War]].<ref>Cairns, p. 24; Padel [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/182/mode/2up p. 182].</ref> However, to what extent Homer may have considered Ate to be an actual divinity as opposed to a mere allegory is unclear.<ref>Dodds, [https://archive.org/details/greeksirrational0000dodd_n4g5/page/5/mode/2up?view=theater p. 5], describes the instances of the personification of ''atē'' in the ''Iliad'' as "transparent pieces of allegory". Cairns, pp. 24&ndash;25, calls Ate an ''ad hoc'' Homeric invention, and says that it is only for the purposes of the argument Homer is presenting that "Atē is actually a goddess". Coray, p. 59 on 95&ndash;133, says that it is an open question "whether Ate is a Homeric creation". Padel, [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/169/mode/2up p. 169], notes that such modern distinctions between, for example "concrete and metaphorical", may have little meaning for Homer, and, [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/181/mode/2up p. 181], that "Homer personifies ''atē'' twice. Here, according to conventions of scholarship and poetry which imitates Greek, we start calling her Ate. But orthography makes no difference to how she operates".</ref> 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'',<ref>Cairns, p. 45.</ref> 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.<ref>For discussions of Ate (and ''atē'') in Homer see: Padel, [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/174/mode/2up pp. 167&ndash;187] (Chapters 16, 17); Cairns 2012.</ref>

====Allegory of the Prayers====
During the embassy to Achilles in Book 9, Achilles' old tutor [[Phoenix (son of Amyntor)|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" [[Litae|Prayers]]:<ref>Padel, [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/180/mode/2up p. 181]; Rose and Dietrich, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.897 s.v. Ate]; Dräger, [https://referenceworks-brill-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/display/entries/NPOE/e205210.xml s.v. Ate]. For a discussion of the so-called "Parable of the Prayers", see: Held 1987, Yamagata 2005.</ref>

{{blockquote|For Prayers there are as well, the daughters of great Zeus, halting and wrinkled and of eyes askance, and they are ever mindful to follow in the steps of Blindness. But Blindness is strong and fleet of foot, so she far outruns them all, and goes before them over all the earth making men to fall, and Prayers follow after, seeking to heal the hurt. Now him who will respect the daughters of Zeus, when they draw near, him they greatly benefit, and hear him when he prays; but if a man denies them and stubbornly refuses, then they go and beg Zeus, son of Cronos, that Blindness may follow that man so that he may fall and pay full recompense.|[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/homer-iliad/1924/pb_LCL170.431.xml 9.502&ndash;512]; translation by A.T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt}}

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.<ref>Padel, pp. [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/174/mode/2up 174], [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/181/mode/2up 181], which sees Ate here as part what Padel calls "Homers damage-chain": mental damage, causing a bad act, causing damage in the world, with Ate occupying both the front and back of this causal chain.</ref> 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.<ref>Cairns, pp. 14&ndash;15; 25&ndash;27; 46&ndash;56.</ref>

====Agamemnon's apology====
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:<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA31 p. 31]; Dodds, [https://archive.org/details/greeksirrational0000dodd_n4g5/page/2/mode/2up?view=theater pp. 2&ndash;3]. For a detailed commentary on Book 19 see Coray 2016.</ref>

{{blockquote|It is not I who am at fault, but Zeus and Fate and Erinys, that walks in darkness, since in the place of assembly they cast on my mind fierce blindness [''atē''] on that day when on my own authority I took from Achilles his prize. But what could I do? It is a god that brings all things to their end. Eldest daughter of Zeus is Ate who blinds all&mdash; accursed one; delicate are her feet, for it is not the ground that she touches, but she walks over the heads of men, bringing men to harm, and this one or that she ensnares.|[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/homer-iliad/1924/pb_LCL171.341.xml 19.86&ndash;94]; translation by A.T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt}}

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".<ref>Coray, p. 55 on 91&ndash;94.</ref>

To further excuse his conduct,<ref>Coray, pp. 50&ndash;51 on 86b&ndash;138.</ref> Agamemnon tells the story&mdash;as an illustration of Ate's great power<ref>Held, p. 253.</ref>&mdash;of how:
{{blockquote|[Ate] once even blinded Zeus, though men say that he is the greatest among men and gods;|[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/homer-iliad/1924/pb_LCL171.341.xml 19.95&ndash;96]; translation by A.T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt}}

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.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA31 p. 31]; Gantz, p. 10; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D19%3Acard%3D74 19.95&ndash;124]. For a description of the parallel structure between the preceding section of the ''Iliad'' and this section, showing the links Agamemnon is trying to make between himself and Zeus, see Coray, p. 51 on 86b&ndash;138.</ref> As punishment, an enraged Zeus:

{{blockquote|seized Ate by her bright-tressed head,<ref>According to Coray, p. 72 on 126&ndash;127 'shining hair', such language implying "carefully coiffed hair, gleaming with the oil used to care for it, is a mark of a refined appearance ... and is part of Ate’s alluring look".</ref> angered in his mind, and swore a mighty oath that never again to Olympus and the starry heaven should Ate come, who blinds all. So said he, and whirling her in his hand flung her from the starry heaven, and quickly she came to the tilled fields of men. At thought of her would he ever groan when he saw his dear son in disgraceful toil at Eurystheus’ tasks.|[[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:19.114-19.153 19.126&ndash;133]; translation by A.T. Murray, revised by William F. Wyatt}}

===Hesiod===
[[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.<ref>Hard, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA31 p. 31].</ref> Hesiod particular associates Ate with her sister [[Dysnomia (deity)|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".<ref>West 1966, p. 232 on 230 Δυσνομίην τ’ Ἄτην τε; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-theogony/2018/pb_LCL057.21.xml 230]. The phrase "much like one another" might apply to ''all'' the previously listed children of Eris, however according to Doyle, [https://archive.org/details/atitsusemeanings00doyl/page/24/mode/2up p. 25], the usual interpretation is that the phrase applies just to Dysnomia and Ate.</ref>

In a passage in his ''[[Works and Days]]'' (213&ndash;285), Hesiod describes various relationships between several personifications, including Ate. The passage, which discusses the superiority of [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]] (Justice) over [[Hybris (mythology)|Hybris]], also mentions [[Eirene (goddess)|Eirene]] (Peace), who attends those who "heed" Dike (228), and Ate's brother [[Horkos]] (Oath), who "runs along side crooked judgements" (219).<ref>West 1978, p. 209 on 213&ndash;85 The superiority of Dike over Hybris; [[Hesiod]], ''[[Works and Days]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-works_days/2018/pb_LCL057.105.xml 213&ndash;231].</ref> 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:<ref>Rose and Dietrich, [https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780199381135.013.897 s.v. Ate]; compare [[Solon]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/solon-fragments/1999/pb_LCL258.113.xml fr. 4 Gerber] [= fr. 4 West = fr. 3 GP], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/solon-fragments/1999/pb_LCL258.115.xml 30&ndash;35] [= [[Demosthenes]], ''On the Embassy'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/demosthenes-orations_xix_de_falsa_legatione/1926/pb_LCL155.413.xml 19.255.33&ndash;38]], where "Lawfulness <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Eunomia]]<nowiki>]</nowiki>, weakens insolence [hybris], and dries up the blooming flowers of ruin [''atē'']".</ref>
{{blockquote|give heed to Justice <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Dike (mythology)|Dike]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> and do not foster Outrageousness <nowiki>[</nowiki>[[Hybris (mythology)|Hybris]]<nowiki>]</nowiki> ... [since for those who do] far-seeing Zeus never marks out painful war; nor does famine [''limos''] attend straight-judging men, nor calamity [''atē''], but they share out in festivities the fruits of the labors they care for.<ref>Although Most's Greek text chooses not to capitalize ''limos'' or ''atē'' here, West 1978, p. 106 ls. 230&ndash;231, does.</ref>|[[Hesiod]], ''[[Works and Days]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/hesiod-works_days/2018/pb_LCL057.105.xml 213&ndash;231]; translation by Glenn W. Most}}

=== Aeschylus===
Among the tragic poets, the use of ''atē'' and (thus) Ate is somewhat different than it is in the ''Iliad''.<ref>For discussion of tragic usage see Doyle 1984; Padel, pp. [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/188/mode/2up 188&ndash;196] (Chapter 18), [https://archive.org/details/whomgodsdestroye0000ruth/page/249/mode/2up 249&ndash;259] (Appendix); Sommerstein 2013.</ref> In both Homer and tragedy, ''atē'' can be used to mean the original delusion as well as the resulting destruction. However, while Homer was more focused on the former,<ref>Sommerstein 2013, p. 4, which notes that, although Homer is ''more'' focused on the beginning of the ''atē''-process, "the end is always kept in mind: a mental aberration which does not have catastrophic consequences is not called ''atē''".</ref> tragedy became more focused on the latter. In tragedy, ''atē'' came to be less associated with internal damage: a damaged mind, and more with external damage: ruin, disaster, destruction.<ref>Sommerstein 2013, pp. 5, 9; Doyle, [https://archive.org/details/atitsusemeanings00doyl/page/n13/mode/2up p. 1].</ref> Here, Ate can be seen as an avenger of evil actions and a just punisher of evil actors, similar to [[Nemesis]] and the [[Erinyes]] (Furies).<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D51%3Aentry%3Date-bio-1 s.v. Ate].</ref>

Ate was particularly prominent in the plays of [[Aeschylus]],<ref>Sommerstein, p. 5; Doyle, [https://archive.org/details/atitsusemeanings00doyl/page/90/mode/2up p. 90 n. 1].</ref> and less so in the later tragedians such as Euripides, where the idea of [[Dike (mythology)|Dike]] (Justice) becomes more fully developed.<ref>Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D51%3Aentry%3Date-bio-1 s.v. Ate].</ref> Personified Ate appears several times in Aeschylus' tragedy [[Oresteia|''Agamemnon'']], where she is called "scheming", and made the mother of an "unendurable child", the "miserable" [[Peitho]] (Temptation).<ref>Sommerstein, p. 7; [[Aeschylus]], [[Oresteia|''Agamemnon'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_agamemnon/2009/pb_LCL146.47.xml 385&ndash;386].</ref> Aeschylus also associates Ate with divine retribution: Zeus' punishment inflicted on [[Troy]] for [[Paris]]'s abduction of [[Helen of Troy|Helen]]. In a long speech about Helen,<ref>[[Aeschylus]], [[Oresteia|''Agamemnon'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_agamemnon/2009/pb_LCL146.81.xml 681&ndash;781]. For a discussions of this stasimon see Scott, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YAedAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA51 pp. 51&ndash;56]; Otis, [https://archive.org/details/cosmostragedyess0000otis/page/32/mode/2up pp. 32&ndash;34].</ref> the Chorus likens her to a lion cub raised as a loved and loving pet which ends up savagely killing those who raised it, the cub (and by extension Helen) being reared, by divine intent, as a "priest" of Ate.<ref>Scott, [https://books.google.com/books?id=YAedAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA54 p. 54]; Otis, [https://archive.org/details/cosmostragedyess0000otis/page/32/mode/2up p. 33]; [[Aeschylus]], [[Oresteia|''Agamemnon'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_agamemnon/2009/pb_LCL146.87.xml 736].</ref> The Chorus goes on to describe Ate as:
{{poemquote|the deity with whom none can war or fight,
the unholy arrogance
of Ruin [Ate], black for the house|[[Aeschylus]], [[Oresteia|''Agamemnon'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_agamemnon/2009/pb_LCL146.89.xml 769&ndash;771]; translation by Alan H. Sommerstein}}

In the final scene of the play, [[Clytemnestra]], with bloody sword and clothes, emerges from the palace to reveal that she has killed her husband Agamemnon, in retribution for his having killed their daughter [[Iphigenia]].<ref>[[Aeschylus]], [[Oresteia|''Agamemnon'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_agamemnon/2009/pb_LCL146.167.xml 1372].</ref> She describes her act as the "Justice" [Dike] due for the killing of Iphigenia, and that she was aided by "Ruin" [Ate] and "Fury" [Eryns].<ref>[[Aeschylus]], [[Oresteia|''Agamemnon'']] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_agamemnon/2009/pb_LCL146.175.xml 1432&ndash;1433].</ref>

In Aeschylus's [[Oresteia|''Libation Bearers'']], Ate is explicitly said to be the agent of Zeus' justice:
{{poemquote|Zeus, Zeus,<ref>Probably referring to Hades, see Sommerstein 2009, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_libation_bearers/2009/pb_LCL146.261.xml p. 261 n. 85].</ref> who sends up from below
avenging ruin [Ate] soon or late,
against audacious, reckless
human violence!|[[Aeschylus]], [[Oresteia|''Libation Bearers'']], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_libation_bearers/2009/pb_LCL146.261.xml 382&ndash;385]; translation by Alan H. Sommerstein}}

Ate also occurs twice in Aeschylus' ''[[The Persians|Persians]]''. At the beginning of the play, the Chorus of Persian elders voice their foreboding on their war with Greece:
{{poemquote|But what mortal man can escape
the guileful deception of a god?
...
For Ruin [Ate] begins by fawning on a man in a friendly way
and leads him astray into her net,
from which it is impossible for a mortal to escape and flee.|[[Aeschylus]], ''[[The Persians|Persians]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-persians/2009/pb_LCL145.25.xml 93&ndash;101]; translation by Alan H. Sommerstein}}

Ate here represents both cause and effect. She begins by deceiving and misleading mortals, and ends by the mortals being caught in ''her'' inescapable net.<ref>Sommerstein, p. 7.</ref> While, at the end of the play, Aeschylus returns to his typical focus of Ate as disastrous consequence, having the Chorus lament their devastating defeat: "What an evil eye Ruin [Ate] has cast upon us!"<ref>[[Aeschylus]], ''[[The Persians|Persians]]'', [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-persians/2009/pb_LCL145.125.xml 1007].</ref>

At the end of the battle in Aeschylus's ''[[Seven Against Thebes (play)|Seven Against Thebes]]'', Ate's "trophy" stands at the gate of Thebes where both of [[Orestes]]' sons have died killing each other in battle, representing the final victory of the "powers of destruction" over the cursed House of [[Laius]].<ref>Sommerstein 2009, [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-oresteia_libation_bearers/2009/pb_LCL146.255.xml p. 255 n. 143]; [[Aeschylus]], [[Seven Against Thebes (play)|Seven Against Thebes]] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/aeschylus-seven_thebes/2009/pb_LCL145.255.xml 954&ndash;960].</ref>

===Other===
There are several other references to Ate in ancient Greek sources. A fragment attributed to one of the two lyric poets of early sixth-century Lesbos:
[[Sappho]] or [[Alcaeus]], refers to Ate as "insatiable".<ref>[[Sappho]] or [[Alcaeus]], 
[https://www.loebclassics.com/view/sappho_alcaeus_lyric_poet-fragments/1982/pb_LCL142.453.xml fr. 25B].</ref> A fragment of the fifth-century BC philosopher [[Empedocles]] refers to the "meadow of Ate", which probably signifies the mortal world.<ref>Dodds, [https://archive.org/details/greeksirrational0000dodd_n4g5/page/174/mode/2up?view=theater p. 174]; [[Empedocles]] [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/empedocles-doctrine/2016/pb_LCL528.375.xml fr. D24 Laks-Most] [= B121 Diels-Krantz].</ref> The fifth-century BC Greek epic poet [[Panyassis]] associated Ate (along with [[Hybris (mythology)|Hybris]], the personification of insolence) with excessive drinking.  According to Panyassis, the first round of wine, is for the [[Graces]] (the goddesses of beauty), [[Horae]] (the goddesses of good order), and [[Dionysus]] (the god of wine), while the second round, is for [[Aphrodite]] (goddess of love), and Dionysus again. But the third round is when "[[Hybris (mythology)|Hybris]] and Ate take their unlovely turn", bringing "good hospitality to a bad end".<ref>[[Panyassis]], [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/panyassis-heraclea/2003/pb_LCL497.207.xml fr. 20 West]; compare with [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/panyassis-heraclea/2003/pb_LCL497.211.xml fr 22 West].</ref>

In his third-century BC epic poem the ''[[Argonautica]]'', about the adventures of [[Jason]] and the [[Argonauts]], [[Apollonius of Rhodes]] has [[Hera]] say that "even the gods are sometimes visited by Ate".<ref>[[Apollonius of Rhodes]], ''[[Argonautica]]'' 4.817; English translation: Rieu, [https://archive.org/details/voyageofargoargo00apol/page/168/mode/2up p. 169].</ref> In [[Nonnus]]'s fifth-century AD epic poem ''[[Dionysiaca]]'', in order to gratify Hera, Ate persuades the boy [[Ampelos|Ampelus]] whom [[Dionysus]] passionately loves, to impress Dionysus by riding on a bull from which Ampelus subsequently falls and breaks his neck.<ref>[[Nonnus]], ''[[Dionysiaca]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/nonnos-dionysiaca/1940/pb_LCL344.367.xml 11.113 ff.]</ref> In [[Quintus Smyrnaeus]]'s in his third-century AD ''[[Posthomerica]]'', associates Ate with the punishment of insolence:
{{blockquote|Lesser men should beware of insulting their kings either face-to-face or behind their backs: the result is terrible wrath. Justice does exist: Ruin [Ate], who brings mortals misery upon misery, punishes an insolent tongue.|[[Quintus Smyrnaeus]], ''[[Posthomerica]]'' [https://www.loebclassics.com/view/quintus_smyrnaeus-fall_troy/2018/pb_LCL019.69.xml 1.751&ndash;754]; translation by Neil Hopkinson}}