Mark of Athena

Athens! The city where the Parthenon perches atop the Acropolis! Since I'm and art nerd you know I can't help put put some art history in here, so skip over this to the nail art if it doesn't interest you :). The city of Athens was named after the Greek goddess Athena, as many people know. Athena was the goddess of wisdom and military tactics. She was also an eternal maiden, meaning she remained a virgin. When she had children they were literally a brain child, they came out of her head (like how she came out of Zeus's head) as a gift to the men she admired. This earned her the name Athena Parthenos: Virgin Athena. The Athenians held modesty and virginity as important traits in a woman, so this is why they not only named their city after her (which in mythology was a scorn on Poseidon and is why Poseidon and Athena hate each other) but the Parthenon gets it's name from her too. It is a temple to her, after all. The Parthenon used to have a large marble and gold gilded statue of Athena, but it was stolen by the Romans and lost forever. In mythology it is called the Mark of Athena, and is considered when the power of the west shifted from the Greeks to the Romans. It is said that Athena in her Greek and Roman form (Minerva) would task her demigod children with finding her lost mark to regain her powers (the Romans had made her much less powerful and admired). They always ended up dying in some way or getting lost forever, because what's a Greek Tragedy without the tragedy? Another symbol for Athena was the owl, characterized for it's wisdom. So that is what I have painted on my nails.

This owl was actually inspired by the sweater made by Evelina Barry, one of my favorite Youtubers. You can check out her diy video here.

I used:

Maybelline Onyx Rush

Sally Hansen Brisk Blue

Sally Hansen Cobalt Blue 

Essie In  the Cab-ana

Venique Rolling Tides