Ate

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For other uses, see Ate (disambiguation).

Ate, (in Greek ατή) a Greek word for 'ruin, folly, delusion', is the action performed by the hero, usually because of his/her hubris, or great pride, that leads to his/her death or downfall. There is also a goddess by that name (Até) in Greek mythology, a personification of the same.

In Homer's Iliad she is called eldest daughter of Zeus with no mother mentioned. On Hera's instigation she used her influence over Zeus so that he swore an oath that on that day a mortal descended from him would be born who would be a great ruler. Hera immediately arranged to delay the birth of Heracles and to bring forth Eurystheus prematurely. In anger Zeus threw Ate down to earth forever, forbidding that she ever return to heaven or to Mt. Olympus. Ate then wandered about, treading on the heads of men rather than on the earth, wreaking havoc on mortals.

The Litae ('Prayers') follow after her but Ate is fast and far outruns them.

Apollodorus (3.143) claims that when thrown down by Zeus, Ate landed on a peak in Phrygia called by her name. There Ilus later, following a cow, founded the city of Ilion, that is Troy. This splendid flourish is chronologically at odds with Homer's dating of Ate's fall.

In Hesiod's Theogony the mother of Ate is Eris ('Strife'), with no father mentioned—so one can imagine Ate as daughter of Zeus by Eris if one wishes.

In Nonnos' Dionysiaca (11.113), at Hera's instigation Ate persuades the boy Nathan whom Dionysus passionately loves to impress Dionysus by riding on a bull from which Ampelus subsequently falls and breaks his neck.

In the play Julius Caesar, Shakespeare introduces the goddess Ate as an invocation of vengeance and menace. Mark Antony, lamenting Caesar's murder, envisions "And Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, With Ate' by his side come hot from Hell, Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice Cry "Havoc!" and let slip the dogs of war, ..."