Twilight of the Goddess

SATB and piano

As a kid, Athena was always my favorite in the Greek pantheon, and I think this was largely because she combined extraordinary strength with keen judgement about when to use it.  Because she is the goddess of battle tactics and purposeful war (unlike her half-brother, Ares, who represents the chaos and brutality of war), she is often depicted carrying a spear.  However, her gifts are also deeply intellectual—she is the goddess of wisdom. 

In Grantham’s poem, she is contrasted by her half-brother, Apollo, pulling focus as he rides through the sky in his golden chariot of the sun. Athena needs none of that flash herself but, rather, is content to wait quietly for when her enlightened warrior goddess nature might be needed.  That combination of her regal bearing, her profound sense of justice, and her capacity for ferocity is something I tried to capture in my setting (with a bit of the sun god’s galloping coursers thrown in for good measure).

Twilight of the Goddess was commissioned by Graphite Publishing for the 2025-2026 Commissioning Consortium, which was made up of the ensembles below.  It is dedicated with admiration and gratitude to Nicole Dillon.

  • Abilene High School Choir, Wendy Weeks, conductor; Abilene, TX

  • Angelica Cantanti Youth Choirs, Dr. Joseph Kemper, conductor; Bloomington, MN

  • Appleton East High School Choirs, Dan Van Sickle conductor; Appleton, WI

  • Carolina Voices Festival Singers, Donna Hill, conductor; Charlotte, NC

  • Cherry Creek High School Choirs, Sarah Branton, conductor; Greenwood Village, CO

  • Eastern Washington University Choirs, Kristina Ploeger-Hekmatpanah, conductor; Cheney, WA

  • Eaton Rapids High School, Steven C. Holovach, conductor; Eaton Rapids, MI

  • Flower Mound High School Choir, Lindsay Swartwood, conductor; Flower Mound, TX

  • Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts - Academy Singers, Jackson Hill, conductor; Fort Worth, TX

  • Granbury High School Choir, Kendra Fisher, conductor; Granbury, TX

  • Madison Youth Choirs, Michael Ross, conductor; Madison, WI

  • Mendocino College Choirs, Janice Hawthorne Timm, conductor; Ukiah, CA

  • Minnesota Center Chorale, Jody Martinson, conductor; St. Cloud, MN

  • Oakland Mills High School Choral Program, Edryn Coleman, conductor; Laurel, MD

  • Prior Lake High School Choirs, Rob Hahn and Randi Erlandson, conductors; Prior Lake, MN

  • Tacoma Community College, Anne Lyman, conductor; Tacoma, WA

  • Taylor High School Choirs, Joseph Rivers, conductor; Cleves, OH

  • Texas Lutheran University Choir, Douglas Boyer, conductor; Seguin, TX

  • The Common Voice Community Choir at UMass Lowell/Allies in Music Education, Brianne Biastoff, conductor; Lowell, MA

  • University of Wyoming Civic Chorus, O’Neil Jones, conductor; Laramie, WY

  • Valley Chamber Chorale, Daryl Timmer, conductor; Stillwater, MN

  • Vassar College Choir, Christine Howlett, conductor; Poughkeepsie, NY

  • Whitehall-Yearling High School Choirs, Brian Hathaway, conductor; Whitehall, OH

  • Windy City Performing Arts, Christopher Owen, conductor; Chicago, IL

The Text

In shadows, wisdom
By John L. Grantham (b. 1971)
Based on a photo taken by the poet (see below)

Athena turned ’round her head
like a night owl on the sly
and looked up behind her
as gold Apollo crossed the sky,

riding with his four coursers’
flying gilded manes and hooves.
Their silver flanks and quarters
thunder across the earth’s blue roof.

The rhythm of their beat
stamps a lyric all their own,
blood coursing with the heat
of the sun-disk they all towed.

The she-god of the wise
observes this cloud-streaked scene,
the man-god shining out,
casting shadows ‘round Athene.

Apollo’s path is sinking low
as the winter months advance.
The frost now blurs his glow
and bare forests fall into trance.

It’s in this creeping night
that Athena finds her time.
She draws her wisdom in twilight,
no need for blinding light up high.

For she shines not with a sun.
Instead she lights her own pathway.
By her craft and wits she’ll run
her own trail she blazed today.

———————————

From the poet about his photo that inspired the text (below): “[A] statue of Athena in Park Sanssouci in Potsdam.  She is posed looking over her shoulder, and at the moment I saw the statue, she seemed to be looking at the setting sun.” John regularly posts his poetry—often inspired by his excellent photography—under the pseudonym “Jack Groundhog” here.