Statue of the goddess Athena in Killian Court

Location: Near the entrance to Killian Court
Date: May 18, 2009

Hackers placed a giant statue of the Greek goddess Athena in MIT's Killian Court on the first day of Final Exams. The statue stood atop a large pedestal and carried a shield inscribed with MIT's "Mens et Manus" logo. Athena is the goddess of knowledge, wisdom, heroic endeavor, and strategic warfare, as well as the name of MIT's campus-wide computing system.

This is not the first time the goddess has been associated with Killian Court -- the original architect of MIT's Cambridge campus, William Welles Bosworth, included in the plans a 50-foot tall statue of Athena that would be the centerpiece of the Court. The statue was cut from the construction plans due to an Institute budget crunch in 1913. The statue installed by hackers stood around 20 feet tall, including the pedestal.

No sacrifices to the statue have yet been observed, but the exam period is just beginning as of the time of this writing.

The statue appeared while the Apollo Lunar Module was still on the Great Dome.

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