She is goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill. She is known most specifically for her strategic skill in warfare and is often portrayed as companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of heroic endeavour. Athena was born from Zeus after he experienced an enormous headache and she sprang fully grown and in armour from his forehead. She has no mother but one of the most commonly cited stories is that Zeus lay with Metis , the goddess of crafty thought and wisdom, and then swallowed her whole as he feared she will give birth to a child more powerful than him because of a prophecy — but she had already conceived.
If you use any of the content on this page in your own work, please use the code below to cite this page as the source of the content. Home » Greek Goddesses » Athena. Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War Athena, also referred to as Athene, is a very important goddess of many things. We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits.
However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Read more on our privacy policy here. Cookie Settings Accept All. Manage consent. Close Privacy Overview This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Athena was thus believed to have been born from the head of her father Zeus clothed. She became the favorite daughter of Zeus as she was his first born. Poseidon was one of the Twelve Olympians and was god of the sea, earthquakes, storms and horses.
Poseidon and Athena had a much-publicized quarrel over who deserves to be the patron of the most prosperous ancient Greek city, Athens.
In order to prove their respective worth as a deserving candidate, it was decided that each god would present the city with the gift. Cecrops , the first king of Athens , was the judge of the contest and would determine which gift was better.
Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and a salt water spring sprang up thus giving the Athenians access to trade and water. Athena, on the other hand, offered the Athenians an olive tree. Since the tree brought them wood, oil and food ; the Athenians choose it over the not so useful salty water of the spring. The olive tree later went on to become a symbol of Athenian economic prosperity.
After losing the competition, Poseidon was furious and he sent a monstrous flood to the Attic plain to punish the Athenians. Medusa was a monster, a Gorgon , generally described as a winged human female with living venomous snakes in place of hair.
However, s he was initially a ravishingly beautiful woman who was priestess to the goddess Athena. A requirement for being a priestess to Athena was that the woman should be a virgin.
Medusa was deeply desired by Poseidon and he pursued her to great lengths. Medusa tried to escape him by running to the temple of Athena. Nonetheless, Medusa was found by Poseidon, who went on to rape her on the floor of the temple itself.
After discovering this, Athena was filled with rage. Perseus is the legendary founder of Mycenae, which was one of the major centers of Greek civilization. Athena was particularly fond of courageous youths and helped many heroes in their quests and one of them was Perseus.
When Perseus was sent to kill the Gorgon, Medusa, Athena appeared to him after he set off on his quest and gifted him with tools he would need to kill the Gorgon.
Perseus went to the cave of Medusa while she was sleeping. By viewing h er reflection in his polished shield, he safely approached and cut off her head. This resulted in Chrysaor and Pegasus emerging from her neck. They are considered to be children of Medusa and Poseidon. Pallas was the daughter of Triton , who was messenger of the seas.
The Parthenon at Athens was her most famous shrine. She never had a true lover or someone to hug and hold her; all she had was her loving mother, caring father and most of all her brothers and sisters.
For some very strange reason it was hopeless that she would fall in love; Hephaestus tried once, yet failed. One example of that is in The Odyssey, where Athena assists Odysseus' son Telemachus in finding his father; another is where she gives Perseus the shield he will need to fight Medusa.
Athena's mother was Metis. Metis warned Zeus that if she bore him a boy child, the child would be greater than him. Zeus swallowed her and started having a terrible headache. Then his head split open by an axe from help from Hephestus. Suddenly, Athena came out of his head. Athena came out fully grown, with her symbols the aegis and the famous helmet of Athena. Athena is much like her brother Ares: They are both rulers of war, but she is more of the strategy and quick thinking.
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