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Quotation1 "You wish to be called righteous rather than act right." Quotation2
Athena's words of wisdom.


Athena or Athene is a major female deity in the ancient Greek pantheon, she is the virgin goddess of wisdom, warfare and handicraft and a member of The Twelve Olympians.

Genealogy and Family[]

Athena is the favourite daughter of Zeus, the Olympian god of the sky, rain, lightning, thunder, law and order and the King of the Gods, her mother is one of Zeus' earliest allies and lovers- Metis, an elder Oceanid and the Titan Goddess of intelligence, prudence and deep thought. Athena is the granddaughter of the Titans, Cronus, Rhea, Oceanus and Tethys.

Athena has many half-siblings from her father such as her brothers: Apollo, Ares, Hephaestus, Hermes and Dionysus and sisters Artemis, Persephone, Eileithyia, Hebe, Ersa, Pandeia, The Nine Muses and The Elder Graces and more.

Athena never married nor had children of her own, choosing to be an eternal maiden like Hestia and Artemis, but would later adopt and raise Erichthonius- the son of Gaia and Hephaestus, who became the first King of Athens.

Role and Significance[]

In ancient Greece, Athena was the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, science, literature, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts and skill. Athena was also considered the protectress of cities and was especially associated with Athens, her patron city where she had her own temple dedicated to her.

In Athens, the Plynteria, or "Feast of the Bath", was observed every year at the end of the month of Thargelion. This festival lasted for five days and had the priestesses of Athena, or plyntrídes, perform a cleansing ritual within the Erechtheion, a sanctuary devoted to Athena and Poseidon. In this sanctuary, Athena's statue was undressed, her clothes washed, and body purified.

Athena was worshipped at festivals such as Chalceia as Athena Ergane, the patroness of various crafts, especially weaving. She was also the patron of metalworkers and was believed to aid in the forging of Armor and weapons. During the late fifth century BC, the role of goddess of philosophy became a major aspect of Athena's cult.

AthenaCoin

Ancient Athenian coins, which have Athena depicted (left) and two of her symbols, an owl and an olive branch (right)

The ancient Athenians also used coins depicting Athena and two of her symbols, an owl with an olive branch as currency.

Personality[]

Athena is determined, strategic, tactical, stubborn, quite boastful, careful, brave, caring, proud, vain, creative, artistic, wise, loving, kind and generous. She enjoys reading and likes a good scroll, book or even textbook. Athena does not care about beauty and is well known for her intelligence and talents, being the wisest of all the Gods on Mount Olympus. She is very loyal and protective to her allies. Her personality is straight-forward and she mainly focuses on her studies and war strategies. She is somewhat arrogant too. Unlike the brutal yet cowardly Ares, her fellow major war god- Athena is always smart and brave in battle. She represents defensive warship, military strategy and general ship, compared to Ares who represents offensive warship, and the violence and death in war. Athena is also urban and civilized, the antithesis in many respects of Artemis, goddess of the outdoors. She is asexual with no interest in romance.

Appearance[]

In mythology, Athena was described as so beautiful, that at her birth, grown men dropped to their knees in front of her and Helios was so impressed with her looks that he came to a complete stop in the middle of the sky. Her eye colour has been described as blue, grey or green depending on the account.

In ancient Greece, Athena was depicted as a stately woman armed with a shield and spear, and wearing a long robe, crested helm, and the famed aigis--a snake-trimmed cape adorned with the monstrous visage of the Gorgon Medousa (Medusa).

In art and literature, Athena is usually depicted as a majestic lady, with a beautiful, but stern face, unsmiling full lips, grey eyes and a graceful build, emanating power and authority. She is always regally clad in either a chiton or in full ancient Greek style Armor. In the former case, she is sometimes represented with a spindle. She has also been depicted in knee length robes and even in medieval style armour.

Myths[]

Backstory of Birth[]

Athena's mother is Metis, an Oceanid and the Titan goddess of wise counsel, an early ally of Zeus even before the Titanomachy, who created and gave Zeus a special concoction that he fed to his father Cronus to make him vomit up Zeus' siblings, from this Metis became Zeus' lover and in some accounts his first wife before Hera. Metis then became pregnant by Zeus, which worried Zeus because of a prophecy from Themis, the Titaness of Law and Good Order, who warned that with Metis, Zeus would sire a powerful daughter and following this an even more powerful son who would take his father's place. In order to avoid the latter, Zeus would tell Metis to transform into different forms and forgetting her prudence, she did, and when Metis turned into a fly (or in some accounts- a droplet of water) Zeus quickly swallowed her, trapping the goddess in his body and gained her powers.

Birth[]

Nine months later Athena was born from Zeus' head. One account says that she came out of her father's head by herself- which caused Zeus' jealous wife Hera to become pregnant without Zeus- resulting in the birth of Hephaestus, however another account claims that Zeus developed an unbearable headache, which made him scream out of pain so loudly that the other gods came over to see him, Hermes then realized what needed to be done and directed Hephaestus to take a wedge and split open Zeus's skull from which Athena came out. Both accounts claim Athena was fully grown at birth wearing a full set of armour.

One account claims that Athena actually didn't have a mother with Zeus being her only parent.

Early life[]

According to Pseudo-Apollodorus's Bibliotheca, Athena became the foster daughter of Triton, son of Poseidon and messenger of the seas, who raised Athena alongside his own daughter, Pallas, the two became close friends and Triton taught both girls the art of war.

During an athletics festival, Pallas and Athena fought with spears in a friendly mock battle in which the victor would be whoever managed to disarm her opponent. At the beginning of the fight, Athena got the upper hand, until Pallas took over. Before she could win, Zeus, who was in attendance, fearing to see his own daughter lose, distracted Pallas with the Aegis, which she had once shown interest in. Pallas, stunned in awe, stood still as Athena, expecting her to dodge, impaled her accidentally.

Out of sadness and regret, Athena created the palladium, a statue in the likeness of Pallas, and wrapped the aegis, which she had feared, about the breast of it, and set it up beside Zeus and honoured it. Later, Athena took on the title Pallas as tribute to her late friend.

This story about Athena and Pallas inspired a yearly festival in Libya dedicated to the goddess

Other Myths of Athena:[]

The War of the Titans- Where Hera saw that Epaphus, born of a concubine, ruled such a great kingdom and she saw to it that he should be killed while hunting, and encouraged the Titan to drive Zeus from the kingdom and restore it to Kronos When they tried to mount to heaven, Zeus with the help of Athena, Apollo and Artemis cast them headlong into Tartarus. On Atlas, who had been their leader, he put the vault of the sky; even now he is said to hold up the sky on his shoulders."

The War of the Giants- Where Athena helped Zeus find an ally in Heracles who sent an arrow at Alkyoneus, who by falling to the earth recovered somewhat. Athena advised Herakles to drag him outside of Pallene, which he did, and Alkyoneus thereupon died.

During the battle of the gods and giants, as Enkelados was fleeing, Athena threw the island of Sikelia (Sicily) in his direction. She stripped off the skin of Pallas and used it to protect her own body during the battle.

When Heracles destroyed Kos, [the island kingdom], he found his way with Athena's help to Phlegra where he helped the gods reduce the Gigantes.

According to Pausanias, when the battle of the gods and Gigantes took place Athena drove the chariot and horses against Enkelados.

According to Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 3 The constellation Draco or dragon was thrown at Athena by the Giants, when she fought them, Athena though however, snatched its twisted form and threw it to the stars, and fixed it at the very pole of heaven. And so to this day it appears with twisted body, as if recently transported to the stars.

According to Suida s.v Pallas: Athena also slayed one of the Gigantes who was named Pallas.

The Rape of Persephone- According to the Homeric Hymn, Athena, Artemis and the Oceanids were with Persephone, in a meadow, playing and gathering flowers when Persephone was lured away from the goddesses by a Narcissus flower and seized by Hades.

The Creation of Pandora- Zeus commanded Hephaestus to create the first human woman and he crafted her out of clay, the other Gods then decided to give the woman who would be named Pandora- gifts before bringing her to life, Athena gifted Pandora with clothing and skills in needlework and weaving.

Athena vs Poseidon for Troezen-During Althepo's reign, they say, Athena and Poseidon disputed about the land of Troizenos in the Argolis, and after disputing held it in common, as Zeus commanded them to do. For this reason they worship both Athena . . . also Poseidon . . . Moreover their old coins have as device a trident and a face of Athena.

Athena vs Poseidon for Athens- Athena and Poseidon both competed against each other to become the patron god of Athens. Each god presented the city with a gift, Poseidon offered a horse whilst Athena offered an olive tree to the city. Athena's gift to the city would allow her to ultimately win patronage of the city.

Athena and the birth of Erichthonius- Poseidon told his fellow god, Hephaestus, that Athena had feelings for him and the next time she visited Hephaestus' workshop to obtain her armour, he attempted to embrace her but Athena did not submit, Hephaestus also dropped his seed on her leg, A disgusted Athena would wipe this seed off of her with wool and she threw it to the ground, as she fled Hephaestus' seed merged with Gaia, the earth producing Erikhthonios a boy with a humanoid upper body and the tail of a snake instead of legs, Athena brought up the boy unknown to the other gods, wishing to make him immortal; and put him in a chest, committing it to Pandrosos, daughter of Kekrops, Athena forbade the princess to open the chest, however the sisters of Pandrosos opened it the box out of curiosity, and beheld a serpent coiled about a babe; and some say, they were destroyed by the serpent, but according to others they were driven mad by reason of the anger of Athena and the girls threw themselves down from the acropolis. Erikthonios, having been brought up by Athena herself in the precinct, would expel Amphiktyon and become king of Athens. Erikthonios set up a wooden image of Athena in the acropolis, and instituted the festival of the Panathenaia to honour his adoptive mother.

Athena and Medusa- Medusa, the only mortal daughter of the sea gods, Phorcys and Ceto, decided to serve Athena as her priestess, also living in her temple in Athens. Medusa became famous in the city for her beauty, so much so that her hair was considered to be more beautiful than Athena's, this made Athena become very jealous of her. One day when Medusa was walking on a beach, she became spotted by Poseidon, the God of the sea Poseidon becoming immediately infatuated, pursued Medusa, who frightened ran away into the temple of Athena for protection but Poseidon broke in and forced himself on Medusa, raping her. When Athena came back to see the two having intercourse, she decided to curse Medusa, turning her into a Gorgon, an ugly humanoid monster with snakes for hair-who would turn whoever she looked at into stone; even though Medusa was not ever guilty of breaking the rule of never having intercourse in a God's temple herself and being a victim. Euryale and Stheno, Medusa's two older sisters defended Medusa but were also turned into Gorgons by Athena. One day the demi-god son of Zeus and the mortal Danae, Perseus was sent on a quest to obtain the head of Medusa and Athena taught him about the monster, where to find her and how to kill her, Athena even gave Perseus her shield. Upon finding Medusa, Perseus covered his face with his shield and decapitated Medusa, out of her body came out her two children by Poseidon- Chrysoar- a giant and a winged horse named Pegasus. Perseus would then use the head against his enemies, turning them into stone.

Athena and Arachne- Arachne was a human woman of Colophon, Lydia who was very proud in her talents of weaving, claiming to be better than Athena the goddess of handicraft herself, which lead to a competition being held between the two in Arachne's town, which eventually ended in Arachne becoming the first spider. In one version of the story Arachne produced a piece showing the Gods abusing humanity, whereas Athena created a work depicting the Gods punishing humans for their hubris. Arachne's work was considered much better than Athena's, who, angered especially by the work's context, threw one of Hecate's potions on Arachne, transforming her into a spider. However in second version of the myth, Arachne created a weaving, showing Zeus' advances towards mortal women. Athena, acknowledged Arachne's skills, but wanted to teach Arachne some humbleness and respect for the Gods, so touched her forehead, filling her with shame and guilt. Arachne's humiliation became so strong, she hung herself in a suicide. Correspondingly Athena brought Arachne back to life in the form of a spider, allowing her to weave to her heart's content thereafter. In the last recorded version of the myth, Zeus served as the judge of the contest between Athena and Arachne, where it was ruled here whoever lost would never never be allowed to touch a spindle or loom again. Athena won in this version, leaving Arachne so devastated she could never weave again. Out of compassion, Athena turned her into the first spider, allowing Arachne to do what she loved best.

The Wedding of Peleus and Thetis- At the wedding of Peleus and Thetis on Mount Olympus, all the gods were invited except for Eris, the goddess of discord. Bitter for this she quickly snuck into the wedding venue and a placed a golden apple inscribed to the fairest near a table, before leaving, which was spotted by Athena, Aphrodite and Hera who fought over owning it, they went to Zeus to choose the worthy owner of this apple, but he could not make a choice instead passing judgement to Apollo, the most handsome god on Mount Olympus but Apollo was not able to choose the most beautiful goddess either. Hermes was then sent out to find the most attractive human to judge the goddesses' beauty and he came back to Olympus with Paris, Prince of Troy. The Goddesses then began to bribe Paris to give them the golden apple. Hera offered Paris, kingship, Athena offered him success in all his battles and Aphrodite offered the love of the most beautiful human woman. Paris would choose the last gift and gave Aphrodite the apple she desired which lead Hera and Athena to become angry. After Aphrodite gave Paris, Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world as a lover, Helen's husband, King Menelaus of Sparta went on a quest to bring back his wife beginning the Trojan Wars- a terrible war between Greece and Troy. And Athena, having been rejected by Prince Paris of Troy sided with the Greeks who would emerge victorious.

The Tale of Theseus- After Theseus, a demi god son of Poseidon slayed the Minotaur, a ravenous monster who ate human flesh, thanks to the help of the Princess, Ariadne of Crete, who advised him to track his way in the Minotaur's labyrinth with a yarn of wool, Ariadne and Theseus went to stay on the island of Naxos however during their night together, Athena called on Theseus to complete another mission, causing Theseus to leave Naxos and Ariadne behind for mainland Greece on his ship.

The Tale of Bellerophon- After the mortal hero Bellerophon was asked to slay the Chimera, a powerful, fire-breathing monster that terrified the land by the King of Lycia, Bellerophon prayed to the goddess- Athena to help him in the quest and the goddess trained him to kill the monster and also gave him a bridle which he used to tame the winged horse Pegasus who became his steed in the battle.

Titles and Epithets[]

In ancient Greece, Athena was often called hē theós ἡ θεός meaning "the goddess" an ancient title. She also known as Atrytone (Άτρυτώνη "the Unwearying"), Parthenos (Παρθένος "Virgin"), and Promachos (Πρόμαχος "she who fights in front").

Some of her many epithets or surnames are Polias (Πολιάς "of the city"), which refers to Athena's role as protectress of the city, Ergane (Εργάνη "the Industrious") which distinguishes her as the patron of craftsmen and artisans, Hippia (Ἵππια "of the horses", "equestrian") referring to her invention of the bit, bridle, chariot, and wagon, Aethyia, (αἴθυια) meaning diver or figuratively a ship, referencing Athena as the goddess who teaches the art of ship-building or navigation and Pallas (Παλλας) meaning spear-brandishing, a surname Athena took in honour of her dear friend whom she was raised with and accidentally killed in one of their childhood games.

After serving as the judge at the trial of Orestes in which he was acquitted of having murdered his mother Clytemnestra, Athena won the epithet Areia (Αρεία) which means "warlike".

Symbols[]

Athena's symbols are the olive tree, an olive branch, an aegis, helmet, spear, armour, Gorgoneion, chariot and distaff. Her sacred animals are the owl, serpent, spider and horse.

Powers and Skills[]

Athena is one of the most major and powerful goddesses in the Greek pantheon:

  • She has eternal youth and immortality and is incapable of dying like all major gods.
  • She does not require sleep.
  • She is immune to any diseases or illnesses.
  • Athena is the smartest and most knowledgeable person on Mount Olympus.
  • Like Artemis, Athena is extremely resourceful.
  • Athena has many talents, such as weaving, making ceramics and sword fighting to name a few.
  • Athena is extremely lucky and wins nearly all competitions she takes part in.
  • Athena is one of the greatest deities when it comes to casting spells.
  • Athena, like Hera, has a psychic connection towards others.
  • She is telepathic.
  • Athena can morph surroundings with her mind.
  • Athena is also immune to Aphrodite's powers of making people fall in love or lust after others.
  • She can bless and curse people however she chooses.
  • She can shapeshift.
  • She can change the forms of mortals.
  • She was also responsible for breathing life into humans. Turning Prometheus' clay figure of a man made of mud into a living being.
  • She is a divine teacher, examples being when helped Heracles, Perseus, Theseus and Bellerophon slay monsters.
  • As the wise goddess of warfare she always helps her father, Zeus deal with his enemies and is a formidable opponent in battle.
  • She is said to have equal power and talent to Zeus.

Weaknesses[]

Sometimes Athena is not very down-to-earth, and she can be very self-centred and get carried away with her work. Athena even goes crazy if her inventions don't work out very well. Her demigod children all have a fatal flaw called "Hubris" which means Deadly Pride. As shown in the stories of Arachne and Medusa she can become very jealous and spiteful towards others even mortals and curse them.

Relationships[]

Gods[]

Zeus- Athena is the favourite daughter of Zeus, she is very loyal to him and always helps him, whether that be mentally or physically. Athena also guards Zeus' divine weapon, the thunderbolt, which she can also wield herself.

Metis- Metis is Athena's mother, she loves her daughter very much and made her a full set of armour before Athena was born.

Hera- Hera is Athena's paternal aunt through Zeus as well as her stepmother, as Hera is the Queen of the Gods, Athena will usually do whatever Hera commands her to usually as long as it is not against Zeus' will. According to the Iliad Hera’s dress was hand woven by Athena for her. The two also competed with each other in a beauty contest alongside Aphrodite to win a golden apple. Both Goddesses are also patrons of housewives, domestic work and the tending of the home.

Hestia- Athena's paternal aunt, both of them are eternal maidens. Athena has association to Hestia as she is also associated with the work women do at home and was believed to help women with their domestic chores, meanwhile Hestia is the goddess of the hearth and home itself as well as domesticity.

Artemis- Artemis is Athena's half sister and a member of the Twelve Olympians and an eternal maiden like her. The two have striking similarities both being active and skilled warriors, however whilst Athena is a city loyalist, Artemis bases herself in the countryside.

Apollo-

Aphrodite

Hephaestus- Hephaestus is Athena's half brother through Zeus, in some accounts Hephaestus was the one who cracked Zeus' skull open to free Athena from his head. He later also developed a crush on Athena who turned him down due to being a devout maiden. Hephaestus and Athena are both creative and like inventing things. The two share a festival, the Chalkeia where they are honoured together as Holy Powers associated with blacksmiths and artisans.

Ares- Ares is Athena's half brother and like her a war god, but whilst Athena represents strategic defensive war, Ares represents the violence and brutality of war. The two have a fierce rivalry between each other. They often clash due to both of them being war gods but with different approaches to their forte. Athena is however considered to be a more braver and skilled warrior than Ares.

Nike- Nike is a close friend and comrade of Athena, who always accompanies her in battles to ensure her success. Athena is sometimes depicted holding Nike in the palm of her hand in art.

Triton- Triton the god of the waves, calm seas and the herald of Poseidon, raised Athena during her early life alongside his own daughter, Pallas. He also taught both girls the art of war.

Pallas- Pallas was a warrior Nymph of Lake Tritonis in Libya, she was a childhood friend of Athena, with them being raised together. Athena accidentally killed her in a friendly battle at an athletics festival and out of sorrow created the Palladium and took Pallas as an epithet to honour her.

Humans and Demigods[]

Medusa- Medusa was an innocent and loyal human woman who served as a priestess of Athena, until she became raped by Poseidon in Athena's Temple in Athens, where upon witnessing the rape, Athena turned Medusa into a dangerous Gorgon- with the ability to turn people that looked at her into stone. Despite being treated unfairly by Athena, Medusa made an oath never to harm a woman- in honour to Athena but this was not enough to prevent Medusa's death by Perseus, who was helped and trained to kill the Gorgon by Athena herself.

Modern Depictions[]

Athena was depicted in Disney's 1997 film, Hercules and its subsequent television series. She was a character in the South Korean animated television series, Olympus Guardian which aired from 2002 til 2003 and is based off the manhwa, "The Greek and Roman Myths in Comics" by Hong Eun-young. Athena is also a character in Camp Half Blood Chronicles a media franchise created by Rick Riordan. Other franchises Athena has been depicted in are God of War, Lore Olympus, Gods' School, Smite, Destripando La Historia and many more!




Gallery[]

Link to Athena's Gallery

Trivia[]

Athena's name is spelt Αθηνη in Greek.

Her Roman equivalent is Minerva.

Historians think that Athena's name actually derives from her patron city, Athens, rather than the name of Athens being derived from Athena's name.

Monthly Update[]

Athena has been chosen to be this Wiki's theme for March.

Table of persona
Talent 100
Beauty concern 0
Personality 100
Strengths 100
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