Athena

  Athena's Roman name was Minerva and she was the  goddess of wisdom and war.  Athena’s main powers were handicrafts, industry, war, and wisdom, which together create a strong, powerful, and creative goddess.  She was most likely to be found at Mount Olympus with her other siblings and relatives. 

Athena’s mother was Metis (goddess of planning, cunning, and wisdom) and her father was Zeus (god of the sky).  Her siblings included Apollo, Artemis, and Ares.  She was also a Maiden because she did not marry anyone nor have any children.  Athena was sometimes known as the female version of Ares since both were in charge of war.

When her mother (Metis) was still pregnant with Athena, she was swallowed by Zeus, forcing Athena to live in his forehead.  She spent her whole childhood in his forehead, fighting off his nightmares and learning from her mother.  As time went on, Zeus began to have constant bad headaches.  One day, the headaches got so bad that it forced Hephaestus, one of Zeus’s servants, to help chop his head open.  When Athena was finally freed, she was still very weak since walking and land in general was very unusual and different to her.  Because of this, she was placed in a training camp to help with strengthening her weak self.  After a few years of hard work, she went on to take place in a battle against Pallas, where Athena killed her. 

Athena’s physical characteristics included long black wavy hair, gray eyes, a beautiful white dress, a golden chest plate, golden arm bands, boots, armor, and a helmet.  Even though she was known for being wise and brave, she was also quite pretty and elegant.  Her main symbol was the olive tree, and her animal was an owl because it represented wisdom.  Her weapons included the spear, armor, a shield with Medusa’s head on it, and a helmet.

One festival that celebrated Athena was called Panathenaia, which was celebrated every June.  The festival included races, games, music, singing, and dancing.  The Patron of Athens was the largest city in Greece and was named after her.  However, the city could have been named after Posiden.  The residents requested a gift from both of them, and whichever they liked better would be named after them.  Athena gifted the people of Athens olive trees, while Posiden gifted them saltwater.  The citizens there liked the olive trees better, so they named it after Athena. 

One important myth associated with Athena was the myth of Athena and Arachne.  It all began when a girl named Arachne had too much pride in her weaving.  She began boasting that she was better than Athena, who was also a skilled weaver.  When Athena found out, she got angry and challenged Arachne to a weaving contest.  When both girls finished, they showed each other their weavings and Athena got a little…angry.  Arachne had woven a cloth showing the gods and goddesses drunk and fallen over, while Athena had woven the gods and goddesses happily on Mount Olympus.  Overall though, Arachne’s weaving was better than Athena’s.  Athena became outraged when people voted Arachne’s weaving better, causing her to turn Arachne into a spider right then and there.  Because of this, Arachne had to live as a spider for the rest of her life, and Athena was happy about that.  Athena’s crafting ability and wisdom were shown in this myth.

Athena was a wise and simple goddess, she proved her point and was Zeus’s favorite child because of her beauty and toughness - or maybe just because she came out of his forehead.  Nevertheless, she was an extremely brave, creative, and unique goddess with an extraordinary backstory and appearance.