Greek Goddess Athena
Greek Goddess Athena The Greek virgin goddess Athena, later called Minerva by the Romans, was the goddess of wisdom, war, strategy, crafts, and cities. Athena was an important member of the Olympic Pantheon. She was born fully armed from the forehead of Zeus, the chief god. Athena was Zeus's favorite child. He entrusted her with the Aegis, his breastplate, and with his thunderbolt. Athena's role as a goddess varied. She was a major warrior and took on many fierce battles. She was noted for her wisdom, which explained her close association with the owl, an ancient symbol of wisdom and reason. Athena longed for peace and wisdom rather than war. Athena was the daughter of Zeus by his wife Metis. Zeus feared that he might be overthrown by a son, just like his father and grandfather had been before him. He swallowed Metis to prevent this from happening. Zeus then became pregnant with Athena, but he wasn’t built to deliver a baby, he had gestated the baby in his head. There was a lack of an opening that would serve as the birth canal, but she needed to be born. Zeus’s step-son Prometheus struck him in the head with an axe to release Athena. She emerged from Zeus’s head fully armed. In, ancient Greece each city had a god that looked after them. In Athens the Athenians couldn’t decide whether their dominant god should be Athena or Poseidon. Athena came up with a great idea that each god should give the city a gift, so the townspeople could decide which god would be best to look after them. Athena caused an olive tree to grow, and Poseidon gave the town their first horse. The townspeople agreed that Athena would make a better god that is how the city got the name Athens. Their city built a beautiful temple and statue in her honor of her on top of the hill Acropolis, known as the Parthenon. Athena is a virgin goddess, but has a son. She is part mother of Erichthonius through an attempted rape by Hephaestus, whose seed spilled on her leg. Athena wiped the seed and