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Never had a husband or a lover
- Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom and warfare, was known for her intelligence, strength, and strategic thinking. However, unlike many Greek goddesses, Athena never had a husband or a lover. Instead, she was a virgin goddess, and her focus was on her duties and responsibilities toward her people.
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Jun 11, 2023 · According to Greek mythology, Athena was born from the head of her father, Zeus. The story goes that Zeus had swallowed his wife, Metis, who was pregnant with Athena, fearing the child would be more powerful than him. However, Metis had already given birth to Athena inside Zeus’s stomach.
- Athena’s Role
- Athena’s Early Life
- Athena, Goddess of Wisdom
- Athena: Myths and Hidden Truths
- Athena: Wisdom, War, and The Power of The Goddess
- Athena Sources
Athena's Name
Athena’s name is closely linked with the name of the city of Athens. The Ancient Greeks debated whether she got her name after the city or the other way around. Modern scholars usually agree that the former was the case.
Athena's Portrayal and Symbolism
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 a full armor. In the former case, she is sometimes represented with a spindle. In the latter case, she wears an elaborately crested Corinthian helmet and holds a long spear in one hand and an aegisin the other. At the center of her aegis there’s oftentimes an...
Athena's Epithets
Athena was one of the most important Olympian gods and she had many functions. Unsurprisingly, she was known under many different epithets. Some of the most famous were “Virgin,” “Pallas,” “The Unwearying One,” “The One of the City,” “The One with gleaming eyes” and “The One who fights in front.”
The Birth of Athena
Athena was born in most miraculous circumstances. On learning that Metis’ next child may overthrow him, Zeus swallowed his first wife who was already pregnant with Athens. When the time came, Zeus started feeling tremendous headaches. As even he couldn’t bear them, Hephaestus struck him with his axe and – lo and behold! – Athena leapt out of Zeus’ head, fully armed and with a cry so mighty and fearsome that Uranus and Gaeawere shaken to their bones with terror. Zeus was delighted and full of...
Athena’s Childhood Friend Pallas
As a child, Athena had a friend she loved above all. Her name was Pallasand she was all but her equal in the art of war. However, one day, as they were practicing some martial exercises, Athena accidentally killed her friend. Grief-stricken and in an attempt to preserve her memory, she added her friend’s name to her own. That’s why many people know Athena as Athena Pallas.
Athena, The Virgin Goddess
Just like Artemis and Hestia, Athena was never swayed by love or passion. Consequently, she never had any children. Some say that Erichthonius was an exception, but, in fact, Athena was only his foster-mother. True, Hephaestus did try to violate her, but she fought him off, so he spilled his seed over the Earth, after which Gaea was impregnated. When Erichthonius was born, Athena took him under her wing, just like she would do afterward with another cult hero, Heracles.
Athena, the Patron of Athens
Poseidon and Athena had a much-publicized quarrel over who deserves to be the patron of the most prosperous Ancient Greek city, Athens. Poseidon claimed that the city would benefit more from him than Athena and to prove this, he struck his trident into a rock, creating a seawater stream which welled up in the Temple of Erechtheion on the north side of the Acropolis. Smart as she was, Athena did nothing spectacular: she merely planted an olive tree. However, the first king of Athens, Cecrops–...
Athena, the Patroness of Handicrafts
Athena was a master artisan. As much as she was the women counterpart of Ares as a war goddess, she was also the female equivalent of Hephaestus when it came to arts and crafts. Homer says that Athena fashioned ornate and luxuriously embroidered robes for Heraand herself. Some even say that she combined her two main interests to invent the war chariot and even the warship.
Contrary to popular belief, Athena is not a war goddess in the same sense as Ares. While both deities are associated with war, their roles are fundamentally different. Athena is revered for her strategic thinking, wisdom, and diplomacy, whereas Ares embodies the violent and chaotic aspects of war. This misconception often overshadows Athena's conne...
Throughout our journey into the world of Athena, we have been deeply moved by the many facets of this fascinating goddess. Her wisdom, prowess in war, and dedication to the arts have not only inspired us but also served as a reminder of the importance of balance and harmony in life. As we delved into her stories, we felt a profound connection with ...
Homer’s “Odyssey” is an invaluable source for Athena and her deeds. If you want something briefer, read “The Homeric Hymns to Athena” (11 and 28). In Hesiod’s “Theogony” you can find the story of her birth. See Also: Arachne, Odysseus, Athens, Metis, Poseidon, Zeus
Athena is a Greek goddess known as both Pallas and Athene. In ancient Greek mythology, they often associated her with both warfare and wisdom as well as handicraft, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, and skill. She also shares some things in common with Minerva from ...
Athena [b] or Athene, [c] often given the epithet Pallas, [d] is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft [3] who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. [4] Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, particularly the city of Athens, from which she most likely ...
Dec 14, 2016 · Athena’s Birth. Athena’s birth story is quite unique. Her father, Zeus, was married to the daughter of Ocean, Metis. Metis became pregnant but Zeus had been warned by Earth that his wife would bear a son who would overthrow him from his throne. So Zeus swallowed his pregnant wife to prevent the son from being born.
Sep 20, 2021 · Within mythology and literature, Athena is often referred to by her singular parentage. There are many iterations of how Zeus came to be Athena’s only parent. In many versions of the story, Zeus impregnated Metis, his first wife. Their son was destined to overthrow Zeus just as he had his father and his father had before him.
May 17, 2022 · After 20 years from home, Athena believed he deserved to return to his wife Penelope, and argued to save him from Calypso’s Isle, where he had been trapped by the goddess as a slave for the past 7 years.
