A powerful war goddess, Athena was usually depicted with her shield
or protective cloak, known as the aegis. She was also a patron of
crafts, especially pottery, weaving, and shipbuilding, and the
goddess of the city of Athens. She inherited the wisdom of her
mother, Metis, an attribute that made her favour Odysseus, the
wisest and most cunning of the Greek heroes. In all these roles
she was especially valued because she was always accessible,
unlike many gods who kept their distance from humans.CLASSICAL EUROPEAthena armed for war
Athena’s favoured weapon
was her spear, which she
held upright when at rest,
and brandished aloft when
in battle. She also wore a
helmet to protect her head.Athena’s birth
Early depictions of the
birth of Athena, such as
this vase painting, show
the goddess emerging
from her father’s head,
already equipped with
arms and armour.Athena
THE BIRTH OF ATHENA
One of the first loves of the god Zeus was Metis,
daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. Metis
was known not only for her beauty but also for her
brains – her name means “cunning intelligence”.
She was especially dear to Zeus, but when she
became pregnant, Gaia and Uranus told Zeus that
after she had given birth to a daughter, Metis would
then have a son, also by Zeus, who would take
away all his power. They advised Zeus to act at
once to prevent this. Gaia told Zeus that the best
way to stop this chain of events was to swallow
Metis whole before she gave birth. Zeus did this,
but when it was time for Metis’s daughter to be
born, Hephaestus intervened, splitting open Zeus’s
head with an axe and enabling the child to step
forth. Miraculously, Athena emerged from Zeus’s
skull fully armed, uttering a war cry. According to
several accounts, Athena was her father’s favourite
child, and the only one allowed to use his aegis.GODDESS OF ATHENS
Athena won the right to be venerated as the goddess of Athens
when, in a competition with Poseidon, she gave the citizens of
Athens the valuable gift of the olive tree. The people
acknowledged her importance by putting images of her and her
sacred bird, the owl, on their coins. To worship her, they built
the Parthenon on the Acropolis above the city, where the contest
between Athena and Poseidon was depicted in a sculpture. This
temple also housed a massive ivory and gold statue of Athena,
created by the noted sculptor Phidias. Unfortunately, the statue
no longer exists, though many miniature reproductions of it have
been found. The temple’s name comes from the title Parthenos
(virgin), given to the goddess because she
guarded her chastity so carefully.(^26) The Parthenon Athenian coin