seated Zeus, in the stance of a warrior standing guard beside her
king; or she was placed behind or beside either Achilles or Odysseus,
the major Greek heroes of the Iliad and the Odyssey.
The martial and domestic skills associated with Athena involve
planning and execution, activities that require purposeful thinking.
Strategy, practicality, and tangible results are hallmarks of her par-
ticular wisdom. Athena values rational thinking and stands for the
domination of will and intellect over instinct and nature. Her spirit
is found in the city; for Athena (in contrast to Artemis), the wilder-
ness is to be tamed and subdued.
GENEALOGY AND MYTHOLOGY
Athena’s entrance into the company of Olympians was dramatic.
She sprang out of Zeus’s head as a full-grown woman, wearing
flashing gold armor, with a sharp spear in one hand, emitting a
mighty war cry. In some versions, her delivery resembled a
Caesarean operation of sorts—Zeus was plagued by an excruciating
headache as “labor” proceeded, and he was aided by Hephaestus,
the god of the forge, who struck him on the head with a double-
edged axe, opening a way for Athena to emerge.
Athena considered herself as having only one parent, Zeus, with
whom she was forever associated. She was her father’s right-hand
woman, the only Olympian he entrusted with his thunderbolt and
aegis, the symbols of his power.
The goddess did not acknowledge her mother, Metis; in fact,
Athena seemed unaware she had a mother. As Hesiod recounts,
Metis was Zeus’s first royal consort, an ocean deity who was known
for her wisdom. When Metis was pregnant with Athena, Zeus tricked
her into becoming small and swallowed her. It was predicted that
Metis would have two very special children: a daughter equal to
Zeus in courage and wise counsel, and a son, a boy of all-conquering
heart, who would become king of gods and men.^1 By swallowing
Metis, Zeus thwarted fate and took over her attributes as his own.
In her mythology, Athena was a protector, advisor, patron, and
ally of heroic men. The list of those whom she helped reads like a
“Who’s Who of Heroes.”
Goddesses in Everywoman