Among them was Perseus, who slew the Gorgon Medusa—that
female monster with serpents for hair, brazen claws, and staring
eyes whose glance turned men into stone. Athena suggested a trick
with mirrors by which Perseus could see the Gorgon’s reflection in
his shield and avoid gazing directly at her. She then guided his
sword hand as he decapitated the Medusa.
Athena also helped Jason and the Argonauts build their ship before
they set out to capture the Golden Fleece. She gave Bellerophon a
golden bridle with which he could tame the winged horse Pegasus,
and came to the aid of Heracles (the Roman Hercules) during his
twelve tasks.
During the Trojan War, Athena was very active on behalf of the
Greeks. She looked after her favorites, especially Achilles, the most
formidable and mighty of the Greek warriors. Later, she aided
Odysseus (Ulysses) on his long journey home.
Besides championing individual heroes and being the Olympian
positioned closest to Zeus, Athena sided with the patriarchy. She
cast the deciding vote for Orestes, in the first courtroom scene in
Western literature. Orestes had killed his mother (Clytemnestra) to
avenge the murder of his father (Agamemnon). Apollo spoke in
defense of Orestes: he claimed that the mother was only the nourisher
of the seed planted by the father, proclaimed the principle that the
male predominates over the female, and cited as proof the birth of
Athena, who had not even been born from the womb of a woman.
The jury’s vote was tied when Athena cast the decisive vote. She
sided with Apollo, freed Orestes, and ranked patriarchal principles
above maternal bonds.
In Athena’s mythology, only one well-known story involves a
mortal woman. This is Arachne, whom Athena turned into a spider.
Athena, as Goddess of Crafts, was challenged to a contest of skill by
a presumptuous weaver named Arachne. Both worked with swift-
ness and skill. When the tapestries were finished, Athena admired
the flawless work of her competitor, but she was furious that Arachne
dared to illustrate the amorous deceptions of Zeus. On the tapestry,
Leda is caressing a swan—a disguise for Zeus, who had entered the
bedchamber of the married queen as a swan in order to make love
to her. Another panel was of Danaë, whom Zeus impreg-
Athena: Goddess of Wisdom Growing beyond the confining