Athena / Minerva
The goddess of wisdom
Family ties
- Athena was born from her father, Zeus' forehead. Zeus' was to have a child with Metis, a daughter of the ocean, but Metis was pregnant with Athena, Zeus swallowed Metis whole. Zeus did this in order to make sure that his son did not overthrow him, like he did with his father.
- Despite the fact that Athena was a virgin, she had a son, Erichthonius, with Hephaestus, when he failed to rape her. His semen fell onto her thigh and when she wiped it away with a cloth, Erichthonius was born.
- Not including the children he had with mortals, these are Athena brothers and sisters; Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Hephaestus, Hebe, Hermes, Persephone, the Fates, the Graces, the Muses, Tityus.
- Athena was never married.
Goddess
- Athena is the Greek virgin goddess of reason, intelligent activity, arts & literature.
- Athena was particularly known for spinning and weaving. She was the goddess of crafts & skilled peace time pursuits.
- She is known for her strategic skill in warfare.
- Athena is ultimately known for her wisdom.
Symbols
- Her object is the spear, the distaff, & the head of Medusa on her aegis. Her animal is the owl, a symbol of wisdom.
- The bright-eyed owl goddess.
- Athena represents physical strength & the ability to protect & fight for your rights.
Humans
- Athena is a goddess of the city. Protectress of the civilized life & of artesian activities.
- She gave women sewing and men; agriculture & metallurgy. She helped heroes as they fought in wars & when they came back. She also gave advice to those who needed it.
- She helped with the Trojan war by giving her idea of The Trojan Horse to Odysseus that would help end the war.
Myths
- Athena & Arachne : ere was a very popular weaver in a small town in Northern Greece. The weaver, Arachne, was a very vain girl who thought she could do better than the Goddess, Athena. Athena was not pleased with this so she disguised herself as an old lady and warned Arachne that she should not threaten or mess with a goddess. Arachne was angry and said that Athena should challenge her. Athena transformed back into a goddess and spun against Arachne. While Arachne’s finished piece was obviously beautiful, it showed disrespect to the gods and goddesses. Athena was offended and turned Arachne into a spider, saying "You may be foolish and stubborn, but you seem to love your work. So why don’t you go ahead and spin forever!"
- Athens : The two Olympian gods; Athena and Poseidon were interested in taking part of the city of Athens. Each god gave something to the city in order to win it. Poseidon gave water, but it was salty so it had no use. Athena gave the olive tree. Athena was chosen. Poseidon was not happy about this choice so he cursed the city of Athens in forever drought.
- Athena & the price for lack of respect : There was a family that lived on the island of Kos in Greek. The family was very rude and only worshiped on god, goddess Hestia because she brought the family rich harvest. The family was invited to worship other gods such as Athena, Artemis, and Hermes but they refused. These gods were insulted so they decided to take revenge. Athena and Artemis was made into beautiful maids while Hermes was a shepherd. The father and son were invited by Hermes to go to a banquet for Hermes. The two sisters were going to
Minerva
- She is the goddess of handicrafts, the arts, & war.
- Minerva is an Italian goddess of handicrafts.
- Minerva was worshiped in Rome & was considered the daughter of Jupiter.