The goddess of wisdom, strategy, warfare, skill, justice, and crafts.
Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis. Zeus had fallen in love with Metis and chased her for days, then cornered her near a cliff and wooed her. Years later, the oracle of Gea had seen this prophecy "You will have two children, the first a girl, the second a boy who is destined to overthrow you." When Zeus heard that prophecy, he swallowed Metis. Weeks later Zeus had a mind-splitting headache, and ordered Hephaestus to crack his skull open. He followed his orders, and Athena rose, dressed in a full suit of armour. Athena is first mentioned in Homer's Iliad and Odyssey helping the Achaeans win the Trojan war. She is later mentioned helping Heracles in his labors, and Perseus in his beheading of the gorgon Medusa. |