Athena
Goddess of Wisdom and War
uh-THEE-nuh
Born fully armed from her father's skull; goddess of the war that is planned rather than the war that is enjoyed.
The Story
Zeus swallowed the Titaness Metis to forestall a prophecy, and some months later a splitting headache produced Athena, grown and armoured. She is her father's favourite and the only god permitted to handle the aegis and the thunderbolt.
The line between her and Ares is the line between strategy and slaughter. She backs the clever survivor, Odysseus, Perseus, Heracles, and where Ares gives battle its noise, she gives it its plan. Off the field she owns weaving, pottery, shipbuilding, and the olive: the crafts that hold a city together.
Did You Know?
- The Parthenon is named for her title Parthenos, the maiden. Every four years Athens wove her a new robe and carried it to the Acropolis on a ship-shaped cart.
- Athenian silver coins carried her owl, and were so widely trusted across the Mediterranean that they were simply called owls. Bringing owls to Athens is the older version of coals to Newcastle.
- She and the city share a name, and no ancient source can say which came first.