Greek Mythology: Athena

Introduction

Hi! It’s been a long time since I wrote a Greek mythology article. Someone requested that I make an article on this goddess so I hope you like it!

Athena’s Introduction

Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and war. She is also associated with peace and handicrafts. The handicrafts she is most known for are spinning and weaving. Athena is very powerful in both of her domains (wisdom and war). She even got Ares, the Greek god of war, to fear her. Athena is one of the main goddesses Greek heroes go to for help and advice. Athena had a very unusual birth. There was a prophecy that said Athena’s mother would have a child that could threaten Zeus, who is her dad. Since Zeus didn’t want to be threatened he tricked Athena’s mother and ate her. After Zeus did this he had a bad headache that only got worse as time passed, and when he couldn’t bare it anymore Zeus had Hephaestus split open his skull. When Hephaestus did that Athena sprang out in full battle armor and let out a fierce cry.

Family

As I’ve said in two previous articles, the Greek family tree is complicated so I won’t go too in depth with Athena’s family tree. Athena’s father is Zeus (a Greek god) and her mother is Metis (a titan). Athena’s grandfather is Cronus (Zeus’ dad) while her grandmother is Rhea (Zeus’ mom). Her other grandfather is Oceanus (Metis’ dad) and her other grandmother is Tethys (Metis’ mother). Athena has a lot of siblings so I’ll only name the ones most people would probably know. Also, it’s important to keep in mind that all of the names I’m going to mention are only her half siblings. The most recognizable siblings Athena has are Apollo (a god), Ares (a god), Artemis (a god), Dionysus (a god), Hephaestus (a god), Heracles (demigod), Hermes (a god), and Persephone (a god).

Personality and Appearance

Athena is very smart, determined, serious, and proud. Even though Athena is very wise, she is a goddess. She has had unreasonable fits of jealousy and anger. Athena’s biggest personality flaw would be her pride. She is a very proud goddess and that pride leads to bad things sometimes. She is a beautiful woman who has a majestic air around her. One of her most striking features is her gray eyes. She is most commonly depicted with a chiton (a long wool tunic that people in Ancient Greece wore) or fully clad in armor. If she’s wearing a chiton then she might be represented with a spindle. If Athena’s wearing armor then she’s probably wearing an elaborately crested Corinthian helmet with a spear in one hand and aegis (Athena’s special shield) in the other.

This is a picture of aegis (the shield in the picture). As you can see it has a head on it. That head is the head of Medusa. Medusa has the ability to turn people into stone if they look into her eyes. Athena has Medusa’s head on her shield because it turns her enemies into stone.

Powers

Athena has powers that every god/goddess has and her own unique ones. She has immortality, super strength, a durable body, and enhanced speed which are normal powers for a god or goddess. Her unique powers are pretty cool. She can give heroes courage and invent useful items and crafts. Some of the things she’s made are the ship, plow, chariot, and rake. Athena has also created a lot of the skills women in Ancient Greece used, like weaving and pottery.

Symbols

One of Athena’s symbols is an owl to represent wisdom and alertness. Another one is aegis to represent power, protection, and strength. She has olive trees/olive branches as a symbol to represent peace. The second to last symbol is armor to represent the fact that she’s a war goddess, and it represents battle strategy. The last symbol she has is a gorgoneion, a gorgoneion is an amulet that has a gorgon’s head on it. A gorgon is a type of Greek monster.

Conclusion

Wow, you made it to the end of the article! I hope you enjoyed learning about Athena. If you want me to make an article about any Greek mythology figure, please comment it! Remember, you don’t have to comment a god or goddess, you can make it anyone/anything from Greek mythology. I’ll see you in the next article!

Citation List:

“Greek Mythology.” Ducksters, https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_greece/athena.php#:~:text=She%20was%20also%20good%20at,such%20as%20weaving%20and%20pottery.

Jay, Nina. “Athena – Greek Goddess of War and Wisdom.” Symbol Sage, 5 Feb. 2021, https://symbolsage.com/athena-greek-goddess-of-war/.

“Metis.” Greek Mythology, https://www.greekmythology.com/Titans/Metis/metis.html.

“🦉 Athena :: Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War.” Greek Mythology, https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Athena/athena.html#:~:text=Athena%20is%20the%20Olympian%20goddess,both%20of%20her%20main%20domains.

Photo #1 Credit: https://www.piqsels.com/en/public-domain-photo-ovpar