Athena

Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war. She was also Zeus’s favorite child. Athena’s mother was Metis Zeus’s first wife. Athena was also a virgin goddess. Some of Athena’s symbols were the owl, the olive tree, the snake, and the spider. These were her symbols because The Owl- the Owl is her pet, as it was a sign of wisdom and she is the goddess of wisdom. Olive Tree- This tree was Athena's gift to humans, which has oil, wood and food. Snake- An old symbol from Greece which symbolizes other gods as well. Spider- A symbol of Athena's victory in a contest with the mortal Arachne, who transformed into a spider.

Athena had a very unusual birth. Some people believed that Athena did not have a mother. The most common believed story about Athena parents were that Metis was her mother and Zeus was her father and when Zeus found out Metis was pregnant he swallowed her because it was believed that she would bear a son that would overthrow him. After Zeus swallowed Metis and her unborn child he started having horrible head pains so he told Hephaestus to strike his head with an axe to release the goddess. After Hephaestus struck Zeus with the axe Athena emerged from Zeus’s head as a full grown adult with armor on. Everyone believed that Athena was metis’s unborn child and when Zeus swallowed her he became pregnant with Athena. It is said that this why Athena is the goddess of wisdom because she was birthed strait from Zeus’s head. It was also said that Athena’s mother was also very wise so that is also one of the reasons Athena is a goddess of wisdom. There were many different stories to who Athena’s parents were. There were stories that said Athena was the daughter of Pallas a winged giant and there was one that also said she was the daughter of Poseidon and Tritonis. These stories about Athena came from many different legends being told about this Greek goddess. Some people believed that Pallas or Poseidon and Triton were Athena’s parents but most people believed that Zeus and Metis were the parents of Athena.

Athena was a virgin goddess. It was commonly believed that she created a relationship with her masculine self instead of developing one with a male companion. Some people knew Athena as one of the three Amazon women. Amazon women were fierce warrior women who lived entirely without men. In the outer world Athena entered the male arena. Athena was like no other goddess because unlike her they shared intellect and career goals with other women while she shared goals and intellect with men. Athena was a very masculine woman. It is believed that Athena was so masculine because Zeus birthed her from his head so they shared intellect and goals. Some people felt that Athena was just trying to conceal her feminine side with her masculine one. Although Athena was a virgin goddess she had a son. Athena’s son was Erichthonius, Athena was not his only mother he has two mothers and one father. Erichthonius was created when Hephaestus tried to rape Athena and his seed spilt on her leg and she wiped it off and it fell to Gaia Erichthonius’s other mother. Athena used to be the goddess of women’s arts and crafts when she was a younger but as she got older she started participating in more dominant activities. Some people felt Athena was still classified as the goddess of women’s arts and craft even though she got more masculine