Athena
Athena
one of the most important goddesses in Greek Mythology.
In Roman Mythology she became identified with the goddess
Minerva. Also known as Pallas Athena. Athena sprang
full-grown and armored from the forehead of the god
Zeus and was his favorite child. He entrusted her with
his shield, adorned with the hideous head of Medusa
the Gorgon, his buckler, and his principal weapon, the
thunderbolt. A virgin goddess, she was called Parthenos.
Her
major temple, the Parthenon, was in Athens, which, according
to legend, became hers as a result of her gift of the
olive tree to the Athenian people. Athena was primarily
the goddess of the Greek cities, of industry and the
arts, and, in later mythology, of wisdom; she was also
goddess of war.
Athena
was the strongest supporter, among the gods, of the
Greek side in the Trojan War. After the fall of Troy,
however, the Greeks failed to respect the sanctity of
an altar to Athena at which the Trojan prophet Cassandra
sought shelter. As punishment, storms sent by the god
of the sea, Poseidon, at Athena's request destroyed
most of the Greek ships returning from Troy. Athena
was also a patron of the agricultural arts and of the
crafts of women, especially spinning a nd weaving. Among
her gifts to man were the inventions of the plow and
the flute and the arts of taming animals, building ships,
and making shoes. She was often associated with birds,
especially the owl.
