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Top 10 Facts about Athena, the Greek Goddess

Athena is associated with warfare and wisdom as well as handicraft, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, strategic warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, and skill. Athena ruled over the wisdom, the war, the weaving and the crafts.

Her home was in Mount Olympus and she had 26 siblings. Scholars believe that her name comes from the city of Athens. There is some debate as to whether the citizens named Athens in honor of her or if she received her name after the city already existed. Her game is widespread to say the least. Here are the Top 10 Facts about Athena, the Greek Goddess.

1. She was born under miraculous circumstances

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Zeus was the father to Athena. When he learnt that Metis’ next child may overthrow him, Zeus swallowed his first wife who was already pregnant with Athena.

When the time to deliver the child almost arrived, Zeus started having terrible migraines. The pain was too much to the extent that he could not handle it. Hephaestus struck his head with an axe and Athena leapt out of his head fully armed and with a mighty cry. Zeus was very excited to finally have a warrior heir to his seat.

2. Athena killed her childhood friend

During her childhood days, Athena had a friend that she loved dearly. His name was Pallas.  was a Titan god in Greek mythology, son of the Titans Crius and Eurybia. Pallas was the titan of Warcraft.

However, one day, as they were practicing some martial exercises, Athena accidentally killed her friend. Grief-stricken and in an attempt to preserve her memory, she added her friend’s name to her own. That’s why many people know Athena as Athena Pallas.

Click to find out more about the 15 great facts about Zeus in Greek mythology. 

3. She was the patron of Athens

Before she was given the title, Athena and Poseidon and a misunderstanding about the issue. Athena, the Patron of Athens. Poseidon claimed that the city would benefit more from him than Athena. He struck his trident into a rock to prove this.

It created a seawater stream which welled up in the Temple of Erechtheion on the north side of the Acropolis. Athena on the other hand merely planted an olive tree. However, the first king of Athens, Cecrops – who was the judge of the contest – realized that the olive tree was much more beneficial, since it gave the Athenians fruit, oil and wood.

4. Athena was a master artisan

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Athena was a master artisan. While she was the women counterpart of Ares as a war goddess, she was also the female equivalent of Hephaestus when it came to arts and crafts. She really had such a talent. Homer says that Athena fashioned ornate and luxuriously embroidered robes for Hera and herself. Some even say that she combined her two main interests as a goddess of war and art to invent the war chariot and even the warship.

5. Athena helped many of Greece’s ancient gods

Athena was associated with wisdom. That’s why many gods came to her for help. Most famously, she guided Odysseus during his ten-year-long journey back to Ithaca. But, she also helped many others, such as Heracles, Perseus, Bellerophon, Jason, Diomedes, Argus, and Cadmus. Athena also helped Jason in the construction of the Argo and Perseus in his quest to kill Medusa.

Have a look at the 10 Most Famous Historical events that happened in Greece.

6. Athena created spiders

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Athena, as the goddess of craftwork, was renowned for her weaving. Arachne, a mortal woman, boasted that she was a better weaver than the goddess herself. This act angered Athena so much. She tried to make Arachne repent while disguised as an old woman.

When Arachne refused, Athena revealed herself and challenged Arachne to a weaving contest. Arachne  weaved the exploits and affairs of the gods in a tapestry so perfect.  Athena could find no fault with the workmanship. She therefore turned her into a spider, forever weaving webs.

7. She was responsible for the creation of Medusa

Medusa was originally a priestess of the goddess Athena. She was renowned for her beauty. Struck by her beauty, Poseidon raped Medusa in Athena’s temple. Athena turned Medusa’s hair into snakes as a punishment for defiling her space. She also cursed her to turn any man who looked at her head into stone. Medusa is one of the most famous monster in Greek mythology.

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8. Athena was also known as Parthenos

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Parthenos was an epithet given to goddess Athena to acknowledge her status as a virgin deity. Parthenos translates to the word virgin or maiden. In Athens, the Parthenon, the largest temple in the Acropolis, was dedicated to Athena.

The temple held Athena Parthenos, a 37 feet tall statue of the goddess. The original statue was sculpted by Phidias and has since been lost or destroyed.

9. She played a major role in the Trojan war

Since she was angry with Â鶹APP and the Trojans, Athena sided with the Greeks during the Trojan War. She ensured that her favorite Achaean heroes were kept safe. Athena intervened many times on behalf of the Greeks. She even broke the non-intervention rule that Zeus had implemented.

Athena granted Diomedes superhuman strength, causing him to slaughter Trojans and wound Aphrodite. In the infamous duel between Achilles and Hector, Athena tricked Hector into facing Achilles without a weapon, leading to his death.  Later, Athena sent forward the serpents that killed Laocoon.

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10. Athena raised Ericthonius

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Athena reared Ericthonius, son of Hephaestus. He was half man, half serpent. Athena put the infant in a chest and gave it to others to watch over, forbidding them to open it. When they did, she drove them mad as punishment.