10 Myths About the Greek Goddess Athena

Athena was the daughter of Zeus and Metis and one of the twelve Olympian deities the Greeks believed ruled over the cosmos. She was the goddess of wisdom and war, but also of crafts and weaving. As a patron of heroes, such as Odysseus and Perseus, she plays an important role in Greek heroic tradition and features heavily in the 7th-century epics the Iliad and the Odyssey. Athena was also one of three virgin goddesses, the other two being Artemis and Hestia. A common epithet for her, and the facet of her worshiped on the Acropolis, was Parthenos meaning “maiden.” She was worshiped all over the Greek world, but her primary cult center was in Athens, the only city that bore her name.

Athena had a unique birth among the gods. After Zeus had defeated the Titans and became king of the gods, he took the goddess Metis as his wife. It was foretold that she would have two children, first a daughter followed by a son. Gaia and Ouranos told Zeus that this son would overthrow him, just as he had overthrown his own father. To prevent this he swallowed Metis while she was still pregnant with their daughter.

The 8th-century poet Hesiod describes that one day Athena sprung forth from Zeus’s head, but in another version Hephaistos cleaves Zeus on the head with an ax and sets the goddess free.

Zeus seems to have given Athena special treatment due to the circumstances of her birth. In a passage in the Iliad, Ares speaks with Zeus after Athena aided the Greek soldier Diomedes to wound him. He complains to Zeus, saying:

“But that girl-

you never block her way with a word or action, never,

you spur her on, since you, you gave her birth

from your own head, that child of devastation!” (Iliad.5.879-880)

2. Pallas Athena

A common name given to Athena is Pallas. There are two versions of the myth that explain this name. The first is that Pallas was a giant who fought against the Olympian gods in a war known as the Gigantomachy. Athena flayed Pallas and used his skin as armor.

Another version asserts that Pallas was a childhood friend of the goddess. Recounted by Apollodorus, after her birth Athena was raised by the river god Triton, who had a daughter named Pallas. Both girls were trained in the art of war and eventually came into conflict with one another. When Pallas was about to land a blow on Athena, Zeus grew frightened for his daughter and placed the aegis (a sort of shield) in the way. The distraction caused Pallas to look up, and Athena landed a fatal blow. Distraught at the death of her friend, Athena took her name and raised a wooden statue of her, placing the aegis over the statue’s chest.

Perseus was the son of Zeus and Danae, the daughter of the Argive king. He was raised on the island of Seriphos, where the king there eventually took an interest in his mother. He wanted to seduce her but was unable to since Perseus had grown into a man by this time and was blocking his advances. To get him away the king sent Perseus off on an impossible task to bring him the Gorgon’s head.

Athena provided advice to Perseus on how to achieve his goal, which many assumed was doomed from the beginning. She guided him to the sisters of the Gorgons who revealed the location of the Hesperides, nymphs who knew the Gorgons’ location. This is also where he was gifted his winged sandals, Hades’s cap of invisibility, an adamantine sickle, and a special satchel to hold the head in.

On winged heels he flew to the Gorgons and, using the cap of invisibility, snuck up on them while they were sleeping. With Athena guiding his hand, he beheaded Medusa, the only mortal Gorgon, and then fled. He gave the head to Athena, who affixed it in the center of her shield. (Apollod. 2.4.2-3)

4. Heracles

Heracles was the son of Zeus and Alcmene and was by far the most renowned of the Greek heroes. As with all of Zeus’s affairs, the mortals involved always incurred the jealousy of Hera. When Heracles was born his parents feared the goddess’s wrath, and so left the baby out in a field to die of exposure. Athena happened upon this field in the company of Hera, and she convinced the goddess to breastfeed the baby. Hera was unaware of the child’s identity and so gave him her breast, but the baby nursed so violently that he caused her pain. When she could no longer endure it, Hera cast the child aside. Athena snatched up Heracles and brought him back to his mother, urging her to raise the child.

When Heracles grew into a man Hera struck him with a bout of madness that caused him to kill his own wife and children. When he was about to kill his adoptive father too, Athena threw a stone at him that knocked him unconscious. These murders are what eventually led to Heracles performing his Twelve Labors.

Athena also aided Heracles a number of times during his Twelve Labors. Two such times were before he set off to kill the Nemean Lion and while he was trying to drive off the Stymphalian birds. For his first labor to kill the Nemean Lion, she gave him a golden breastplate.

For his sixth labor to drive off the Stymphalian birds Heracles was at a loss for how to complete the task, so Athena gave him some bronze castanets and advised him to rattle them from a certain mountain near the forest where the birds had settled. He did as she suggested and the noise drove the birds off.

Bellerophon was the son of Poseidon and the queen of Corinth. Through a chain of misadventures, he wound up in Lycia, where the king tasked him with slaying the Chimera, a multi-headed, fire-breathing monster with the hybrid body of a lion, a goat, and a snake. To perform this task he needed the help of Pegasus, an immortal, winged horse and the child of the slain Medusa.

Athena came to him in a dream and told him that to tame the horse he must sacrifice a white ox to Poseidon and then use a golden bridle to tame the horse. When Bellerophon awoke he found the golden bridle beside him. He immediately went to sacrifice an ox, then slipped the bridle over the horse and mounted it. With Pegasus, he was able to find the Chimera in its mountain lair and slay it.

6. Erichthonius

Erichthonios was one of the mythical kings of Athens. His parents were Hephaistos and Earth, but he had a close association with Athena due to the peculiar circumstances of his birth.

Athena once visited Hephaistos to fashion some weapons. The god, having been spurned by his wife, Aphrodite, was overcome by his desire for Athena and chased after her. When he caught up with her he tried to rape her but Athena fought him off and he ejaculated on her leg. Disgusted, the goddess wiped the semen away and threw it on the ground. From it sprouted Erichthonius.

Athena snatched up the child and reared him in secret. Hoping to make him immortal, she placed him in a chest with serpents and entrusted it to Pandrosos, the daughter of Cecrops. She told the girl not to open the chest, but Pandrosos was overcome by her curiosity and disobeyed the goddess. In her anger, Athena drove the girl mad and made her cast herself from the top of the Acropolis.

When Erichthonius became an adult he cast out the sitting king of Athens and took the throne for himself. His first acts were to erect a wooden statue of Athena and to found the Panathenaia, a festival in honor of the goddess.

Athena is the patron goddess of crafts, so she took offense when a woman named Arachne was praised as being more skilled than the goddess at weaving. She was so skilled that nymphs came to witness not only the finished product but to watch her perform her work. It was assumed that the only way she could be so skilled was if Athena herself was her teacher, but Arachne denied it and raised a challenge to the goddess to compete in a contest of weaving. If Athena won she would accept whatever punishment. Angered at the girl’s hubris, Athena accepted the challenge.

Athena weaved an image of her contest with Poseidon for the city of Athens with the other Olympians seated in judgment. All around the perimeter were images of the punishments for mortals who dared to challenge the gods. Arachne weaved scenes of Zeus’s affairs and other episodes of celestial misconduct in such a realistic fashion that the images seemed alive. Arachne won the contest, but in a bout of rage, Athena ripped the tapestry and assaulted the girl. Athena strung her up to hang, but feeling merciful she allowed Arachne to live and transformed her into a spider. (Ovid. 6.1-145)

8. Judgment of Paris

Athena features prominently in the 7th-century epic The Iliad, acting as a staunch ally of the Greeks and enemy of the Trojans. Her enmity toward the Trojans began when she, Hera, and Aphrodite were trying to determine who was the most beautiful goddess. To decide this they chose a mortal to pick between the three of them, offering the winner a golden apple.

The mortal that was chosen was Paris of Troy. Hera promised that if he chose her she would make him king of all the lands; Athena promised him victory in battle and to make him skilled in every craft; and Aphrodite promised him Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world. Paris chose Aphrodite, and Athena hated the Trojans ever after.

The conflict of the Iliad broke out because of Paris’s decision, and Athena naturally took the side of the Greeks.

After Achilles’s death during the Trojan War, a contest was held to determine who should receive his arms and armor. Both Ajax (Aias) and Odysseus competed, but Odysseus was chosen as the winner. Ajax was overcome with anger and planned to attack the army under cover of night, but Athena drove him mad and turned him against his own cattle. When he came to his senses and discovered what he had done he committed suicide by falling on his sword.

10. Hector’s Death

In Book 22 of the Iliad, Achilles chases Hector around the walls of Troy as they battle to the death. But Hector was able to outrun his pursuer and Achilles couldn’t catch up. Athena appeared to Achilles and told him to stop his hunt and that she would persuade Hector to stand and fight. She then appeared to Hector but in the form of his brother Deiphobus, who was still safely behind the walls of Troy. In this guise, she spurred him to fight.

Hector faced Achilles and challenged him. Achilles hurled his spear, but Hector dodged it and it landed behind him in the dirt. Staying unseen, Athena picked up the spear and returned it to Achilles. Hector then launched his own spear, but it deflected off the Greek hero’s shield. He called back to Deiphobus to give him a lance, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. Hector then knew that he had been deceived by Athena and that his time had come. He drew his sword and charged, and Achilles cut him down.

References

Apollodorus. (1st or 2nd century CE). The Library of Greek Mythology (R. Hard, trans). Oxford University Press, 1997

Hesiod. (8th century BCE). Theogony and Works and Days (D. Wender, trans). Penguin Group, 1973

Homer. (8th or 7th century BCE). The Iliad (R. Fagles, trans). Penguin Books USA Inc., 1990

Hyginus. (1st century CE). Fabulae (R. Smith and S. Trzaskoma, trans). Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2007

Ovid. (43 BCE-17 CE or 18 CE). Metamorphoses (C.Martin, trans). W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2005