Athena



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 * // Athena

Athena is the goddess of wisdom. She was one of Zeus's many children, and was his favorite. Athena’s mother was Metis, the goddess of prudence. Her mother was Zeus's first wife of Zeus. Mother Earth had warned Zeus that if he and Metis were ever to give birth to a boy, his son would overthrow him much like he had done to his father Cronus. In an attempt to stop this from happening Zeus tricked Metis into becoming a fly which he swallowed so that he may still have the benefit of her wisdom without the fear of being overthrown. Metis however did give birth to a child while inside of Zeus. This baby grew to full size and began to pound on Zeus's skull. When the pain became unbearable Zeus asked Hephaestus to split his skull to discover the cause of his discomfort. From the split in his skull sprang the fully grown goddess Athena.

One story Athena is well known for is her encounter with Arachne. One day Athena was teaching her pupils about looming. Athena was extremely talented at using the loom. Unfortunately, there was one stubborn and bratty pupil who decided to compete with Athena. This girl’s name was Arachne. After hearing Arachne boast of her great skills Athena decided to accept the weaver challenge. Athena wove the most beautiful tapestry ever seen before. Arachne’s work was also good but she created a scene that poked fun of Athena’s father Zeus and his wives! Athena was so angry that she tore the tapestry up into pieces and then turned the girl into a spider so that she can spin her own thread and weave an empty net forever!

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[ Aphrodite ] [ Apollo ] [ Ares ] [ Artemis ] [ Athena ] [ Cronus ] [ Demeter ] [ Dionysus ]

[ Hades ] [ Hephaestus ] [ Hera ] [ Hermes ] [ Hestia ] [ Poseidon ] [ Prometheus ] [ Zeus ] 