Athena was the goddess of wisdom, strategic warfare, crafts, and civic virtue, one of the most important deities of the Greek pantheon and the patroness of Athens, the most influential city of the ancient Greek world. She was the daughter of Zeus and the Titaness Metis, born from her father’s head in full armor after he swallowed her pregnant mother to avoid a prophecy. She was a virgin goddess, never taking a lover among the gods or mortals, and she was the protector of heroes, cities, and the arts.
Athena is one of the central figures of the Olympian pantheon and the patroness of Athens, the city that gave her name. She is the goddess of wisdom (mētis), of strategic warfare, of crafts (especially weaving), and of civic order, and she is the most important female figure in the Iliad, where she stands at Zeus’s right hand and shapes the events of the war. The two central sources for the goddess are the Iliad (where she is the second most important of the Olympians after Zeus) and the Homeric Hymn to Athena.
The Birth of Athena
Athena’s birth is one of the most distinctive myths in Greek tradition. According to Hesiod, Zeus lay with the Titaness Metis (Cunning), but a prophecy warned him that any children she bore would be greater than their father. To prevent this, Zeus swallowed Metis whole. After some time, Zeus developed a terrible headache, and Hephaestus (or, in some versions, Prometheus) split his skull open with an axe. Athena sprang forth fully grown and fully armed, with a war cry that shook the heavens.
This remarkable origin story reflects Athena’s special character: she is born of the mind (her mother was Cunning) and the head (Zeus’s head), and she embodies the wisdom and rational intelligence of the supreme god. Her virginity is similarly distinctive. She was a virgin goddess, but unlike Artemis, who was a virgin of the wilderness and the hunt, Athena was a virgin of the city and the mind.
The Symbols of Athena
Athena was associated with many symbols:
- The Owl: The owl, particularly the little owl (Athene noctua), was the sacred bird of Athena, and the image of the owl appeared on Athenian coins for over five hundred years. The owl represented wisdom, the ability to see in the dark, and the keenness of vision.
- The Olive Tree: The olive, which Athena gave to Athens in her contest with Poseidon, was her gift to the city, and olive wreaths were sacred to her.
- The Aegis: A goatskin cloak, originally the protective armor of Zeus, given to Athena and used by her in battle. The aegis was sometimes depicted as a shield with the head of the Gorgon Medusa mounted on it.
- The Helmet and Spear: Athena was the goddess of strategic warfare, and she was typically depicted in full armor, with a helmet, spear, and shield.
- The Snake: The snake, particularly the sacred snake that lived on the Acropolis, was associated with Athena.
- The Gorgoneion: The image of Medusa’s head, mounted on Athena’s aegis or shield, was a powerful protective symbol.
The Domains of Athena
As goddess of wisdom, Athena presided over many aspects of human life. She was the patroness of:
- Wisdom and Knowledge: She was the goddess of philosophy, mathematics, and the rational arts. She was sometimes said to have invented the bridle, the chariot, the plow, the rake, the yoke, the ship, and many other useful things.
- Strategic Warfare: Unlike Ares, who represented the bloody, brutal, and chaotic aspects of war, Athena represented the disciplined, intelligent, and strategic elements of war. She was the goddess of generals, tacticians, and war councils.
- Crafts and Arts: Athena was the goddess of weaving, pottery, sculpture, and architecture. She taught humans many useful crafts.
- Cities and Civic Life: Athena was the protector of cities, particularly Athens, and she embodied the values of civilized urban life.
- Heroes: Athena was the patroness of many Greek heroes, including Odysseus, Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, and Jason.
The Major Myths of Athena
The Contest for Athens
The most famous of Athena’s myths is her contest with Poseidon for patronage of Athens. Both gods desired the city, and the citizens agreed to award patronage to whichever god gave them the better gift. Poseidon struck the Acropolis rock with his trident, and a saltwater spring gushed forth (and, in some versions, the first horse). Athena planted an olive tree. The Athenians chose Athena’s gift, and the city was named for her. Both gods were honored with temples on the Acropolis, and the contest was depicted in the Parthenon’s west pediment.
The Arachne Myth
In one of Athena’s most famous myths, a mortal woman named Arachne boasted that her weaving was superior to Athena’s. The goddess, disguised as an old woman, warned her not to anger the gods, but Arachne persisted. Athena accepted the challenge and wove a tapestry depicting the gods’ great deeds, including those of the god who had dishonored women. Arachne wove a tapestry depicting the loves of Zeus, including those that resulted in disgraceful offspring. Enraged, Athena tore the tapestry and struck Arachne, who hanged herself in despair. Athena, relenting, turned her into a spider, condemned to weave forever. The word “arachnid” derives from Arachne.
The Medusa Myth
According to Ovid, Medusa was once a beautiful priestess of Athena, but Poseidon raped her in Athena’s temple. Athena, angry at the desecration, transformed Medusa into a monster. The hero Perseus later killed Medusa with Athena’s help, and the goddess mounted the Gorgon’s head on her aegis.
The Judgment of Paris
In the judgment that started the Trojan War, Aphrodite was chosen as the fairest over Hera and Athena. Athena was furious, and she became a constant enemy of the Trojans throughout the war.
The Odyssey
In Homer’s Odyssey, Athena is the divine patroness of Odysseus, protecting him on his long journey home from Troy. She disguises herself as Mentor, an old friend of Odysseus, to give Telemachus advice, and she pleads his case before Zeus on Olympus. The phrase “Mentor” has come to mean a wise teacher, derived from this myth.
The Perseus Myth
Athena helped Perseus kill the Gorgon Medusa, lending him her polished shield to use as a mirror. After the killing, Perseus gave her the Gorgon’s head, and she mounted it on her aegis.
The Ajax Myth
When Ajax the Lesser violated Cassandra, the Trojan prophetess, in Athena’s temple during the sack of Troy, the goddess was enraged. She sent storms to destroy Ajax’s fleet on the return journey, and Ajax was killed by the god Poseidon when he boasted of surviving the storm.
The Worship of Athena
The worship of Athena was particularly important in Athens, where her great temple, the Parthenon, stood atop the Acropolis. The Parthenon, completed in 432 BCE, housed the colossal chryselephantine (gold and ivory) statue of Athena Parthenos, sculpted by Phidias, which was works of art in the ancient world.
Other major centers of Athena’s cult included:
- The Acropolis of Athens: Home of the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, and the temple of Athena Nike
- Tegea in Arcadia
- The island of Lindos in Rhodes
- Troezen in the Peloponnese
- Various Greek colonies in Ionia, Magna Graecia, and elsewhere
The Romans identified Athena with Minerva, the goddess of wisdom and the arts. Minerva was one of the Capitoline triad of Rome, and her temple on the Aventine Hill was a major religious center.
Athena in the Visual Arts
Athena was one of the most frequently depicted gods in Greek art. She is typically shown as a tall, athletic woman in full armor, with a helmet, spear, and aegis. The most famous surviving statue of Athena is the Varvakeion Athena, a Roman copy of Phidias’s lost Athena Parthenos, in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens. Other notable depictions include the Ludovisi Throne, the Athena of the east pediment of the Parthenon, and countless vase paintings and coins.
The Legacy of Athena
Athena is a central character in the Percy Jackson series, the namesake of the Athena Swan awards for gender equality in higher education (UK, 2005–), and a recurring figure in the God of War games. The phrase ‘Minerva’s owl flies at dusk,’ from Hegel’s preface to the Philosophy of Right, is the source of the standard modern image of Athena as the goddess of wisdom that comes to fruition only in retrospect. For the broader modern reception, see our guide to Greek mythology in modern culture.
A Note on Reading This Profile
A note on reading this profile. Athena is one of the figures in Greek myth for whom the regional traditions matter most. The Athenian Athena of the Parthenon is the goddess who invented the olive tree and won the patronage of Attica from Poseidon (Apollodorus, Bibliotheca 3.14.1). The Arcadian Athena of Tegea is a different goddess, with a different mythology. The Roman Athena, the Minerva Capta, was the goddess whose cult-statue was brought to Rome after the sack of Falerii in 241 BCE. The three readings are not contradictory, and the page above focuses on the Athenian reading, which is the most influential.