Athena

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the Greek goddess. For other uses, see Athena (disambiguation).
"Athene", "Athina", and "Pallas Athena" redirect here. For other uses, see Athene
(disambiguation), Athina (disambiguation), and Pallas Athena (disambiguation).

Athena
Goddess of wisdom, craft, and war

Mattei Athena at Louvre. Roman copy from the 1st century BC/AD
after a Greek original of the 4th century BC, attributed to Cephisodotos
or Euphranor.

Abode

Mount Olympus

Symbol

Owls, olive
trees, snakes, Aegis, armour, helmets, spears, Gorgoneion

Parents

Metis and Zeus[1]

Siblings

Aeacus, Angelos, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Diony

sus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Eris, Ersa, Hebe, Helen of
Troy, Hephaestus, Heracles, Hermes, Minos, Pandia, Perse
phone, Perseus, Rhadamanthus, the Graces, the Horae,
the Litae, the Muses, the Moirai

Roman eq Minerva
uivalent
This article contains special characters. Without
proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or
other symbols.
Part of a series on

Ancient Greek religion

Features

Greek mythology

Ancient Greek philosophy

Hellenistic philosophy

Ancient Greek religion

Polytheism

Henosis

Monism

Pantheism

Orthopraxy

Godheads
Olympians

Zeus

Hera
Aphrodite

Apollo

Ares

Artemis

Athena

Demeter

Dionysus

Hades

Hephaestus

Hermes

Hestia

Poseidon
Primordial deities

Aether

Aion
Ananke

Chaos

Chronos

Erebus

Eros

Gaia

Hemera

Nyx

Phanes

Pontus

Thalassa

Tartarus

Uranus
Lesser deities

Alpheus

Amphitrite

Asclepius

Aura
Bia
Circe
Deimos

Eileithyia

Enyo

Eos

Eris

Harmonia

Hebe

Hecate

Helios

Heracles

Iris
Kratos

Leto

Metis

Momus

Morpheus

Nemesis

Nike

Pan

Persephone

Phantasos

Phobos

Proteus

Scamander

Selene
Thanatos

Thetis

Triton

Zelus

Arete

Hubris

Xenia

Ethics

Ethic of reciprocity

Practices

Amphidromia

Animal sacrifice

Funeral practices

Greek hero cult

Hieros gamos

Iatromantis

Libations
Oracles

Pharmakos

Temples

Votive offerings
Festivals

Daphnephoria

Dionysia

Dionysian Mysteries

Eleusinian Mysteries

Panathenaic Games

Panhellenic Games

(Isthmian

Nemean

Olympic

Pythian)

Thesmophoria

Sacred places

Eleusis

Delphi

Delos

Dodona

Mount Olympus

Olympia

Texts

Argonautica

Bibliotheca

Corpus Hermeticum

Delphic maxims

Dionysiaca

Epic Cycle

Homeric Hymns

Odyssey
Orphic Hymns

Iliad

Theogony
Works and Days

History

Mycenaean gods
Decline of Hellenistic polytheism

Julian restoration
Hellenismos portal

Athena v

Athena (/in/; Attic Greek: , Athn,

or , Athnaia; Epic: , Athnai; Doric: , Athn) or Athene (/
ini/; Ionic: , Athn), often given the epithet Pallas (/pls/; ), is the
goddess of wisdom, craft, and war[2] in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Minerva is
the Roman goddess identified with Athena.[3] Athena is known for her calm temperament,
as she moves slowly to anger. She is noted to have only fought for just reasons, and
would not fight without a purpose.[4]
Athena is portrayed as an astute companion of heroes and is the patron goddess of
heroic endeavour. She is the virgin patroness of Athens. The Athenians founded
the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her
honour.[3]
Veneration of Athena was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt
to cultural changes.[citation needed] In her role as a protector of the city (polis), many people
throughout the Greek world worshipped Athena as Athena Polias ( "Athena
of the city"). While the city of Athens and the goddess Athena essentially bear the same
name (Athena the goddess, Athenai the city), it is not known which of the two words is
derived from the other.[5]