Athena the Greek Goddess :: Greek Mythology

Athena Athena was the virgin daughter of the great god Zeus and she was also one of the great Olympian deities. Not only was she the goddess of wisdom but she was also the goddess of war and the patroness of arts and crafts. Which led her to be a great leader Athena was born beside the river Triton where she was nurtured by 3 nymphs. One of the nymphs Was her playmate, Pallas. When she was just a girl, Athena accidentally killed Pallas. As a token of her grief Athena put the nymphs name before her own, so she was often know as Pallas Athena. Athena was endowed with much wisdom from her mother Metis, which means cunning. Because she enjoyed war and was a fierce warrior she used her intelligence for military strategy I will give you 3 examples of how Athena used he military cunning to pass challenges:- The first is the Trojan War: For ten years the Greeks tried to capture the city of Troy, but its walls were invincible. Athena inspired Odysseus to build a hollow wooden horse. He was to make the horse taller and Wider than the main gate of Troy so the Trojans had to destroy their own wall to bring In the gift from the gods, so they thought. The next example was when the hero Perseus was forced to fight the Terrible Gorgon Medusa. Nobody was able to kill her because if you looked directly at her You would turn to stone. Athena gave Perseus a highly polished shield so he could look at her Since he was looking at her reflection and not her face he did not turn to stone stone and was able to kill her. The 3rd example was when Hercules was forced to clean the filthy Augean stables. He was so overwhelmed by the filth that he couldn't do it. Athena then guided him into Changing the course of the Alpheus and Peneus rivers so that they would flow through the stables And thus wash them for him. She also had a city that she was the patron goddess of. Athens, the city named after her to this day. She competed with Poseidon, god of the sea, to become the patron god of Athens. Their contest took place on the Acropolis. which is a Large flat hill in the middle of the city. The winner was the one who could give the better gift to the people.