Athena
Athena is one of the younger goddesses; she is the
child of Zeus. She has no mother. The story is
that Athena was born, fully grown and armed,
out of the head of Zeus. One day Zeus complained that he had a headache,
and Hephaistos came and banged him on the
head with an axe and out popped Athena!
Athena has no husband either. She doesn't fall in love and she doesn't
have children.
Athena is the goddess of wisdom; her symbol is the owl (the wise bird). She's the patron goddess of the city of Athens, and her owl appears on Athenian silver coins. She is also a war goddess, which is why she is usually shown fully armed, with her shield and sword.
Myths about Athena: the stories of Arachne and Medusa. Athena also plays a big part in the Odyssey.
A project making Athenian coins with Athena's owl on them
To find out more about Athena, check out these books on Amazon.com or at your local library:
Bright-Eyed Athena: Stories from Ancient Greece, by Richard Woff.
Athena, by Blake Hoena. For younger kids.
We Goddesses: Athena, Aphrodite, Hera by Doris Orgel and Marilee Heyer. For kids, with a more feminist view.
D'aulaire's Book of Greek Myths, by Edgar and Ingri D'Aulaire.
Greek Religion, by Walter Burkert (reprinted 1987). By a leading expert, for adults. He has sections on each of the Greek gods, and discusses their deeper meanings, and their function in Greek society.
