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Athena (Minerva)
Profile
If you get a chance, you really ought to hang out with Athena while you're on Mount Olympus. Being the goddess of wisdom, she definitely has a lot of smart things to say. Everybody respects Athena. All the famous heroes – Heracles, Jason, Odysseus, etc. – look to her for guidance. So, if you're smart, you'll take a sec to have a convo with the goddess of wisdom.
Basic Information
Name Athena
Nickname Minerva (Roman name), Pallas Athena, Athene
Sex Female
Current city Mount Olympus, though Athens is a second home.
Work & Education
Occupation Goddess of Wisdom
Goddess of War (Strategy and Defense)
Goddess of Justice
Supporter of Heroic Endeavors
Goddess of Weaving, Crafts, and SkillEducation I am education.
Beliefs
Political views I am loyal to my father, Zeus.
Family & Friends (& Enemies)
Parents Zeus (and perhaps Metis, depending on how one judges such things)
Siblings My father has many children: Apollo, Artemis, Ares, Dionysus, Hebe, Hermes, the Muses, Pan, Persephone, and more.
Children I'm too wise to do anything so foolish as to procreate. I did, however, adopt a son named Erichthonius.
Friends Odysseus
Jason
Perseus
Heracles
NikeEnemies The Trojans
The Titans
Medusa
ArachneRelationships
Relationship status Single, and I'm staying that way.
Interested in Nobody.
Favorites
TV Shows PBS
Band of Brothers
Generation Kill
Frasier
How It's Made
Ingenious MindsQuotations "Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
– Plato
"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the lifelong attempt to acquire it."
– Albert Einstein
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge."
– Stephen HawkingBooks War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
The Art of War by Sun Tzu
Ulysses by James Joyce
The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (I simply adore Minerva McGonagall; she is a worthy namesake.)
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Portrait of Lady by Henry James
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
Julius Caesar by Shakespeare
Henry V by Shakespeare
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Because I could not stop for Death by Emily Dickinson
Daddy by Sylvia Plath
Dulce et Decorum Est by Wilfred Own
The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred Lord TennysonMusic Movies The English Patient
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Henry V
Saving Private Ryan
Black Hawk Down
The Hurt Locker
The WarActivities & Interests
Likes Owls
Olive trees (I created the olive tree)
Snakes
My aegis (which has Medusa's head on it)
Battle gear, especially helmets, shields, and spearsInterests Weaving, at which I am quite proficient
Military strategyGroups Gods of Olympus
I judge you when you use poor grammar.
Athens, Greece
Spotter's Guide
You really can't miss Athena. She's always wearing gleaming golden armor, with a giant crest jutting from her helmet. A lot of times, she carries a shield with Medusa's snake-haired head plastered on it. (Yeah, she can be a little morbid at times.)
Physical Description
Sex: Female
Age: 20s
Build: Muscular
Complexion: Pale
Hair color: Light brown
Facial hair: None
Scars/marks/tattoos: None
Jewelry and accessories: Medusa's head mounted on armor around her shoulders
Clothing: Toga, or other flowing clothing
Armor: Plumed helmet, breastplate, and shield
Type of weapon: SpearTypical Companions
- Soldiers
- Groups of young women
- Owls
Other Notes
Known hangouts: Athena is often found on the battlefield, emerging from Zeus' skull, or even floating in the air. She's known to frequent Athens, Greece, and is sometimes seen near olive trees.
Sightings
Dec 20, 0799 - Dec 20, 0599
The Odyssey
The ancient Greek writer Homer included many of the gods of Olympus in The Odyssey, the story of the hero Odysseus. Athena is the main god in the poem because she's taken a special liking to the clever Odysseus and helps him on his twenty-year journey home.
Dec 20, 0799 - Dec 20, 0599
The Iliad
Homer brings the gods into The Iliad as well, which tells the story of the mythic Trojan War. Most of the gods of Olympus take sides in the human war: Hera, Athena, and Poseidon are rooting for the Greeks, while Aphrodite, Ares, and Apollo are fighting for the Trojans.
Dec 20, 2019
The Metamorphoses
The Roman poet Ovid collected all kinds of wild stories about the gods in The Metamorphoses. Here you'll find myths about Minerva (a.k.a. Athena), including the story of her friendship with Perseus. Be sure to check out Book 2, Book 4, and Book 5.
Jan 1, 1970
"The Raven"
In Edgar Allan Poe's famously creepy poem, the raven perches on top of a sculpture of Athena. What does that mean? Find out here.
Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series
Percy Jackson has run-ins with all of the gods of Olympus, including Athena. In the first book, The Lightning Thief, we meet Athena and her awesome mortal daughter Annabeth.
God of War I, II, and III
The Greek gods make it onto the PlayStation in the God of War video game trilogy. In this game, Athena starts out in her usual role: assisting and advising a brave mortal hero. This mortal hero, Kratos, butts heads with the gods of Olympus and ends up killing all of them but Aphrodite. Athena dies trying to protect Zeus.