Athena

The tale of Athena

Athena had the strangest birth of all the gods. Zeus had been warned that his first wife, the wise Titaness Metis, would bear a son who would overthrow him, so he swallowed her whole. Some time later Zeus was struck by a terrible headache. The smith god Hephaestus split his head open with an axe, and out sprang Athena, fully grown, in shining armour, with a spear in her hand and a war cry on her lips.

She became the goddess of wisdom, of crafts and of strategy in war. Ares, her half-brother, loves the blood and noise of battle. Athena loves the plan that wins it. Her bird is the owl, which sees in the dark, and her shield is the aegis, with the head of Medusa set at its centre.

The contest for Athens

A beautiful new city in Attica needed a patron, and two gods wanted it: Athena and her uncle Poseidon. They agreed that each would give the city a gift, and the people would choose. Poseidon struck the rock of the Acropolis with his trident, and a spring gushed out. But it was salt water, as salty as his sea. Athena knelt and planted a seed, and an olive tree grew, giving food, oil and wood.

The people chose the olive tree, and the city took her name: Athens. Her great temple, the Parthenon, still stands on the Acropolis, and an olive tree still grows beside it.

Patron of heroes

Athena is the friend of clever heroes. She gave Perseus the polished shield he used against Medusa. She helped Heracles through his labours, guided Jason's ship the Argo, and above all stood by Odysseus on his ten-year journey home from Troy, often in disguise, because she loved his cunning mind. She has a harsher side too: she turned the proud weaver Arachne into a spider after Arachne boasted she could weave better than a goddess.

Athena in Battle of Myths

Athena is a cost 4 Greek hero with two aspects. As the Aegis-Bearer (guardian and mystic) she raises the Aegis, shielding all her allies and stunning her target. As the Goddess of Wisdom (mage and mystic) she grants Owl's Wisdom: every ally gains ability power and mana. With every Greek hero she shares Glory: whenever an enemy falls, the Greeks grow stronger and heal.

Did you know?

• Her epithet Grey-Eyed (glaukopis) appears again and again in Homer.
• The Romans knew her as Minerva.
• The great gold-and-ivory statue of Athena in the Parthenon was about 12 metres tall.