The ancient Greeks maintained a very personal connection to their gods and goddesses, understanding them in the same way they understood each other. They had a god or goddess for every different element of life, and some deities watched over more than one element. The religion of the ancient Greeks had a significant impact on their view of how society should operate. With a Pantheon of Gods on high, each having their specialty, participating in regular meetings to discuss right and wrong with the world, it was not unusual for the Greeks to have a more diplomatic democratic society. They considered their gods to be very much like themselves but with more extraordinary powers to control the elements around them. It was essential women were necessary wanted good weather for productive crops or healthy livestock. A plague in the land could indicate a god unhappy with a particular ruler or policy. The people took their clues about what was necessary to keep the gods happy from the stories and legends about them. It can also be considered that these myths and legends reveal something significant about the society’s ideals for social behavior, such as expected gender roles within its citizenry. However, in exploring the example of the goddess Athena, it is discovered that the Greek conception of gender roles was not as rigidly applied as is commonly thought today. While most other goddesses were relegated to a somewhat simplified realm with occasional cross-over, Athena reigns over a wide area that crosses over traditional male and traditional female roles. “She was the goddess of wisdom, war, and the useful arts. The useful arts included farming, spinning, weaving and playing music. She was also the protector of heroes, cities, and states” (Loewen, p. 15). The story of her birth emphasizes the two sides of her nature. According to the legend, she sprang fully grown from the head of her father Zeus. This is because Zeus swallowed her mother in order to try to prevent the fulfillment of a prophecy that his second child would overthrow him the same way he overthrew his father Kronos (Tuccinardi, 1997). When she emerged, she was already dressed in armor and wielding a spear and shield. According to Eicher and Roach-Higgins (1992), the elements of her dress were important because they immediately communicated specific ideas about her character that was as contradictory as the physical gender of the birthing parent. “In appropriating the female ability to give birth, he [Zeus] suffers the pain associated with it too. There is a nice gender inversion here: the king of the gods has taken on the role that is quintessentially female, while Athena emerges in full armor” (Deacy, p. 25). This child, so unnaturally born and so obviously ready for battle, upset the order of the universe enough to stop time. “She sprang forth at once from the immortal head and stood before Zeus who holds the aegis, shaking a sharp spear. Great Olympos began to quake dreadfully at the might of Glaukopis, and earth all about screamed horribly, and the sea moved and frothed with dark waves, while foam suddenly burst forth. The brilliant son of Hyperion stopped his swift-footed horses for a long time, until the girl, Pallas Athena, stripped the godlike armor from her immortal shoulders, and Metieta Zeus rejoiced” (Homeri