Athena

Wise One, Gray-Eyed One, Bright-Eyed One, Gleaming-Eyed Goddess, Patron of Heroic Endeavors, Owl-Faced, Feathered Brain, Stuck-up Bitch

## Relationships

### Ancestors

Khaos (Progenitor)
Ouranos (Ancestor)
Gaia (Ancestor)
Kronos (Grandfather)
Oceanus (Grandfather)
Rhea (Grandmother)
Tethys (Grandmother)

### Parents

Zeus (Father)
Metis (Mother)

### Siblings

**Paternal Half-Siblings**
Persephone, Hephaestus, Artemis, Apollo, Ares, Hermes, Dionysus...

### Romances

Frederick Chase, Lily Nguyen, Augustine Washington...

### Children

**Mortal Sons**
Daedalus, Erichthonius, Malcom Pace, Zane Carver, Frédéric Bartholdi, George Washington...
**Mortal Daughters**
Maria Hill, Annabeth Chase...

## Personal Status

### Groups

Twelve Olympians (6th)
**Council of Godheads**

* Reserved Godheads

### Affliations

Mount Olympus
Olympian Deities
Greco-Roman Deities
Greco-Roman Pantheon

### Abilities

**Ethereal Energy*** War Manipulation
* Victory Manipulation
* Knowledge Manipulation

### Power Scale

**Rank**: EX-Ranked
**Class**: God-Class

## Portrayal

### English VA

Melissa Fahn

**Athena**, also called **Minerva** or **Pallas Athena**, is the Goddess of Warfare, Strategy, and Handicraft from Greco-Roman Mythology. As one of the Twelve Olympians, she is a ruler of Mount Olympus with immense authority over the Greco-Roman Pantheon.

## Overview

**Athena** or **Athene**, often given the epithet **Pallas**, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, handicraft, and warfare who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, particularly the city of Athens, from which she most likely received her name. The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is dedicated to her. Her major symbols include owls, olive trees, snakes, and the Gorgoneion. In art, she is generally depicted wearing a helmet and holding a spear.

From her origin as an Aegean palace goddess, Athena was closely associated with the city. She was known as *Polias* and *Poliouchos* (both derived from *polis*, meaning "city-state"), and her temples were usually located atop the fortified acropolis in the central part of the city. The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis is dedicated to her, along with numerous other temples and monuments. As the patron of craft and weaving, Athena was known as *Ergane*. She was also a warrior goddess, and was believed to lead soldiers into battle as *Athena Promachos*. Her main festival in Athens was the Panathenaia, which was celebrated during the month of Hekatombaion in midsummer and was the most important festival on the Athenian calendar.

In Greek mythology, Athena was believed to have been born from the forehead of her father Zeus. In some versions of the story, Athena has no mother and is born from Zeus' forehead by parthenogenesis. In others, such as Hesiod's *Theogony*, Zeus swallows his consort Metis, who was pregnant with Athena; in this version, Athena is first born within Zeus and then escapes from his body through his forehead. In the founding myth of Athens, Athena bested Poseidon in a competition over patronage of the city by creating the first olive tree. She was known as *Athena Parthenos* "Athena the Virgin," but in one archaic Attic myth, the god Hephaestus tried and failed to rape her, resulting in Gaia giving birth to Erichthonius, an important Athenian founding hero. Athena was the patron goddess of heroic endeavor; she was believed to have aided the heroes Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, and Jason. Along with Aphrodite and Hera, Athena was one of the three goddesses whose feud resulted in the beginning of the [[wikipedia:Trojan War.

She plays an active role in the *Iliad*, in which she assists the Achaeans and, in the *Odyssey*, she is the divine counselor to Odysseus. In the later writings of the Roman poet Ovid, Athena was said to have competed against the mortal Arachne in a weaving competition, afterward transforming Arachne into the first spider; Ovid also describes how she transformed Medusa into a Gorgon after witnessing her being raped by Poseidon in her temple. Since the Renaissance, Athena has become an international symbol of wisdom, the arts, and classical learning. Western artists and allegorists have often used Athena as a symbol of freedom and democracy.

## Appearance

Athena is considered to be one of the most beautiful goddesses of Mount Olympus, rivaling the beauty of Hera or Aphrodite. She has a tall and well-built frame, with voluptuous breasts, a slender waist, and wide hips. Her long purple hair falls down past her hips and her light-purple eyes shine a silver-gray whenever she uses her divine powers.

## Personality

Athena is an exceptionally brilliant, quick-witted, and disciplined goddess, who always takes precautions before acting and disapproves of taking considerable risks. While this left many with a negative opinion of her and makes her seem cold and calculating, she still concedes with the reasons for her perspective and her opinion of her weaknesses.

As such, she might be the worst enemy someone can make, for she would never give up or make a rash mistake simply because she hates someone. Regardless, she has shown to have a soft side for those who seek knowledge and tries to help them as much as she possibly can.

In battle, she is a fierce, astute, and extremely unpredictable warrior and tactician. Despite her calm and reserved demeanor, she can become intensely focused in a duel and shows many typical blood-knight traits, similar to that of her brother Ares, to the point where one might mistakenly see what she sees as a "friendly spar" to be a battle to the death.

According to her, while she considers fighting as an inevitable necessity at times, focusing more on minimizing casualties in war while still trying to achieve, she still appreciates the performative nature of a good battle, as it is the nature of all war gods.

She has a strong sense of justice and fairness that even her own allies and champions aren't exempt from, and extends to even those who had offended her. However, she is able to put aside personal grudges, or at least temporarily, to either help those who are desperate or to serve the greater good.

She can be extremely prideful and stern, having a dark side just like other gods. She is prideful and arrogant, always believes that she herself is the smartest person in the room and is the only one capable of making intelligent decisions. She hates having her faults pointed out by others and even the smallest hints of mockery can result in horrific curses, courtesy of her hubris. However, despite her pride rivaling that of her father Zeus', she is able to admit that she is wrong, something that isn't even remotely in the nature of most gods.

She despises anything Roman, from the culture to even the heroes and demigods of the Roman part of the pantheon, as the Romans didn't consider [Minerva] to be a true War Goddess and made her more of a defensive/strategic adviser and artist, even looking down upon defensive maneuvers and only falling back on them as a last resort. As such, she hates Rome with all of her essence and wants every single trait and influences of Rome to be erased. Even after the Roman Empire collapsed, she still harbors great hatred toward Rome and its people, and as Rome's legacy continues, toward Camp Jupiter and New Rome.

## Trivia

* Her name "Athena" means "Lady of Athens".
* Her attributes include the Aegis, helmet, spear, armor, Gorgoneion, chariot, distaff, the olive tree, owl, serpent, spider, and the horse.
* She identifies as asexual demiromantic.
* Together with Hestia and Artemis, they form the Maiden Goddesses of Olympus.
* She likes reading, coffee (mixed with a heavy amount of alcohol), and deep-fried foods.
	+ She dislikes dealing with paperwork, perverts, and measuring her height.
* According to Apollo, she makes awful puns whenever she is stressed, much to his and other Olympians' suffering.
* When she leads in battle, she is known as "Athena Promachos."
* She is one of the patron deities of Sparta,  where she was called "Athena Poliachos", meaning "Athena Protector of the City."
* She was known as "Athena Parthenos" ("Athena the Virgin"), which was how she was worshiped at the Athenian Parthenon. This would also be the name of her statue that stood there, which eventually became the most famous Greek statue of all time.
* The Pallas family of asteroids is named after one of her alternative names.
	+ 2 Pallas, the third-largest asteroid in the Solar System, is named after her.
	+ The Pallas crater on the Moon is named after her.
* She and Hephaestus are the only gods Zeus trusted to wield his thunderbolt.
* Her most important festival was the Panathenaia, which was celebrated annually in Athens.
* Athena's Roman form is displayed on the Medal of Honor - the highest military decoration awarded by the United States' government, much to her dismay.
	+ Her image as Minerva is, once again, appeared on the Great Seal of California, as she was born an adult, and California was never a territory.