Athena's Life

Athena's Life

   At one point, Zeus was married to Metis, a daughter of the Ocean, and well known for her wisdom.  Metis became pregnant, and Zeus was warned that the son of Metis would conquer the throne over him, just like he did to his father. Not being the smartest guy, he swallowed Metis. He later got a terrible headache. He called upon Hephaestus for help. Also not being the brightest bulb on the tree, he grabbed an axe and fired away, right at Zeus' head. Suddenly, Athena popped out of his head, fully armed. Pretty gross, but it's what the legend says. 

Athena was the Patron goddess of Athens. Obviously. But how did it come to be? Well, Athena and Poseidon were fighting over Athens, which was probably not called Athens then, and they decided to have a contest for who would be the patron goddess of Athens. Athena brought up a large olive tree, and the people were overjoyed. Poseidon, not being one to accept defeat easily, spouted water up from the middle of the city. But, being the god of the sea, the water was salty, and the people found Athena's gift more useful. I thought this story was awesome. It shows that Athena was not only known for wisdom, but her ability of olive-ness. 

Everyone should know that Athena aided Perseus slay the gorgon Medusa. But the question is, why? Well, it's actually a pretty simple answer, actually. She just wanted a gorgon's head on her shield. She takes pride in the many heads on her shields, and wanted Medusa's really badly.

These are some of the main events in Athena's life, and some of the reasons she was well known.