Skip to main content Skip to Search Box
Definition: Athena from Philip's Encyclopedia

In Greek mythology, the goddess of war, wisdom and patroness of the arts and industry, identified with Minerva. Athena emerged from the head of Zeus fully grown and armed; thereafter, she was her father's most reliable supporter, and the sponsor of heroes such as Heracles, Perseus, and Odysseus. In the Trojan War she sided with the Greeks. She helped Argus build the ship Argo for Jason and the Argonauts. She received special worship at Athens, where her main temples were the Parthenon and the Erechtheum.

Athena

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In Greek mythology, the goddess of war, wisdom, and the arts and crafts (Roman Minerva ). She was reputed to have sprung fully-armed and grown from the head of Zeus, after he had swallowed her mother Metis , the Titaness of wisdom. In Homer's Odyssey , Athena is the protector of Odysseus and his son Telemachus. Her chief cult centre was the Parthenon in Athens, and her principal festival was the Panathenaea , held every fourth year in August. In Rome the Palladium , a statue of the goddess allegedly brought by Aeneas from Troy, was kept in the temple of Vesta . Origins Athena may have evolved from a Minoan-Mycenean palace goddess, and her later association with the snake and olive may derive from the ancient worship of a snake goddess and the tree cults of Minoan-Mycenean religion. The Athenian acropolis was formerly the site of a Mycenean palace; Greek invaders adopted the resident goddess when they conquered the citadel, probably identifying her with their own virgin warrior goddess, …
1,866 results

Full text Article Athena

From Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World
Also known as: Athenaia; Athene This important Greek goddess was the guardian of the city of Athens —whose name she shared—and the patron of wisdom, handicraft, and the disciplined aspect of war. Athena was worshipped on the Acropolis of several Greek cities, including Argos and Sparta . But her…
| 1,252 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Athena

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(Әthē'nӘ), or Pallas Athena (păl'Әs), in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian deities. According to myth, after Zeus seduced Metis he learned that any son she bore would overthrow him, so he swallowed her alive. Later Hephaestus split Zeus' skull with an ax, and out…
| 295 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Athena

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
In Greek mythology, the goddess of war, wisdom, and the arts and crafts (Roman Minerva ). She was reputed to have sprung fully-armed and grown from the head of Zeus, after he had swallowed her mother Metis , the Titaness of wisdom. In Homer's Odyssey , Athena is the protector of Odysseus and his son…
| 372 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Athena

From The Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization
In Iliad 5. 733–7, *Homer describes how Athena took off the finely-wrought robe ‘which she herself had made and worked at with her own hands’ and ‘armed herself for grievous war’. This incident encapsulates the paradoxical nature of a goddess who is as skilled in the preparation of clothes as she is…
| 956 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Athena (launch vehicle)

From Science Encyclopedia: Encyclopedia of Space and Astronomy
The Lockheed-Martin Company's Athena launch vehicle program is based on that company's solid propellant rocket system experience, as well more than four decades of space launch vehicle activity. The Lockheed-Martin Company has launched more than 1,000 rocket vehicles and produced more than 2,900…
| 213 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Athena

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
The Varvakeion, a Roman marble copy (c. ad 130)...
In ancient Greek religion , the goddess of war, handicraft, and wisdom and the patroness of Athens. Her Roman counterpart was Minerva . Hesiod told how Athena sprang in full armour from Zeus ’s forehead. In the Iliad she fought alongside the Greek heroes, and she represented the virtues of justice…
| 148 words , 1 image
Key concepts:

Full text Article Athena or Athene

From Dictionary of Classical Mythology
Athena, goddess of war.
One of the twelve great Olympian deities, and one of the three virgin goddesses of OLYMPUS . Athena was the Greek goddess of war and of handicrafts, identified by the Romans with Minerva. As war-goddess, she presided over the disciplined and rational use of war to protect the community ( Fig. 32 ). …
| 1,615 words , 3 images
Key concepts:

Full text Article aegis of Athena, the

From Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects
Variations: Aegis, Athena's aegis, shield of Athena According to classical Greek mythology, the aegis of Athena (Roman goddess Minerva), the goddess of crafts, military victories, war, and wisdom, was a breastplate trimmed with tassels and emblazoned with the image of a gorgoneion so as to incite…
| 152 words
Also known as: Aithuia (Diver Bird), Baze, Bulaia (“She of the Council”), Glauk-Opis (“Owl-faced”), Gogopa (Death Goddess), Grogopa, Merchanitis, Minerva (Roman), Nice, Nike (Goddess of Victory), Pallas (Storm Goddess), Pallas Athene, Parthenia, Parthenos (“Virgin”), Polias (Goddess of the City), …
| 533 words

Full text Article throne of Athena, the

From Encyclopedia of Mythological Objects
Variation: Athena's throne In Greek mythology, Athena (Roman goddess Minerva), the goddess of crafts, military victories, war, and wisdom, had a throne in the council hall on Mount Olympus; it sat opposite the throne of Hephaistos (Hephaestus; Roman god Vulcan), the god of bindings, the art of…
| 143 words
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources