Athena the Wise

Drawn by: Maria Christine P. Tuazon

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Who are the 12 Greek Gods and Goddesses of Mount Olympus? Who is your favorite among them? Each Gods and Goddesses have their unique and special traits. They also have interesting stories about their birth, parents, and life. All of them are interesting to study, but for me the most interesting is the Greek Goddess Athena.

Who is Athena?

Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis. Her Roman name is Minerva. Athena is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill. Quite a mouthful right? That’s why I find her interesting.

They said that when Metis was pregnant with Athena, she was inside Zeus’ belly. Zeus taught that he was able to save himself from having a child that is much stronger than him, but he was wrong. He was too late. When Metis gave birth, Zeus’ head ached and he asked his son Hephaestus to open his head. When his head was opened Athena came out with her armor (Goddess of strength, strategy and skills) which is said to be from her mother. Even though all of that happened, they say that Athena is still the favorite daughter of Zeus. Because of that story I started to think that because of the way she was born, she was called the Goddess of Wisdom.

Athena is also the Patron Goddess of Athens. The story behind that starts with a place in Greece that has no patron God or Goddess. Athena together with Poseidon tried to impress the people of that place. Poseidon made an ocean but Athena, gifted with wisdom decided to make an Olive tree. The people were most impressed by what Athena did and made her their patron Goddess.

Some stories say that Athena was the one responsible for Medusa’s hideous face. They say that Medusa was once a beautiful girl who boasted about her beauty. Then one day she insulted Athena and that caused Athena to get mad at her and turn her ugly so that no one would even look at her.

There are still lots of stories related to Athena but these are my favorites. I really admire her and I hope I could be as wise as her.