Myth about Athena

In Greek mythology, Athena (Greek: Ἀθηνᾶ, Athēnâ, or Ἀθήνη, Athénē; Doric: Ἀσάνα, Asána) was the goddess of civilization, specifically wisdom, weaving, crafts and the allegedly more noble side of war, as violence and bloodlust were Ares' domain. Athena's wisdom encompasses the technical knowledge employed in weaving, metal-working, but also includes the cunning intelligence (metis) of such figures as Odysseus. The owl and the olive tree are sacred to her.
She is attended by an owl, is wearing a goatskin breastplate called the Aegis given to her by her father, Zeus,[1] and is accompanied by the goddess of victory, Nike. She is often shown helmeted and with a shield bearing the Gorgon Medusa's head, a votive gift of Perseus. Athena is an armed warrior goddess, and appears in Greek mythology as a helper of many heroes, including Heracles, Jason, and Odysseus. She never had a consort or lover, and thus was often known as Athena Parthenos ("Athena the virgin"), hence her most famous temple, the Parthenon, on the Acropolis in Athens. In her role as a protector of the city, Athena was worshipped throughout the Greek world as Athena Polias ("Athena of the city"). She had a special relationship with Athens, as is shown by the etymological connection of the names of the goddess and the city.[2]
Athena is associated with Athens, a plural name because it was the place where she presided over her sisterhood, the Athenai, in earliest times.[3] Athena was probably already a goddess in the Aegean in prehistoric times.[4] There is evidence that in early times, Athena was an owl herself, or a bird goddess in general. In Book 3 of the Odyssey, she takes the form of a sea-eagle. Her tasseled aegis may be the remnants of wings:[5] she is depicted with wings on Archaic red-figure pottery.


圖片參考：http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Athena_Parthenos_Altemps_Inv8622.jpg/200px-Athena_Parthenos_Altemps_Inv8622.jpg



圖片參考：http://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png
This marble copy signed ANTIOCHOS is a first century BCE copy of Phidias' 5th-century original that stood on the Acropolis
In the Olympian pantheon, Athena was remade as the favorite daughter of Zeus, born fully armed from his forehead after he swallowed her mother, Metis. The story of her birth comes in several versions. In the one most commonly cited, Zeus lay with Metis, the goddess of crafty thought and wisdom, but immediately feared the consequences. It had been prophesied that Metis would bear children more powerful than the sire,[6] even Zeus himself. In order to forestall these dire consequences, Zeus transformed Metis into a fly and swallowed her immediately after lying with her.[citation needed] He was too late: Metis had already conceived a child. Metis immediately began making a helmet and robe for her fetal daughter. The hammering as she made the helmet caused Zeus great pain and Prometheus, Hephaestus, Hermes or Palaemon (depending on the sources examined) cleaved Zeus's head with the double-headed Minoan axe (the labrys of the Great Goddess). Athena leaped from Zeus's head, fully grown and armed, and Zeus was none the worse for the experience.
Fragments attributed to the semi-legendary Phoenician historian Sanchuniathon, said to have written before the Trojan war, make Athena instead the daughter of Cronus, a king of Byblos who is said to have visited 'the inhabitable world' and bequeathed Attica to Athena.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athena

ATHENA was the goddess who presided over the security and defense of towns and cities. She was also a goddess of the crafts such as pottery, sculpture, and weaving.

She had numerous shrines and temples throughout Greece, many of which were established on town citadels. Her presence here was believed to ensure the security of a town in times of war. Her most important shrines were the temples of the Acropoli of Athens and Sparta.

In classical sculpture Athena was portrayed as a handsome woman with kindly demeanor, dressed in a long robe and wearing a war-helm and snake-trimmed aigis breastplate set with the head of a Gorgon. She usually held a spear in her hand like a sceptre.