![]() In a burst of radiance Athena sprang forth fully grown and clad in gleaming armor.ĭrawing of a Bronze relief depicting the Birth of Athena (shield band panel, 550 BCE)Īthena was Zeus’ first daughter and his favorite child. Prometheus seized a labrys (a double headed axe from Crete) and struck open Zeus’ head with a noise louder than a thunderclap. Insane with pain, Zeus begged his ally Prometheus (the seer among the Titans) to cure him of this misery through whatever means necessary. The pounding of her hammer within his temples gave Zeus a terrible headache. Inside Zeus’ skull she began to craft a suit of armor for her child to wear. To forestall this problem Zeus tricked Metis into transforming into a fly and then he sniffed her up his nose so that he could always have her cunning counsel inside his head. It was foretold that Metis would bear an extremely powerful offspring: any son she gave birth to would be mightier than Zeus. Metis was Zeus’ first wife and the secret to his success… but there was a problem. Her wise counsel and crafty stratagems gave the Olympian gods and edge against the Titans and the latter were ultimately cast down. In order to win his battle against the ruling race of Titans (and thus usurp his father’s place as the king of the gods), Zeus married the Titan Metis, goddess of cunning and prudence. 340 BC, bronze cult statue)Īthena’s birth has its roots in Zeus’ war with his father Cronus. Athena of Piraeus (unknown but possibly Euphranor, ca.
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