Athena

"I once warned you, Percy Jackson, that to save a friend you would destroy the world. Perhaps I was mistaken."

- Athena

Athena  is the Greek virgin goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, useful arts, and battle strategy. She is the daughter of Zeus and Metis, and her symbols include the owl, Aegis, the olive tree, and the snake. Her Roman counterpart is Minerva. In the The Lightning Thief, she is portrayed by Melina Kanakaredes.

History
Athena was the daughter of Metis and Zeus. A prophecy had once foretold that Metis would give birth to a son more powerful than his father, which was the god Zeus. This posed a problem as Metis was already pregnant with their first child. To prevent the prophecy from taking place, Zeus tricked Metis into taking the form of a fly and swallowed her. What Zeus did not know was that Metis was pregnant with their daughter. Over time however, Zeus began to suffer from a terrible headache and asked the Titan Prometheus (in some cases it was Hephaestus and or Ares) to split his head open to find the problem. Athena sprang fully-grown from Zeus' head in full battle armor, shouting a battle cry.

She quickly became Zeus' favorite daughter. In the most ancient account, the Iliad, Athena is the goddess of ferocious and implacable fights, but wherever she can be found, she is a warrior who defends the State and the native land against the enemies coming from outside, and supports the side that is morally right. She is, above all, the Goddess of the City, the protector of civilized life, of artisan activities, and of wisdom. She also invented the bridle, which, for the first time, tamed horses, allowing men to use them.

In Greek mythology, she was one of the most active goddesses. She assisted Odysseus in his journey home from the Trojan War in the Odyssey and made sure the Greeks won the Trojan War in the Iliad by helping the Greeks by giving Odysseus the idea of the Trojan Horse. She also helped heroes like Diomedes, Hercules (in killing the Stymphalian Birds), Jason, and Perseus. Athena is known for helping heroes with cleverness. She believes that warfare should be used as a last resort and often uses her trickery and strategies to overcome her enemies.

Along with Artemis and Hestia, she is one of the three maiden goddesses. She does have demigod children in the series, though they are conceived when her divine thoughts meet the mortal ingenuity of the men she favors, a love which she believes to be the of the purest kind. Her children are then born in the same way she was, quite literally making them brain children. It is unknown if any other goddess can give birth to children in a similar way.

In Greece she was known as Pallas Athena, the name she had inherited from a friend she had accidentally killed. She was also known as Athena Parthenos or Athena the Virgin, which is how she was worshiped at the Parthenon. When she leads in battle, she was known as Athena Promachos. In some places she was known as Athena Alea as she was associated with the ancient goddess Alea.

Rivalry with Arachne
A long time ago, the mortal Arachne challenged Athena to see who could create the best tapestry. Athena then disguised herself as an old woman and tried to warn Arachne that it would be foolishness to challenge a goddess, but Arachne persisted and stated that if she lost, she would accept any punishment. Enraged, Athena revealed herself and accepted the challenge as she herself had invented weaving. Each of them then made a tapestry. Athena's tapestry was of the gods together in glory and joy while Arachne's showed the gods making fools of themselves. Athena was so infuriated by this deliberate insult to the gods that she destroyed the tapestry in rage and was declared the winner.

Arachne was filled with guilt and hung herself. Athena, after seeing Arachne's body, felt responsible for her death and decided to do her a favor. She turned Arachne into a spider so that she and all her children would be expert weavers forever. In other versions of the myth, Athena transformed Arachne into a spider directly after the contest as part of Arachne's punishment.

Be it whatever reason, ever since then, every child of Athena has suffers a deep fear of spiders. They are very paranoid that every spider they see is out to get them and avenge Arachne. Most of the time, this is true as spiders are shown to be hostile to them.

Rivalry with Poseidon
For many eons, Athena and Poseidon have had a rivalry between them, which can be traced to the time when they competed for the position of patron of the city of Athens, (called Attica at that time). The leader of the city asked the two gods to bestow a gift for the newly constructed city. Poseidon created a salt-water spring, while Athena gave them the olive tree. Seeing that the olive tree was more useful than the salt-water spring, the leader of the city made Athena their patron goddess. A temple known as the Parthenon was dedicated to her, and the new city took the name of Athens in her honor.

Another time which marks a conflict between the two Olympians was when Athena once caught Poseidon with his lover Medusa, a beautiful maiden, together in her temple. Furious with Poseidon and Medusa for doing such disgusting and disturbing acts in her temple, she turned Medusa into a hideous creature who had the additional curse of turning anyone who looked into her irresistible eyes into stone. As Medusa's sisters had helped her get inside the temple, they too were transformed. Collectively, the three sisters are known as the "Three Gorgons".

In some versions of the myth, Medusa was merely a beautiful mortal who took a vow of chastity, but was nevertheless pursued by Poseidon. She seeks refuge in the temple of Athena, but is overtaken by the sea god. Athena, however, still turns her into a gorgon, regardless.

Though it seems unlikely that Athena and Poseidon would ever cooperate, this did happen when the chariot was invented, as Athena had built the chariot itself and Poseidon had created the horses needed to pull it. Poseidon and Athena were also on the same side during the Trojan War, as they had both supported the Greeks.

Athena's rivalry with Poseidon seems to be the basis of her dislike for Percy Jackson, Poseidon's son. Their parents rivalry does not seem to affect Percy and Annabeth. Athena, however, tells Percy that she does not approve of their relationship, and has told him to stay away from her daughter on several occasions. At the end of the series, she seems to be indifferent to Percy, though she does singe his clothes as a warning should he ever hurt Annabeth.

The Sea of Monsters
She is seen when Annabeth is being lured by the Sirens, described as wearing hiking boots and jeans and casual clothing. She was sitting with Luke and Annabeth's father, Frederick Chase, supposedly at a picnic in the redesigned Manhattan that Annabeth designed.

The Titan's Curse
Athena disguises herself as a park ranger at the Hoover Dam, and advises Percy on how to escape, despite her misgivings about him. It is likely that her desire to see Annabeth saved outweighed her disapproval of him, therefore the reason she helped him.

At the Winter Solstice, when Zeus asks the room if Percy should be left alive as he could be dangerous, Athena, along with Ares and Dionysus (halfheartedly), do not raise their hands to defend him, but they were out-ruled by the majority. Athena later tells Percy not to judge her too harshly and that he is a big risk to take. Percy replies by saying, "So you're saying you shouldn't take risks?" She concedes to his point, but then informs him of his fatal flaw, which is intense personal loyalty. Percy is outraged by the thought that a desire to help those he loves could be considered a flaw, but Athena tells him that the most dangerous flaws are those that are good under the right circumstances, and that as a hero of a prophecy his flaw could cause the downfall of the world. Percy wants to argue, but is left speechless, thinking "she is pretty darn smart".

Athena was "pretty darn smart," and Percy makes a note that she would be one of the worst gods to have as an enemy, as she is smart and wouldn't make a mistake or act rashly, but would just keep hunting you down. The goddess leaves after warning him that she does not approve of his relationship with her daughter, Annabeth.

The Last Olympian
Athena knows that Typhon is a distraction, and that Kronos sent him through the United States to get them away from Olympus, so he could send his army to overtake it. She convinces Zeus to send Hermes to tell them that it is a trap and gives them information. She tells Annabeth to "Try Plan 23" and Percy to "Remember the rivers," and also to stay away from her daughter. However, the demigods from Camp Half-Blood defend their parents' thrones and many die in the process.

Athena later tasks Annabeth as the designer to rebuild Olympus. She praises Annabeth's abilities to everyone making Annabeth very proud. She also votes for awarding Percy immortality, though she turns to look at Annabeth when she says this and most likely noticed her stricken expression at the thought of losing Percy. After the council meeting, Athena privately talks to Percy saying that she could have been wrong about him, but not necessarily say she was. Later, Athena asked why Percy would give up immortality and he first says that he couldn't leave Annabeth and then quickly adds that he couldn't leave Grover Underwood either. She then quickly tells Percy to "spare her" and disappears in a column of flame that singes his shirt.

The Mark of Athena
While flying to Camp Jupiter on the Argo II, Annabeth became nervous and wished she could pray to Athena, but that was impossible. She also mentioned a meeting with her mother about a month ago, where she was given the worst present of her life from her meeting. The Romans, after conquering the Greeks, decided to crush their rivals by stealing the Athena Parthenos, breaking their and Athena's spirit. The Romans changed Athena and reduced her to a goddess of crafts and wisdom, taking away her title as a war goddess and replacing her with other gods like Bellona and Mithras, much to her anger. Since her counterpart, Minerva, was a strict maiden, Reyna, Octavian, Terminus, and the other Romans at New Rome were distraught to see her daughter Annabeth, calling it scandalous.

While on the Argo II on the way to Rome, Annabeth recalls her meeting with Athena prior to the beginning of the journey. Annabeth thought she saw her mother near Sweet on America where she was studying a map, wishing that Odysseus was there to aid her. Annabeth tried to talk to her, but she was in the form of Minerva and had no recollection of Annabeth as her daughter. She claimed that the Romans reduced her importance, but Annabeth states that Athena isn't about revenge. As Minerva however, the goddess only seems to crave vengeance for how they disgraced her. When Annabeth asks for help on locating Percy, she says that since Percy has allied with the Romans, he should perish with them and then she hands Annabeth a coin. She then tells Annabeth to avenge her and to "follow the mark", before restating she needed to find the way home.

In Charleston, Aphrodite states that Athena was affected the most by the splitting of the Greek and Roman gods. Later, in the lair of Arachne, Annabeth states that Arachne was better than Athena in the weaving of tapestries and starts to doubt her mom's ability as several of Arachne's weavings are better than those of her mother. After trapping the spider in a Chinese fingercuff that she got Arachne to weave, Annabeth gloats on how the arachnid had done a great service to Athena by protecting the Athena Parthenos, but Arachne decides to destroy her lair instead of seeing Annabeth win. Before the floor completely caves in, the Argo II blasts a whole in the ceiling and saves Annabeth as Arachne fell into the pit to Tartarus. They load the statue of Athena onto the Argo II, but Arachne managed to pull Annabeth and Percy into the pit using her thread that was still attached to Annabeth.

The House of Hades
Athena appears in Annabeth's dream while she is in Tartarus with Percy Jackson, telling her that she has done well in her quest to retrieve the Athena Parthenos. However, she also tells her that the statue has to be returned by the Romans at Camp Half Blood, in order to seal the rift between both camps.

Personality
As far as gods go, Athena can be very sympathetic: once, a man saw her bathing, she blinded him, but then sent snakes to protect him and gave him supernatural powers to see the future, amongst other things.

Athena is a very disciplined, quick thinking, and wise goddess. She is very brilliant and always takes precautions before acting. Percy notes in The Titan's Curse that Athena might be the worst enemy someone could make, even among the gods, as she would never give up or make a rash mistake simply because she hated you. She loves all of her demigod children, and seems to be a caring mother. She is the only known god who claims her children at birth. She gave her daughter Annabeth the gift of a cap that turns the wearer invisible. In one of Percy's dreams in The Battle of the Labyrinth, she is shown to have blessed both Daedelus and his young nephew Perdix. She later punishes Daedelus for killing Perdix by branding him with a partridge (the mark of a murderer).

Athena is also usually kind to other demigods. She often aids heroes on their quests, even helping Percy at one point while he was in the Hoover Dam. Athena is somewhat cold and calculating at times. She voted against letting Percy live in The Titan's Curse, because she didn't want to risk him staying alive. Athena is also known for never giving up, and crossing her is a mistake. When Paris picked Aphrodite as the most beautiful goddess instead of her, Athena took the side of the Greeks in the Trojan War and used every power within her to bring him down. In the book, Athena is seen as a strict and proud goddess. In The Lightning Thief (movie), she is less strict and didn't show any sign of not liking Poseidon or Percy. She even states that "War is not the answer". This is perhaps a little paradoxical, as she is the goddess of war strategies. However being the goddess of strategy, she knew that a war between the gods was not the answer and would only lead to unneeded sacrifice.

Appearance
Athena has long hair and intense gray eyes, as described when Percy sees her, and nearly mistakes her for Annabeth. As she is a goddess, she can turn to any form she would like so she will not always look like that. As shown in The Titan's Curse, she is shown as an average looking Park Ranger at the Hoover Dam. She is said to be beautiful and lean. She wears an elegant white dress. It is said Annabeth looks a lot like her mother, and has the same cold stare. In some myths she is said to be able to turn into a white owl. In The Titan's Curse, she is seen with black hair. She is also said to be one of the most beautiful goddesses since many men fawn over her but she uses her powers to do horrible things to them if they do not leave on her first warning. She gets along with Artemis well, being seen having similar personalities and often conduct conversations.



Minerva
Athena can change into her Roman counterpart of Minerva. Unlike the other gods, as Minerva she is less warlike and militaristic and is instead a goddess of crafts and wisdom. She also remains a maiden goddess in this form, but re-frames from having any children at all, unlike Athena who is able to have "Brain Children." Because the Romans depicted Minerva as a more cerebral and demure goddess, she dislikes the Romans despite being a Roman god, as they took away her military importance and stole her statue.

Abilities
As a daughter of Zeus, Athena is an extremely powerful goddess:
 * Prowess in Battle: As the goddess of battle, Athena is a great warrior, and a master of both armed and hand-to-hand combat, but frequently uses her wisdom to overcome her opponents instead of sheer force. During the first Gigantomachy, she was able to defeat the fire-breathing Enceladus (the most cunning Giant) with the help of Hercules.
 * Divine Wisdom: As the goddess of wisdom, Athena is very wise, intelligent, and knowledgeable, constantly coming up with brilliant strategies. She was also able to see that Typhon was only a decoy in Kronos' plan to defeat the gods. However, she tends to measure the odds without taking her own or others feelings into account, leading to her voting to destroy Percy in The Titan's Curse (but she was out voted). Due to her wisdom, she was the one Zeus trusted to check on the imprisoned Titans in Tartarus.
 * Shapeshifting: Athena can transform into an owl like in The Last Olympian. It is unknown if she can turn into other animals also. She also appeared as a park ranger at the Hoover Dam in The Titan's Curse.
 * Strategist: She is a skilled tactician (greater than Ares), since unlike him, Athena only uses violence as a last resort.

Family
Although she is counted as a virgin goddess, Athena can conceive children by joining her mind with her lovers. This means the offspring are literally 'brain children'. It is believed that this ability of Athena's was influenced by the fact she came out of Zeus's brain in full battle armor.

Gifts
Athena has shown to be the most active goddess, secretly protecting her children from monsters such as when Annabeth ran away, she protected Annabeth until she met Thalia and Luke.
 * She gave Annabeth a cap of invisibility (a Yankees cap).
 * She gave Daedalus and Perdix her blessing of wisdom.

The Lightning Thief
Athena

Athena is played by Melina Kanakaredes. She played a more major role than the other gods at Olympus, besides Zeus and Poseidon. She was seen talking to Zeus about the threat of war between the gods if the Master Bolt is not returned, trying to convince him that 'war is not the answer'. When peace is declared by Zeus, Annabeth says 'Hi, mom,' and Athena tells her that she is very proud of her.

While they were in the Parthenon, Percy sees 'Athena' written in Greek at the foot of her statue, and when he tells Annabeth, she wonders whether her mom really looks like the statue. Percy, in response, tells her 'We'll find out,' indicating that he is confident they will survive the quest and make it to Olympus. Annabeth also mentions that her mother had been speaking to her telepathically to help her, similar to how Poseidon spoke to Percy, saying that even though she hadn't seen her, she still felt close to her mother. It is unconfirmed whether Melina Kankaredes will return for the Sea of Monsters film.

Trivia

 * Pallas, one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt, is named after Pallas Athene (or Athena) Parthenos, one of Athena's alternative names.
 * Her hair color is black in The Titan's Curse and blonde in The Sea of Monsters.
 * She is the only Virgin goddess who has children.
 * Minerva, her Roman counterpart, is displayed on the medal of honor, the highest military decoration awarded by the United States Government.
 * She highly dislikes Percy and Annabeth together because of the rivalry between Poseidon and her.
 * In the series, Frederic Bartholdi designed the The Statue of Liberty as a representation of his mother, Athena.
 * In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena never had any children except for Erichthonius, who like Athena's other children, wasn't born in the traditional sense.
 * In some Greek myths, Athena was the goddess of magic.
 * In one Greek myth, instead of turning Arachne into a spider, Arachne hung herself, then Athena felt bad and turned her into a spider and brought her back to life in that body.
 * In the series, Athena is described to have grey eyes. However, it is also her famous nickname, "Grey-eyed".
 * Her Egyptian counterpart is Thoth.
 * In a rare version of a myth, instead of Zeus and Metis being the parents of Athena, Poseidon and the Oceanid Polyphe were the parents of Athena.