Athena

Athena (ΑΘΗΝΑ in Ancient Greek) is the goddess of wisdom and battle, and she is also the disciplined side of war. She has many demigod children, two of the most well-known being Annabeth Chase, and George Washington. Like her, Athena's children are born from her thoughts. Her father is Zeus and her mother is Metis, Titan goddess of wisdom. Her Roman counterpart is Minerva.

History
Athena was born fully-grown from Zeus' head in full battle armor. According to legend, Zeus impregnated Metis, Titan of wisdom who was his first wife. Before this event, he received a prophecy that foretold the future. It said that Metis would bear two children: a very wise daughter (Athena), and a son that would eventually overthrow Zeus, much like the event of Kronos and Zeus. Before either of these could happen, great Zeus turned Metis into a fly, and digested her. Days later, Zeus had a terrible headache. He asked Hephaestus to split his head open with an axe, and out came adult Athena, in full battle armor. She quickly became Zeus's favorite daughter. In Greek mythology, she was one of the most active goddesses. She assisted Odysseus in his journey home from the Sea of Monsters, and made sure the Greeks won the Trojan War. Like Artemis and Hestia she is one of the virgin goddesses.

Rivalry with Arachne
A long time ago, the mortal Arachne challenged Athena to see who could make the best tapestry. Athena accepted the challenge, as she invented weaving, and they each made a tapestry. Athena's was of the gods together in glory. Arachne's showed the gods making fools of themselves. Athena was angry that Arachne still hadn't learned not to be vain, so she destroyed it and turned Arachne into a spider (supposedly after Arachne tried to kill herself). Ironically she could still use the web from her spinnerets to make silk. Ever since then Athena's children have had a fear of spiders, paranoid that every spider they see is out to get them, as what better way would there be for Arachne to get revenge on Athena, then to kill her children?

Rivalry with Poseidon
For many eons, Athena and Poseidon have had rivalry between them. It all started when they competed for being the patron of the city Athens. The leader of the city told the two gods to make a gift for the newly constructed city. Poseidon made a salt-water spring, while Athena, gifted them the Olive Tree. Seeing that the Olive tree was much better than a Salt-Water Spring, The leader of the newly constructed city named it after Athena (Hence the name Athens) and made Athena a temple known as the Parthenon, and also made her the Patron of the city. This made Posiedon very angry. Also, Athena once caught Poseidon with his girlfriend Medusa (who was once a pretty maiden) together in her temple. Furious at Poseidon and Medusa for doing such disgusting acts in her temple, she turned Medusa and her sisters into the "Three Gorgons". Medusa's sister's were also turned because they helped Medusa get into the temple. The competition for Athens and the terrible acts Poseidon committed to in Athena's temple are probably the basis for why Athena dislikes Percy. Athena also helped Odysseus on his quest for home, while Poseidon tried to stop him.

In The Titan's Curse
Athena disguises herself as a park ranger at the Hoover Dam, and advises Percy on how to get out, despite her misgivings about him. The reason for this is probably because she wanted her daughter saved, and Percy was trying to find and rescue her.

At the Winter Solstice, Athena, along with Ares and Dionysus, vote for Percy to be killed, 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 with questioning her saying, "So you're saying you shouldn't take risks?"

In 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 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. After the council meeting, Athena privately talks to Percy saying that she could have been wrong about him, but not necessarily say she was. Athena asks 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 either. She then quickly tells Percy to "spare her" and disappears in a fiery blast that singes his shirt.

Personality
Athena is a very disciplined woman, very wise, and is quick thinking. She is very brilliant and always takes precautions before acting. Do not get on her bad side, she can be quite terrible when she's angry. She loves all her children, and seems to be a more caring mother. 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 punishes also Daedelus for killing Perdix.

Athena is also usually kind to other demigods. She helps often on quests.

Athena is somewhat cold and calculating at times. She voted against letting Percy, a child of Poseidon, 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 that crossing her is a mistake, such as Paris picking Aphrodite instead of her, which caused Athena to use every power within her to bring him down.

Physical description
Athena has long black hair and gray eyes, as described when Percy sees her. 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.

Powers
Presumably possesses the standard powers of a God. She is known to transform into an owl. As the goddess of wisdom and war she is an expert in all forms and weapons of warfare. She is a more skilled tactician than Ares and prefers thinking to fighting, and uses violence only as a last resort. As the goddess of wisdom she is presumable an expert in many if not all areas of knowledge and is the chief advisor of Zeus.

As the most trusted of Zeus she is the only one besides him allowed to wield the Aegis, (aside from Thailia) a powerful defensive item that causes its enemies to flee in fear and is the only item that can supposedly survive Zeus's thunderbolts.

Gifts

 * She gave Annabeth an invisibility cap, (Yankees cap).
 * She gave Daedalus, and Perdix, her blessing of wisdom.
 * She can give the Blessing of Athena which is like the Blessing of Ares. It renders the person who receives the gift unable to be harmed.

Children
Athena's children are born from her mind. When she falls in love with a man, their joined minds are what causes this. Athena calls this 'the purest kind of love' and is a virgin, and has sworn to remain one. As she has black hair, and all her children are blond and have her gray eyes, it is safe to assume she only falls in love with blond men (or at least prefers them). This also could have been a continuity error (like Thalia's eyes being mentioned as both blue and green), as it was only mentioned once that everyone in the Athena cabin has blond hair. Another theory is that Athena is heterozygous, meaning she has one gene for dark hair and one gene for blonde hair, and the gene for blonde hair was the one she passed down to her children. This is common in real life.

Children:


 * Annabeth
 * Malcolm
 * Daedalus (a.k.a Quintus)
 * Perdix
 * Erictonius

Film
In the film, The Lightning Thief, Athena is played by Melina Kanakaredes.