Athena

"Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom... that is very hard indeed."

Athena (Ancient Greek Αθηνά) is the goddess of wisdom, warfare, and crafts. Unlike Ares, she is 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. She and Poseidon don't get along, although this did not affect Percy and Annabeth's relationship. At the end of the series, she seems to get along with Percy, except for the fact that she ignited his clothes.

History
Athena sprung 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, 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 an 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. She also helped heroes like Diomedes, Heracles, Jason and Perseus. 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.

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 (called Attica at the time). The leader of the city told the two gods to make a gift for the newly constructed city. Poseidon created a salt-water spring (other stories, however, say he created the horse for the city), while Athena, gave 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 and "disturbing" acts in her temple, she turned Medusa and her sisters into the "Three Gorgons". Medusa's sister's were also transformed because they helped Medusa get into the temple. The competition for Athens and the terrible acts Poseidon committed 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.

The Lightning Thief
She has seen Percy when Percy ran into the grand room of the Olympians, returning the bolt to Zeus.

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

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.

At the Winter Solstice, Athena, along with Ares and Dionysus(halfheartedly), 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 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 in a hero of prophecy his flaw could cause the downfall of the world. Percy wants to argue, but is left speechless. Athena was "pretty smart." The goddess leaves after warning him that she does not approve of his relationship with her daughter.

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. 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. 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. 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 one of the gods 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 Daedalus and his young nephew Perdix. She later punishes Daedelus for killing Perdix.

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 Hoover Dam.

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 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.

Physical Description
Athena has long black hair and intense 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.

Minerva
Athena can change her appearance and turn into her Roman counterpart, Minerva. As Minerva, she becomes more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. She might have more children at the Roman Camp Half-Blood in San Francisco.

Powers
She 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 and has all the skills of Metis. 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 presumably an expert in many if not all areas of knowledge and is the chief adviser of Zeus.

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

Gifts

 * She gave Annabeth a cap of invisibility, (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.
 * She helps Annabeth find Luke and Thalia when she was 7.

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 like Annabeth.

Children:
 * Annabeth Chase
 * Malcolm
 * Daedalus a.k.a Quintus (deceased)
 * Erictonius
 * George Washington
 * Frederic Bartholdi

Film
In the film, The Lightning Thief, Athena is played by Melina Kanakaredes. She played a more major role then the other gods at Olympus, besides Zeus and Poseidon because she was seen talking to Zeus about the fact that a war between the gods will not help them find the master bolt.