Athena

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

- Athena

Athena (Αθηνά in Ancient Greek) is the virgin goddess of wisdom, handicrafts, defense, and strategic warfare. In Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, she had sprung from her father's head, making her Zeus' child alone, though in some myths she is the offspring of Zeus, the Lord of the Sky, and Metis, the Titaness of prudence and wisdom. After Athena was born, she usurped her mother's position of goddess of wisdom. She is also a foster child of Triton and a foster sister to Pallas. Her Roman counterpart is Minerva.

Her symbols include the owl, Aegis, olive tree, and the snake.

Athena is portrayed by Melina Kanakaredes in The Lightning Thief (film).

History
Athena sprung fully-grown from Zeus' head in full battle armor. According to the legend, Zeus impregnated Metis, Titaness of prudence and wisdom who was his first wife and her mother. Before this event, he received a prophecy that foretold the future. It said that Metis would bear two powerful children: a very wise daughter and a son that would eventually overthrow Zeus, much like the event of Kronos and Zeus. Before either of these could happen, Zeus tricked Metis into turning into a fly, and digested her. Days later, Zeus had a terrible headache. He asked Hephaestus to split his head open with an axe, but of course not harming the god, because of his immortality. After this took place out popped an adult Athena, in full battle armor. She quickly became Zeus' favorite daughter. In Greek mythology, she was one of the most active goddesses. She assisted Odysseus in his journey home from the Trojan War in the Oddessey and made sure the Greeks won the Trojan War in the Illiad. She also helped heroes like Diomedes, Hercules, Jason, and Perseus. Like Artemis and Hestia, she is one of the virgin goddesses, although she has demigod children in the series, though they are born from thought (brain children, just like herself), which she says is the purest kind of love. It is unknown if any other god can give birth to children in a similar way.

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. It was also very beautiful, but Athena won. Arachne was upset that Athena won, so she challenged the godesses power, saying the tapestry was no good. Athena was angry that Arachne still hadn't learned not to think she was greater than the gods, so she turned Arachne in to a spider. This meant she could still use the web from her spinnerets to make silk, and she and her descendants can continue weaving forever, but none of them could talk, so none would challenge the gods' power and skill. Ever since then Athena's children have had a rational fear of spiders or things that look like spiders, paranoid that every spider they see is out to get them, avenging Arachne.

Rivalry with Poseidon
For many eons, Athena and Poseidon have had rivalry between them which all started when they competed for being the patron of the city of Athens (called Attica at that 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, 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 and made Athena a temple known as the Parthenon. Athena was also made the patron of the city. This made Poseidon very angry. Also, Athena once caught Poseidon with his girlfriend Medusa (who was once a beautiful 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". They had snakes for hair and could turn anyone into stone if they looked into their eyes, which no one could resist. 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 kill him. Poseidon's and Athena's rivalry didn't seemed to affect Percy and Annabeth, but Athena tells Percy she doesn't approve of their relationship. At the end of the series, she seems to be indifferent to Percy, except for the fact that she singed his clothes as a warning.

The Lightning Thief
Although Athena was not seen, she was mentioned like the rest of the Gods of Olympus when Camp Half-Blood and the rest of the mythological world was being explained to Percy. Her children were stated to have grey eyes like her and blonde hair.

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, when Zeus asks the room if Percy should be left alive as he could be dangerous, Athena, along with Ares and Dionysus (half-heartedly), 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 love 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 darn smart," and Percy makes a note that she would be one of the worst gods to have as an enemy as she was smart and wouldn't make a mistake. The goddess leaves after warning him that she does not approve of his relationship with her daughter.

The Demigod Files
Annabeth tells Percy that Frederic Bartholdi was a son of Athena, and designed The Statue of Liberty after her and Percy relays this information to Clarisse La Rue when trying to find Phobos and Deimos.

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 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 either. She then quickly tells Percy to "spare her" and disappears in a fiery blast that singes his shirt.

The Lost Hero
In The Lost Hero, she, along with the other Olympians, was forced to stay in Olympus and not communicate with any half-bloods. Enceladus mentions that he was created to destroy Athena, but strangely, he was one of the smallest of the giants, but he claims that he is smart; thinking ahead to use Piper's father as bait instead of attacking the heroes head on. However, if you look at the back of the book "Gods in The Lost Hero ", Athena isn't written in there.

Personality
Athena is a very disciplined, quick thinking and wise woman. 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.

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 grey 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. It is interesting to note Athena is shown with both black and blonde hair. In the Titan's Curse she is seen with black hair, while in The Sea of Monsters she is described as having blonde hair. In the original greek mythology she has "golden hair" as do all the other gods. Her demigod children, however, all have blonde hair.

Minerva
Athena can change her appearance and turn into her Roman counterpart, Minerva. As Minerva, she is unlike Athena and other Roman gods who are more disciplined, warlike, and militaristic. To the Romans, Minerva was the goddess of poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, weaving, crafts and magic. She cares more about civilization than war. 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. Also, she is the only goddess whom Zeus entrusts his lightning bolt to (sometimes).

Gifts

 * She gave Annabeth a cap of invisibility. (A Yankees cap).
 * She gave Daedalus and Perdix her blessing of wisdom.

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 grey eyes, one can assume she only falls in love with blond men. This also could have been a continuity error (like Thalia's eyes being mentioned as both blue and green), as it was mentioned a couple times that everyone in the Athena cabin has blond hair like Annabeth's.

Athena's children, having their mother being the Goddess of Wisdom, are very smart, wise and are good in researching many things. Most of her children (Annabeth in particular), show great fondness in her area, such as Wisdom and Crafts.

Children

 * Annabeth Chase
 * Malcolm
 * Daedalus a.k.a Quintus (deceased)
 * Erictonius
 * George Washington (deceased)
 * Frederic Bartholdi (deceased)
 * Other Unknown Children of Athena

The Lightning Thief
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 that 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.

Trivia

 * Pallas, one of the largest asteroids in the asteroid belt, is named after Pallas Athena, one of Athena's alternative names.
 * Her haircolor in the The Lightning Thief was black, but in the film, it was brunette.
 * She is the only Virgin Goddess who has children