Athena is one of the most important ancient Greek Goddess. She represents many things and is worshipped as the Goddess of courage, wisdom, strength, inspiration, law and justice, mathematics, skill, strategic warfare, arts and crafts. Athena is often depicted as a warrior Goddess armed with a spear, a shield and a helmet. She is also depicted with a shield called the ‘Aegis’ which has the head of the monster Medusa. Symbols associated with Athena include owls, spears, helmets, armour, snakes and olive trees. While Athena has beauty and bravery, she is also known to be sharp and wise and is known to always weigh her decisions before taking a call, especially in matters of war or peace. She invented the ship, chariot, plough and rake. 

When the great Zeus married the Oceanid Metis, a prophecy at that time predicted that Metis would bear a son who would pose as a serious threat to Zeus. Right after Metis revealed her pregnancy, Zeus swallowed the child in order to protect his kingdom.  Zeus started to feel a unbearable pain in his head and asked Hephaestus to put an end to it. Hephaestus obeyed and opened Zeus’s head with an axe without hurting him. All of a sudden, Athena sprang out of Zeus’ head wearing armour and uttering war-like cries. Her shield was extremely strong and it said that even Zeus’ lighting thunderbolt could not pierce it. But Athena was very loyal and once Zeus realised her love and devotion for him, she became Zeus’ favourite as she never rebelled against him. 

Athena is also known as the patron of the city of Athens  and won the title after defeating her uncle Poseidon who also wanted to rule Athens. In an open and fair competition, Zeus asked both the contenders to gift a unique gift to the people of Athens. Poseidon gave them a spring with his trident, but while the feat was impressive, as the water was salty it was not useful. On the other hand, Athena gifted the people with an Olive tree and hence gave them food, olive oil, wood and shade and as all this was useful, she was declared as the contest winner.

The Parthenon in Acropolis, Greece is dedicated to Athena. Athena played a significant role in the Trojan war where she supported and provided divine protection to the Greek heroes like Odysseus and Achilles, with her wisdom and strategic ideas.