In her aspect as a warrior maiden, Athena was known as Parthenos (Παρθένος "virgin"), because, like her fellow goddesses Artemis and Hestia, she was believed to remain perpetually a virgin. Athena's most famous temple, the Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis, takes its name from this title.
She may not have been described as a virgin originally, but virginity was attributed to her very early and was the basis for the interpretation of her epithets Pallas and Parthenos. As a war goddess Athena could not be dominated by other goddesses, such as Aphrodite, and as a palace goddess she could not be violated.
Athena receives the baby Erichthonius from the hands of Gaia. Erichthonios grew in the womb of Gaia and, when he was born, Gaia passed him over to Athena to care for him.
Indeed, chastity was one of Artemis' most well-known attributes and as a virgin huntress, she was the protector of young girls and women. In addition, she was known by many names and titles related to her divine functions.
The Virgin Goddesses (or maiden goddesses) are Artemis, Athena, and Hestia. This means that they do not marry and have children the usual way or not at all.
She was known as Athena Parthenos "Athena the Virgin," but in one archaic Attic myth, the god Hephaestus tried and failed to rape her, resulting in Gaia giving birth to Erichthonius, an important Athenian founding hero.
Athena, as you may know, was not born in the normal way. She sprang from Zeus's head in full battle armor. Her children have similar magic births. They are the product of purely intellectual affection Athena sometimes bestows on men of great cunning.
Mother-Son Couples
In Greek mythology, Gaia (earth) mated with her own son Uranus (sky). In Egyptian mythology, Horus, the grandson of Geb, had his own mother, Isis, become his imperial consort. The goddess Hathor was simultaneously considered to be the mother and wife of the sun god Ra.
In ancient Egypt, Ra (the Sun) was born of a virgin mother, Net; Horus was the son of the virgin Isis. The Phrygo-Roman god, Attis, was born of a virgin, Nana, on December 25. It resonates because he went on to be killed and was resurrected.
Hestia, Artemis and Iphigeneia, and Athena. Greek goddesses virgin in the sense of sexual abstinence by an adult woman were Hestia, Artemis, and Athena. Hestia, the personification of the hearth and the sacrificial fire, transcends the boundary between humankind and the goddesses and gods.
Athena began growing inside Zeus's head. When Haphaestus cut open Zeus's head, and Athena was born, she was not born an infant. Instead, Athena was born a fully grown warrior, dressed in armor and ready for war. This is how Athena became the goddess of war and wisdom.
In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena is immune to romantic love, so there is no particular lover for her.
Athena (Minerva), the goddess of war and wisdom, had a strange birth. Her father Zeus (Jupiter) had swallowed his pregnant consort Metis (“wisdom”), because he was afraid she would bear a son who would overthrow him.
In Ancient Greek mythology, Dionysus was the god of collective ecstasy. He is often described as an androgynous and asexual figure, whose followers would dance themselves into trances (Jameson, 1993) .
According to a Homeric Hymn, there are three goddesses whom Aphrodite “can't persuade or decieve”, i.e. who don't feel sexual desire and are perpetually virgins. They are Athena, Artemis and Hestia. So, we are sure that Zeus did never have affairs with any of those three.
First, she was born as a female. Second, Athena is also the goddess of weaving, and we sometimes will see an image of Athena holding a distaff.
God had a wife, Asherah, whom the Book of Kings suggests was worshipped alongside Yahweh in his temple in Israel, according to an Oxford scholar. In 1967, Raphael Patai was the first historian to mention that the ancient Israelites worshipped both Yahweh and Asherah.
Zeus slept with his own daughter, Persephone, because she was there.
So, while it's possible for a human baby to be born of a virgin mother, it's very, very unlikely: These two genetic deletions might each have a one in 1 billion chance of occurring, and that's not counting the calcium spike and division problem required to initiate parthenogenesis in the first place.
Persephone's jealousy suggests she might have loved Hades
In Ovid's famous text Metamorphosis, Hades has an affair with a young Nymph named Minthe. Persephone, now in her later years, was so incensed with jealousy that she turned Minthe into a mint plant.
Though married to Hephaestus, Aphrodite had an affair with Ares, the god of war. Eventually, Hephaestus discovered Aphrodite's affair through Helios, the all-seeing Sun, and planned a trap during one of their trysts.
Answer and Explanation: Athena is typically depicted as a virgin goddess with no husband or offspring. However, according to a story by the first-century Roman author Hyginus, Athena (called Minerva) is married to Hephaestus (called Vulcan), the god of blacksmithing and artisans.
But Athena wouldn't – couldn't – blame her priestess Medusa for being raped by her God enemy Poseidon. So, Athena protected Medusa at all costs. Instead of punishing Medusa with a head of snakes that could turn men to stone, Athena protected her.
Perhaps partly because of the strange circumstances of her birth, Athena is often cited as Zeus's favourite child. He also greatly admired her strength of character and fighting spirit. Some believe Athena was Zeus's first born child, which might, somewhat unfairly, suggest why he chose her as his favourite.