Athena, as the goddess of craftwork, was renowned for her weaving. Arachne, a mortal woman, boasted that she was a better weaver than the goddess herself. This act of hubris greatly angered Athena, who tried to make Arachne repent while disguised as an old woman.
She was angered by the idea that someone would say that they were more talented than a god so Athena hatched a plan to confront Arachne. A few days later, disguised as an old woman, Athena knocked on Arachne's door. “I have come to warn you,” Athena rasped.
According to Apollodorus' version of the myth, Athena was angry with Medusa because she had claimed to be more beautiful than the goddess. In both cases, however, the result was the same. In the end, Athena turned Medusa into a figure of horror, a Gorgon with venomous snakes instead of hair.
Athena then punished her for desecrating her sacred space by cursing Medusa with a head full of snakes and a gaze that turns men to stone. Then, a heroic Perseus severed the serpent-headed Medusa, turning her into a trophy.
As one of the Twelve Olympians and the patron goddess of Athens, she lent her favor and guidance to many famous Greek heroes. In myth, Athena was typically characterized by her intelligence and tact, though some stories emphasized her more destructive passions, such as her terrible anger.
Heracles is Athena's crush, where they have met in Athena the Wise. Helping him with laborious tasks, they have gained friendship that turns into a crush.
Although her wisdom and dedication made her fit to lead, Athena was still met with challenges along the way where she had to prove herself. Most notably was the power struggle with Poseidon for the city of Athens.
In fact, Athena was jealous of Medusa's beauty and lustrous hair. Poseidon ravaged her and took what she held dearly, her purity. Athena, outraged by this incident, cursed Medusa and turned her wonderful hair into venomous snakes, her beautiful face turned so ugly that any man who gazed upon would turn to stone.
The snake-haired Medusa does not become widespread until the first century B.C. The Roman author Ovid describes the mortal Medusa as a beautiful maiden seduced by Poseidon in a temple of Athena. Such a sacrilege attracted the goddess' wrath, and she punished Medusa by turning her hair to snakes.
So, when Poseidon raped Medusa she became pregnant. When her head was chopped off by Perseus, her children came to be. Pegasus and Chrysaor sprung from the severed neck of Medusa. Pegasus is also one of the most famous characters in Greek mythology, the winged white horse.
Medusa prayed to Athena after her rape, begging for forgiveness, guidance, mercy on her broken vow of celibacy. Now, Athena was very much a Goddess in a God's club at this point. But Athena wouldn't – couldn't – blame her priestess Medusa for being raped by her God enemy Poseidon.
The Greeks personified these traits into such figures as Discord and Envy. Many other characteristics, both good and bad, were also made into deities. The goddess Athena represented wisdom, the evil side of battle, and feminism.
According to the Bibliotheca, Athena visited the smith-god Hephaestus to request some weapons, but Hephaestus was so overcome by desire that he tried to seduce her in his workshop. Determined to maintain her virginity, Athena fled, pursued by Hephaestus. He caught Athena and tried to rape her, but she fought him off.
Athena, in a fit of rage turned Arachne into a spider and ripped her tapestry before anybody saw it. From that point on, the children of Athena fear spiders because they worried that each spider was Arachne coming to take revenge on them.
23 She is a female goddess, but she is also a soldier, which traditionally is a male role. Throughout Greek history, Athena's cult eventually came to replace that of other palace-citadel goddesses, so she fulfilled the role of female deity for a large geographical area.
On another occasion, Poseidon seduced the gorgeous maiden, Medusa, in one of Athena's temples. Naturally, the virgin goddess was enraged that her temple was so defiled. Athena retaliated by transforming Medusa into a hideous monster with snakes for hair who would turn anyone who looked at her into stone.
Gallery. Djinn (Clash Of The Titans) are immune to Medusa's gaze.
When Medusa refused, Poseidon pinned her against Athena's altar and had his way with her anyway. Athena was enraged that a rape took place in her temple, but she couldn't punish Poseidon for it. In her fit of anger, she carried out her revenge on Medusa, cursing her.
She sacrificed herself because she didn't want Zeus to die. It was pretty clear that dying and reaching a higher plane of existence changed her.
Medusa was very proud of her beauty and thought or spoke only of herself. Each day she boasted of how pretty she was. Medusa even boasted that she was prettier than Athena, goddess of wisdom, who watched over Athens. Athena decided to punish Medusa for her pride.
TEIRESIAS (Tiresias) A seer of Thebes in Boiotia (central Greece) who accidentally came across the goddess Athena bathing in a mountain stream. As punishment for seeing her naked she took away his sight, but in recompense also bestowed him with gifts, since his crime was not a deliberate one.
She was lovely, according to the poem—until she was raped in Athena's temple by Poseidon. Athena then punished her for this violation, by turning her into the monstrous, stony-glanced creature that we know. Yes: punished for being raped. In classical sources, in fact, she's not always monstrous.
In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena is immune to romantic love, so there is no particular lover for her.
In this passage, Plato refers to none other than the legendary contest between Athena and Poseidon over the city of Athens. This was one of the founding myths of ancient Athens and a popular story, also known as 'the name-giving of Athens'.
Strengths: Rational, intelligent, a powerful defender in war but also a potent peacemaker. Weaknesses: Reason rules her; she is not usually emotional or compassionate but she does have her favorites, such as the beleaguered hero Odysseus. Birthplace: From the forehead of her father Zeus.