Why did Athena stay a virgin?

One of the reasons she became a virgin was to avoid having a fate similar to her mother, Metis. Even though she is a virgin goddess, Athena has demigod children, who are born from her own thoughts combined with the thoughts of mortal men she loves. These children are "gifts" to the men she favors.

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Why does Athena stay a virgin?

According to myth, she went to Hephaestus wanting some weapons forged. When Hephaestus tried to rape her, she protected her virginity and he ejaculated on her leg. She wiped it off with a piece of wool, throwing it onto the ground.

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Did Athena stay virgin?

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.

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How did Athena become pregnant?

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.

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How did Zeus get pregnant with Athena?

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.

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Why is Athena a virgin?

33 related questions found

Who did Zeus cheat on his wife?

Zeus fell in love with Io and seduced her. To try to keep Hera from noticing he covered the world with a thick blanket of clouds. This backfired, arousing Hera's suspicions. She came down from Mount Olympus and begain dispersing the clouds.

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Is Athena Zeus favorite daughter?

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.

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How is Athena a virgin?

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.

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Did Athena have a lover?

In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena is immune to romantic love, so there is no particular lover for her.

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Why did Zeus swallowed Athena?

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.

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What are the 3 virgin goddesses?

The Virgin Goddesses (or maiden goddesses) are Artemis, Athena, and Hestia.

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Was Athena originally a male?

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.

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How does Athena have her kids?

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.

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Did Athena slept with Zeus?

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.

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Why did Athena turn a girl into a spider?

Everyone was amazed at her work and one day, Arachne boosted that she had a greater talent than goddess Athena herself. This was an offense towards the gods, which was a very serious and even deadly sin for the ancient Greeks. That is why goddess Athena transformed her into a spider to wave for all her life long.

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Who was Athena jealous of?

When Athena saw that Arachne had not only insulted the gods but done so with a work far more beautiful than Athena's own, she was enraged. She ripped Arachne's work to shreds and hit her on the head three times.

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Who was Athena's crush?

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.

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What did Athena love most?

Perhaps one of the most recognizable of the Greek Goddesses, Athena is the symbol of wisdom, courage, and was the patroness of the great city of Athens. Athena's life passion was to protect and lead the people of Athens.

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Was Athena forced to marry?

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. In this tale, Hephaestus demands Athena's hand in marriage from Zeus (Jupiter) in repayment for helping release Athena from inside Zeus' head.

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Who is the god of asexuality?

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) .

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Is Athena a non binary?

It wasn't until Athena moved to the States that they learned about what it means to be non-binary. At this time, Athena was still constantly being referred to as a girl, something they put up with, despite their discomfort.

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Why was Athena asexual?

While many of the other greek gods - men and women alike - were promiscous, Athena was completely asexual, and not because she was a "pure" goddess of chasity or something. Athena really did not have any interest in sex at all. Many of the other gods wanted to marry her, but she would have none of it.

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Who did Zeus love the most?

Zeus finally became enamored of the goddess who was to become his permanent wife — Hera. After courting her unsuccessfully he changed himself into a disheveled cuckoo. When Hera took pity on the bird and held it to her breast, Zeus resumed his true form and ravished her.

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Who is Zeus favorite wife?

Hera. The most famous of Zeus' wives, Hera was also the sister of the father of the gods, and the goddess of women, marriage, family, and childbirth.

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Who did Zeus swallow Athena's birth?

Zeus swallowed his consort METIS [mee'tis] (“wisdom”), after he had made her pregnant, because he feared that she would bear a son who would overthrow him. And so ATHENA [a-thee'na], or ATHENE (MINERVA), was born from the holy head of Zeus.

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