Why did Zeus swallowed Athena?

THE BIRTH OF ATHENA
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
ATHENA
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Athena
[a-thee'na], or ATHENE (MINERVA), was born from the holy head of Zeus. Hephaestus, with his ax, may have facilitated the birth.

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Why did Zeus swallow Athena's mother?

In some versions of Greek mythology, Zeus ate his wife Metis because it was known that their second child would be more powerful than him. After Metis's demise, their first child Athena was born when Hephaestus cleaved Zeus's head open and the goddess of war emerged, fully grown and armed.

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Why did Athena come out of Zeus head?

Athena is "born" from Zeus's forehead as a result of him having swallowed her mother Metis, as he grasps the clothing of Eileithyia on the right; black-figured amphora, 550–525 BC, Louvre.

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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 did Athena sacrifice herself for Zeus?

Kratos asked Athena why she would sacrifice herself. Athena replied that Zeus must live so that Olympus could prevail. She also revealed that Kratos was the child of Zeus, who was compelled to destroy his father just as Zeus had done to Cronos.

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The Birth of Athena: The Incredible Origin of the Goddess of Wisdom - Greek Mythology in Comics

18 related questions found

Why did Athena become evil?

Athena was infected by evils with greed, as she presumably became ambitious to rule over the world, and possibly became jealous of Zeus' authority over the Greek pantheon. She also allowed her ambition cloud her judgment, as she manipulated Kratos to kill the Olympians.

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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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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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Was Athena Zeus favorite child?

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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Who fed Zeus as a baby?

Turns out Cronus had overthrown his dad, and he feared his son was a chip off the old block. One of those who sheltered the infant Zeus was a mountain nymph called Melissa. She cared for the baby and fed him milk and honey.

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Who got Athena 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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Did Athena and Zeus have a child?

Athena swore on the day of her birth that she would never marry or have children. The people of Athens, however, believed a story that made their patron goddess an ancestor of their founding kings.

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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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Who did Zeus get pregnant?

Impregnation by Zeus

Nonnus classifies Zeus's affair with Semele as one in a set of twelve, the other eleven women on whom he begot children being Io, Europa, Plouto, Danaë, Aigina, Antiope, Leda, Dia, Alcmene, Laodameia, the mother of Sarpedon, and Olympias.

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Did Athena come out of Zeus head?

Hermes realized what needed to be done and directed Hephaestus to take a wedge and split open Zeus's skull. Out of the skull sprang Athena, full grown and in a full set of armour. Due to her manor of birth she has dominion over all things of the intellect.

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Why did Zeus swallow his children?

He was very afraid that one of his children would kill him just as he had murdered his own father. He was so worried he started to eat his own children after they were born, much to his wife Rhea's horror!

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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 did Athena love the most?

However, Athena does have her favorites in terms of heroes that she loves, the most important of whom was Odysseus. She also has an adopted son, whom she and Apollo protected, named Erichthonius.

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Who was 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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Did Zeus ever seduce a man?

Ganymede (or Ganymedes) was a young man from Troy. His beauty was unparalleled and for that reason, Zeus abducted and brought him to Olympus to serve as his cupbearer and lover. Ganymede's myth is an important step in the history of homosexuality.

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Did Zeus ever sleep with Aphrodite?

II.

Aphrodite later and of her own volition had an affair with Zeus, but his jealous wife Hera laid her hands upon the belly of the goddess and cursed their offspring with malformity. Their child was the ugly god Priapos.

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Did Zeus sleep with a cow?

Under the name of Callithyia, Io was regarded as the first priestess of Hera, the wife of Zeus. Zeus fell in love with her and, to protect her from the wrath of Hera, changed her into a white heifer. Hera persuaded Zeus to give her the heifer and sent Argus Panoptes (“the All-Seeing”) to watch her.

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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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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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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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