Goddess of wisdom, olives, weaving, and battle strategy
Mattei Athena at Louvre. Roman copy from the 1st century BC/AD after a Greek original of the 4th century BC, attributed to Cephisodotos or Euphranor.
Abode	Mount Olympus
Symbol	Owls, olive trees, snakes, Aegis, armour, helmets, spears, Gorgoneion
Personal information
Parents	In the Iliad: Zeus alone In Theogony: Zeus and Metis[a]
Siblings	Aeacus, Angelos, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Dionysus, Eileithyia, Enyo, Eris, Ersa, Hebe, Helen of Troy, Hephaestus, Heracles, Hermes, Minos, Pandia, Persephone, Perseus, Rhadamanthus, the Graces, the Horae, the Litae, the Muses, the Moirai
Children	No natural children, but Erichthonius of Athens was her adoptive son
Equivalents
Roman equivalent	Minerva
Etruscan equivalent	Menrva
Canaanite equivalent	Anat[2]
Egyptian equivalent	Neith
Celtic equivalent	Sulis

Athena^[b] or Athene,^[c] often given the epithet Pallas,^[d] is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, handicraft, and warfare^[3] who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva.^[4] Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of various cities across Greece, particularly the city of Athens, from which she most likely received her name.^[5] She's usually shown in art wearing a helmet and holding a spear. Her major symbols include owls, olive trees, snakes, and the Gorgoneion.

From her origin as an Aegean palace goddess, Athena was closely associated with the city. She was known as Polias and Poliouchos (both derived from polis, meaning "city-state"), and her temples were usually located atop the fortified acropolis in the central part of the city. The Parthenon on the Athenian Acropolis is dedicated to her, along with numerous other temples and monuments. As the patron of craft and weaving, Athena was known as Ergane. She's also a warrior goddess, and was believed to lead soldiers into battle as Athena Promachos. Her main festival in Athens was the Panathenaia, which was celebrated during the month of Hekatombaion in midsummer and was the most important festival on the Athenian calendar.

In Greek mythology, Athena was believed to have been born from the head of her father Zeus. In the founding myth of Athens, Athena bested Poseidon in a competition over patronage of the city by creating the first olive tree. She's 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 was the patron goddess of heroic endeavor; she was believed to have aided the heroes Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, and Jason. Along with Aphrodite and Hera, Athena was one of the three goddesses whose feud resulted in the beginning of the Trojan War.

She plays an active role in the Iliad, in which she assists the Achaeans and, in the Odyssey, she is the divine counselor to Odysseus. In the later writings of the Roman poet Ovid, Athena was said to have competed against the mortal Arachne in a weaving competition, afterwards transforming Arachne into the first spider; Ovid also describes how she transformed Medusa into a Gorgon after witnessing her being raped by Poseidon in her temple. Since the Renaissance, Athena has become an international symbol of wisdom, the arts, and classical learning. Western artists and allegorists have often used Athena as a symbol of freedom and democracy.

Poseidon

God of the sea, storms, earthquakes, horses
Member of the Twelve Olympians
Poseidon from Milos, 2nd century BC (National Archaeological Museum of Athens)
Abode	Mount Olympus, or the Sea
Symbol	Trident, fish, dolphin, horse, bull
Personal information
Parents	Cronus and Rhea
Siblings	Hades, Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Zeus, Chiron
Consort	Amphitrite, Aphrodite, Demeter, various others
Children	Theseus Triton Polyphemus Orion Belus Agenor Neleus Atlas (the first king of Atlantis) Pegasus Chrysaor Cymopolea
Roman equivalent	Neptune

Part of a series on
Ancient Greek religion

Poseidon (/pəˈsaɪdən, pɒ-, poʊ-/;^[1] Greek: Ποσειδῶν, pronounced [poseːdɔ̂ːn]) was one of the Twelve Olympians in ancient Greek religion and myth, god of the sea, storms, earthquakes and horses.^[2] In pre-Olympian Bronze Age Greece, he was venerated as a chief deity at Pylos and Thebes.^[2] He had also the cult title "earth shaker". In the myths of isolated Arcadia he is related with Demeter and Persephone and he was venerated as a horse, however it seems that he was originally a god of the waters.^[3] He is often regarded as the tamer or father of horses,^[2] and with a strike of his trident, he created springs which are related with the word horse.^[4] His Roman equivalent is Neptune.

Poseidon was protector of seafarers, and of many Hellenic cities and colonies. Homer and Hesiod suggest that Poseidon became lord of the sea following the defeat of his father Cronus, when the world was divided by lot among his three sons; Zeus was given the sky, Hades the underworld, and Poseidon the sea, with the Earth and Mount Olympus belonging to all three.^[2][5] In Homer's Iliad, Poseidon supports the Greeks against the Trojans during the Trojan War and in the Odyssey, during the sea-voyage from Troy back home to Ithaca, the Greek hero Odysseus provokes Poseidon's fury by blinding his son, the Cyclops Polyphemus, resulting in Poseidon punishing him with storms, the complete loss of his ship and companions, and a ten-year delay. Poseidon is also the subject of a Homeric hymn. In Plato's Timaeus and Critias, the legendary island of Atlantis was Poseidon's domain.^[6][7][8]

Athena became the patron goddess of the city of Athens after a competition with Poseidon, and he remained on the Acropolis in the form of his surrogate, Erechtheus. After the fight, Poseidon sent a monstrous flood to the Attic Plain, to punish the Athenians for not choosing him.^[9]