Athena
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ATHENA
Athena is one of the most important goddesses in Greek mythology. In Roman mythology she became identified with the goddess Minerva. Also known as Pallas Athena. Athena sprang full-grown and armored from the forehead of the god Zeus and was his favorite child. Her birth is depicted on this Greek vase from the 6th century BC, now in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France. Zeus entrusted her with his shield, adorned with the hideous head of Medusa the Gorgon, his buckler, and his principal weapon, the thunderbolt.
A virgin goddess, she was called Parthenos ("the maiden"). Her major temple, the Parthenon, was in Athens, Greece, which, according to legend, became hers as a result of her gift of the olive tree to the Athenian people.
The sculptural decoration on the east pediment (gable) depicted the birth of Athena from the head of Zeus, and that on the west pediment depicted her contest with Poseidon for possession of Attica, the territory of Athens.
Athena was primarily the goddess of the Greek cities, of industry and the arts, and, in later mythology, of wisdom; she was also goddess of war...