Editing Athena (section)

==Mythology==
===Birth===
[[File:Amphora birth Athena Louvre F32.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Athena is "born" from Zeus's forehead parthenogenetically as he grasps the clothing of [[Eileithyia]] on the right; [[black-figure pottery|black-figured]] [[amphora]], 550–525 BC, Louvre.]]
[[File:Varvakeion Athena.jpg|left|thumb|The [[Varvakeion Athena]], the most faithful copy of the Athena Parthenos, as displayed in the [[National Archaeological Museum, Athens]].]]
In the classical Olympian pantheon, Athena was regarded as the favorite child of Zeus, the king of the gods, born fully armed from his forehead. Since her birth, she possessed great power.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|pages=118–120}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=17–32}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|pages=230–231}}{{efn|[[Jane Ellen Harrison]]'s famous characterization of this myth-element as, "a desperate theological expedient to rid an earth-born Kore of her matriarchal conditions" (Harrison 1922:302) has never been refuted nor confirmed.}} The story of her birth comes in several versions.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|pages=118–122}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=17–19}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=121–123}} The earliest mention is in Book V of the ''Iliad'', when [[Ares]] accused Zeus of being biased in favor of Athena because "''autos egeinao''" (literally "you fathered her", but probably intended as "you gave birth to her").<ref>''Iliad'' Book V, line 880</ref>{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=18}} She usually is the daughter of Zeus, produced without a mother, and often emerged full-grown from his forehead; but there is an uncommon alternate story in which Zeus swallowed [[Metis (mythology)|Metis]], the goddess of counsel, while she was pregnant with Athena and when she was fully grown she emerged from his forehead.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|pages=118–120}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=17–32}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|pages=230–231}}{{efn|[[Jane Ellen Harrison]]'s famous characterization of this myth-element as, "a desperate theological expedient to rid an earth-born Kore of her matriarchal conditions" (Harrison 1922:302) has never been refuted nor confirmed.}}

In the version recounted by [[Hesiod]] in his ''[[Theogony]]'', Zeus married Metis, who is described as the "wisest among gods and mortal men", and engaged in sexual intercourse with her.<ref name="HesiodTheogony929e929t">Hesiod, ''[[Theogony]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D886 885–900] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224172406/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D886 |date=24 February 2021 }}, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D901 929e-929t] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028114913/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0130:card=901 |date=28 October 2021 }}</ref>{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|pages=118–119}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=18}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=121–122}} After learning that Metis was pregnant, however, he became afraid that the unborn offspring would try to overthrow him, because Gaia and [[Ouranos]] had prophesied that Metis would bear a son wiser and more powerful than his father who would overthrow him.<ref name="HesiodTheogony929e929t" />{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|pages=118–119}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=18}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=121–122}} In order to prevent this, Zeus tricked Metis into letting him swallow her, but it was too late because she had already conceived and soon gave birth to their daughter Athena, whom Metis raised inside of his mind, where she continues to give him advice as a ruler. When Athena grew up, Metis forged robes, armor, a shield and a spear for her daughter.<ref name="HesiodTheogony929e929t" />{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=119}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=18}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=121–122}} A later account of the story from the ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' of Pseudo-Apollodorus, written in the second century AD, makes Metis Zeus's unwilling sexual partner, rather than his wife.<ref name="Pseudo-Apollodorus136">Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D3%3Asection%3D6 1.3.6] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224174038/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D3%3Asection%3D6 |date=24 February 2021 }}</ref>{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=122–123}} According to this version of the story, Metis transformed into many different shapes in effort to escape Zeus,<ref name="Pseudo-Apollodorus136" />{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=122–123}} but Zeus successfully raped her and swallowed her.<ref name="Pseudo-Apollodorus136" />{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=122–123}}

After swallowing Metis, according to Hesiod, Zeus took six more wives in succession until he married his seventh and present wife, [[Hera]].{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=121–122}} Then Zeus experienced an enormous headache.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|pages=119–120}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=18}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=121–122}} He was in such pain that he ordered someone (either [[Prometheus]], [[Hephaestus]], [[Hermes]], [[Ares]], or Palaemon, depending on the sources examined) to cleave his head open with the ''[[labrys]]'', the double-headed [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] [[axe]].{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=120}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=18}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=231}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=122–123}} Athena leaped from Zeus's head, often fully grown and armed.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=120}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=18}}{{sfn|Penglase|1994|pages=230–231}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=122–124}} The "First Homeric Hymn to Athena" states in lines 9–16 that the gods were awestruck by Athena's appearance{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=233}} and even [[Helios]], the god of the sun, stopped his chariot in the sky.{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=233}} Pindar, in his "Seventh Olympian Ode", states that she "cried aloud with a mighty shout" and that "the Sky and mother Earth shuddered before her".<ref>[[Pindar]], "[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D7 Seventh Olympian Ode] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225043956/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text.jsp?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D7 |date=25 February 2021 }}" lines 37–38</ref>{{sfn|Penglase|1994|page=233}}

Hesiod states that Hera was so annoyed at Zeus for having given birth to a child on his own that she conceived and bore [[Hephaestus]] by [[parthenogenesis|herself]],{{sfn|Hansen|2004|pages=121–122}} but in ''Imagines'' [https://archive.org/stream/imagines00philuoft#page/246/mode/2up 2. 27] (trans. Fairbanks), the third-century AD Greek rhetorician [[Philostratus the Elder]] writes that Hera "rejoices" at Athena's birth "as though Athena were her daughter also". The second-century AD Christian apologist [[Justin Martyr]] takes issue with those pagans who erect at springs images of [[Persephone|Kore]], whom he interprets as Athena: "They said that Athena was the daughter of Zeus not from intercourse, but when the god had in mind the making of a world through a word (''[[logos]]'') his first thought was Athena."<ref>Justin, ''Apology'' 64.5, quoted in Robert McQueen Grant, ''Gods and the One God'', vol. 1:155, who observes that it is [[Porphyry (philosopher)|Porphyry]] "who similarly identifies Athena with 'forethought'{{-"}}.</ref> According to a rare account of the story in a scholium on the ''Iliad'', when Zeus swallowed Metis, she was pregnant with Athena by the [[Cyclopes|Cyclops]] Brontes.<ref>Gantz, p. 51; Yasumura, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7cXUAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 p. 89] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227092613/https://books.google.com/books?id=7cXUAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA89 |date=27 December 2022 }}; scholia bT to ''Iliad'' 8.39.</ref> The ''[[Etymologicum Magnum]]''{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=281}} instead deems Athena the daughter of the [[Dactyl (mythology)|Daktyl]] [[Itonus|Itonos]].{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=122}} Fragments attributed by the Christian [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] to the semi-legendary [[Phoenicia]]n historian [[Sanchuniathon]], which Eusebius thought had been written before the [[Trojan War]], make Athena instead the daughter of [[Cronus]], a king of [[Byblos]] who visited "the inhabitable world" and bequeathed [[Attica]] to Athena.{{sfn|Oldenburg|1969|page=86}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/af/af01.htm |title=Ancient Fragments |editor-first=Cory |editor-last=I. P. |translator=Cory |date=1832 |chapter=The Theology of the Phœnicians from Sanchoniatho |via=Internet Sacred Text Archive |access-date=25 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100905172619/http://www.sacred-texts.com/cla/af/af01.htm |archive-date=5 September 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Athena, born a daughter instead of the son of the prophecy Hesiod described, never successfully overthrew her father Zeus as the ruler of the cosmos; but [[Homer]]' ''[[Illiad]]'' tells of an attempted overthrow, in which she, Hera and [[Poseidon]] conspired to overpower Zeus and tie him in bonds. It is only because of the [[Nereid]] [[Thetis]], who summoned Briareus, one of the [[Hecatoncheires]], to [[Mount Olympus]], that the other gods abandon their plans (out of fear for Briareus).<ref>Gantz, p. 59; Hard 2004, [https://books.google.com/books?id=r1Y3xZWVlnIC&pg=PA82 p. 82]; [[Homer]], ''[[Iliad]]'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:1.386-1.427 1.395–410].</ref>

===Lady of Athens===
[[File:René-Antoine Houasse - The Dispute of Minerva and Neptune, 1689.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|''The Dispute of [[Minerva]] and [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]]'' by [[René-Antoine Houasse]] ({{circa|1689 or 1706}})]]

As the goddess of war, good counsel, prudent restraint and practical insight, Athena became the guardian of the welfare of kings. In a [[founding myth]] reported by Pseudo-Apollodorus,{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=281}} she competed with [[Poseidon]] for the patronage of Athens.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}} They agreed that each would give the Athenians one gift{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}} and that [[Cecrops I|Cecrops]], the king of Athens, would determine which gift was better.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}} Poseidon struck the ground with his [[trident]] and a salt water spring sprang up;{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}} this gave the Athenians access to trade and water.{{sfn|Graves|1960|page=62}} Athens at its height was a significant sea power, defeating the [[Achaemenid Empire|Persian]] fleet at the [[Battle of Salamis]]{{sfn|Graves|1960|page=62}}—but the water was salty and undrinkable.{{sfn|Graves|1960|page=62}} In an alternative version of the myth from [[Vergil]]'s ''[[Georgics]]'',{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=281}} Poseidon instead gave the Athenians the first horse.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}} Athena offered the first domesticated [[olive tree]].{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}}{{sfn|Garland|2008|page=217}} Cecrops accepted this gift{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}} and declared Athena the patron goddess of Athens.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=124}} The olive tree brought wood, oil, and food,{{sfn|Graves|1960|page=62}} and became a symbol of Athenian economic prosperity.{{sfn|Garland|2008|page=217}}{{sfn|Kinsley|1989|page=143}} [[Robert Graves]] was of the opinion that "Poseidon's attempts to take possession of certain cities are political myths",{{sfn|Graves|1960|page=62}} which reflect the conflict between matriarchal and patriarchal religions.{{sfn|Graves|1960|page=62}}

[[File:Atena-Giustiniani---Vatican.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The ''[[Athena Giustiniani]]'', a Roman copy of a Greek statue of Pallas Athena. The guardian serpent of the Athenian Acropolis sits coiled at her feet.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=88}}]]

Afterwards, Poseidon was so angry over his defeat that he sent one of his sons, [[Halirrhothius]], to cut down the tree. But as he swung his axe, he missed his aim and it fell in himself, killing him. This was supposedly the origin of calling Athena's sacred olive tree ''[[Moria (tree)|moria]]'', for Halirrhotius's attempt at revenge proved fatal (''moros'' in Greek). Poseidon in fury accused Ares of murder, and the matter was eventually settled on the [[Areopagus]] ("hill of Ares") in favour of Ares, which was thereafter named after the event.<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]] ''On Virgil's Georgics'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2007.01.0092%3Abook%3D1%3Acommline%3D18 1.18]; [[scholia]] on [[Aristophanes]]'s ''[[The Clouds|Clouds]]'' 1005</ref>{{sfn|Wunder|1855|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=4grgAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA2-PA100, note on verse 703]}}

Pseudo-Apollodorus{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=281}} records an archaic legend, which claims that [[Hephaestus]] once attempted to rape Athena, but she pushed him away, causing him to [[ejaculate]] on her thigh.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}}{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=143}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} Athena wiped the [[semen]] off using a tuft of [[wool]], which she tossed into the dust, impregnating [[Gaia (mythology)|Gaia]] and causing her to give birth to [[Erichthonius of Athens|Erichthonius]].{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}}{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=143}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} Athena adopted Erichthonius as her son and raised him.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} The ''[[Fabulae]]'', a work of Roman mythography attributed to [[Gaius Julius Hyginus]], records a similar story in which Hephaestus demanded Zeus to let him marry Athena since he was the one who had smashed open Zeus's skull, allowing Athena to be born.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}} Zeus agreed to this and Hephaestus and Athena were married,{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}} but, when Hephaestus was about to consummate the union, Athena vanished from the bridal bed, causing him to ejaculate on the floor, thus impregnating Gaia with Erichthonius.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=123}}

The geographer [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]]{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=281}} records that Athena went to place the infant Erichthonius into a small chest{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=125}} (''cista''), which she entrusted to the care of the three daughters of [[Cecrops I|Cecrops]]: [[Herse]], [[Pandrosos]], and [[Aglaulus, daughter of Cecrops|Aglauros]] of Athens.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=125}} She warned the three sisters not to open the chest,{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=125}} but did not explain to them why or what was in it.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=125}} Aglauros, and possibly one of the other sisters,{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=125}} opened the chest.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=125}} Differing reports say that they either found that the child itself was a serpent, that it was guarded by a serpent, that it was guarded by two serpents, or that it had the legs of a serpent.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|pages=125–126}} In Pausanias's story, the two sisters were driven mad by the sight of the chest's contents and hurled themselves off the [[Acropolis]], dying instantly,{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=126}} but an Attic vase painting shows them being chased by the serpent off the edge of the cliff instead.{{sfn|Kerényi|1951|page=126}} An alternative version of the story is that Athena left the box with the daughters of Cecrops while she went to fetch a limestone mountain from the [[Kassandra, Chalkidiki|Pallene peninsula]] to use in the Acropolis. While she was away, Aglaurus and Herse opened the box. A crow saw them open the box, and flew away to tell Athena, who fell into a rage and dropped the mountain she was carrying which became [[Mount Lycabettus]].

Another version of the myth of the Athenian maidens is told in ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' by the Roman poet [[Ovid]] (43 BC{{snds}}17 AD); in this late variant [[Hermes]] falls in love with Herse. Herse, Aglaulus, and Pandrosus go to the temple to offer sacrifices to Athena. Hermes demands help from Aglaulus to seduce Herse. Aglaulus demands money in exchange. Hermes gives her the money the sisters have already offered to Athena. As punishment for Aglaulus's greed, Athena asks the goddess [[Invidia|Envy]] to make Aglaulus jealous of Herse. When Hermes arrives to seduce Herse, Aglaulus stands in his way instead of helping him as she had agreed. He turns her to stone.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''Metamorphoses'', X. Aglaura, Book II, 708–751; XI. The Envy, Book II, 752–832.</ref>

Erichthonius was one of the most important founding heroes of Athens{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=143}} and the legend of the daughters of Cecrops was a cult myth linked to the rituals of the [[Arrhephoria]] festival.{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=143}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=88–89}} Pausanias records that, during the Arrhephoria, two young girls known as the ''[[Arrhephoroi]]'', who lived near the temple of Athena Polias, would be given hidden objects by the [[High Priestess of Athena Polias|priestess of Athena]],{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=89}} which they would carry on their heads down a natural underground passage.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=89}} They would leave the objects they had been given at the bottom of the passage and take another set of hidden objects,{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=89}} which they would carry on their heads back up to the temple.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=89}} The ritual was performed in the dead of night{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=89}} and no one, not even the priestess, knew what the objects were.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=89}} The serpent in the story may be the same one depicted coiled at Athena's feet in Pheidias's famous statue of the ''Athena Parthenos'' in the Parthenon.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=88}} Many of the surviving sculptures of Athena show this serpent.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=88}} Herodotus records that a serpent lived in a crevice on the north side of the summit of the Athenian Acropolis{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=88}} and that the Athenians left a honey cake for it each month as an offering.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=88}} On the eve of the [[Second Persian invasion of Greece]] in 480 BC, the serpent did not eat the honey cake{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=88}} and the Athenians interpreted it as a sign that Athena herself had abandoned them.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=88}}

Athena gave her favour to an Attic girl named [[Myrsine (mythology)|Myrsine]], a chaste girl who outdid all her fellow athletes in both the [[palaestra]] and the race. Out of envy, the other athletes murdered her, but Athena took pity in her and transformed her dead body into a [[myrtus|myrtle]], a plant thereafter as favoured by her as the olive was.<ref>{{cite book | title = Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World | volume = IX | first1 = Hubert | last1 = Cancik| first2 = Helmuth | last2 = Schneider | first3 = Christine F. | last3 = Salazar | first4 = David E. | last4 = Orton | publisher = [[Brill Publications]] | date = 2002 | page = 423 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DzIOAQAAMAAJ | isbn = 978-90-04-12272-7}}</ref> An almost exact story was said about another girl, [[Elaea (mythology)|Elaea]], who transformed into an olive, Athena's sacred tree.<ref>{{cite book | page = 278 | title = Metamorphosis in Greek Myths | first = Paul M. C. | last = Forbes Irving | publisher = [[Clarendon Press]] | date = 1990 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=URvXAAAAMAAJ | isbn = 0-19-814730-9}}</ref>

According to Ovid, one day as the mortal maiden [[Corone (crow)|Corone]] was walking by the seashore, Poseidon saw her and attempted to seduce her. When his efforts failed, he attempted to rape her instead. However, Corone fled from his rapacious advances, crying out to men and gods. While no man heard her, "the virgin goddess feels pity for a virgin"; Athena saved her by transforming her into a [[crow]].<ref name=":1" />{{sfn|Sax|2003|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jYDxAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA45 45–46]}}

After the deaths of their parents, the orphaned [[Cleothera]] and [[Merope (mythology)|Merope]] were raised by [[Aphrodite]].<ref name="ody">[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+20.66&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136 20.66-78]</ref> The other Olympian goddesses also blessed the girls with gifts and blessings; [[Hera]] gave them beauty, [[Artemis]] high stature, and Athena taught them women's crafts.<ref name="ody" /><ref name="paus1">[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D10%3Achapter%3D30%3Asection%3D1 10.30.1]</ref>

===Patron of heroes===
In Homer's ''[[Iliad]]'', Athena, as a war goddess, inspired and fought alongside the Greek heroes; her aid was synonymous with military prowess. Zeus, the chief god, specifically assigned the sphere of war to Ares, the god of war, and Athena. Athena's moral and military superiority to Ares derived in part from the fact that she represented the intellectual and civilized side of war and the virtues of justice and skill, whereas Ares represented mere blood lust. Her superiority also derived in part from the vastly greater variety and importance of her functions and the patriotism of Homer's predecessors, Ares being of foreign origin. In the ''Iliad'', Athena was the divine form of the heroic, martial ideal: she personified excellence in close combat and glory, and was personally attended by [[Nike (mythology)|Nike]], the goddess of victory. The qualities that led to victory were found on the aegis, or breastplate, that Athena wore when she went to war: fear, strife, defense, and assault. [[File:Jason being saved by Athena from the dragon, Attic red-figured kylix, attributed to Douris, 480-470 BC, inv. 16545 - Museo Gregoriano Etrusco - Vatican Museums - DSC01046 (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Attic red-figure kylix painting from {{circa}} 480-470 BC showing Athena observing as the [[Colchis|Colchian]] dragon disgorges the hero [[Jason]]{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=62}}]]

According to Pseudo-Apollodorus's ''Bibliotheca'', Athena advised [[Argus (son of Arestor)|Argos]], the builder of the ''[[Argo]]'', the ship on which the hero [[Jason]] and his band of [[Argonauts]] sailed, and aided in the ship's construction.<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Bibliotheca]]'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D16 1.9.16] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225061942/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DLibrary%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D9%3Asection%3D16|date=25 February 2021}}</ref>{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=124}} According to Pindar's ''Thirteenth Olympian Ode'', Athena helped the hero [[Bellerophon]] tame the winged horse [[Pegasus]] by giving him a [[Bit (horse)|bit]].{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=48}}<ref>Pindar, ''Olympian Ode'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D13 13.75–78] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106114234/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DO.%3Apoem%3D13|date=6 January 2021}}</ref> In [[Aeschylus]]'s tragedy ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'', Athena intervenes to save [[Orestes]] from the wrath of the [[Erinyes]] and presides over his trial for the murder of his mother [[Clytemnestra]].{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|page=161}} When half the jury votes to acquit and the other half votes to [[convict]], Athena casts the deciding vote to acquit Orestes{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|page=161}} and declares that, from then on, whenever a jury is tied, the defendant shall always be acquitted.{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|pages=161–162}}

Pseudo-Apollodorus also records that Athena guided the hero [[Perseus (mythology)|Perseus]] in his quest to behead [[Medusa (mythology)|Medusa]].{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=141}}{{sfn|Kinsley|1989|page=151}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=61}} She and [[Hermes]], the god of travelers, appeared to Perseus after he set off on his quest and gifted him with tools he would need to kill the Gorgon.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=61}}<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' 2.37, 38, 39</ref> Athena lent Perseus her polished bronze shield to view Medusa's reflection  without becoming petrified himself.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=61}}<ref name="Bibliotheca2.41">Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' 2.41</ref> Hermes lent Perseus his [[harpe]] to behead Medusa with.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=61}}<ref>Pseudo-Apollodorus, ''Bibliotheca'' 2.39</ref> When Perseus swung the blade to behead Medusa, Athena guided it, allowing the blade to cut the Gorgon's head clean off.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=61}}<ref name="Bibliotheca2.41" />

In [[ancient Greek art]], Athena is frequently shown aiding the hero [[Heracles]].{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=64–65}} She appears in four of the twelve [[metope]]s on the [[Temple of Zeus at Olympia]] depicting Heracles's [[Labors of Heracles|Twelve Labors]],{{sfn|Pollitt|1999|pages=48–50}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=64–65}} including the first, in which she simply watches him slay the [[Nemean lion]] after having told him how to use the lion's own claws to skin the pelt,{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=64–65}} and in the tenth, in which she is shown actively helping him hold up the sky itself.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=65}} According to Apollodorus, on Athena's advice, Heracles dragged [[Alcyoneus]], one of the two strongest Giants alongside [[Porphyrion]], beyond the borders of his native land, where he was immortal, and then fatally shot him (compare with [[Antaeus]]).<ref>Antaeus, another offspring of Gaia who was an opponent of Heracles, was immortal as long as he was in contact with the earth. Heracles killed Antaeus by crushing him while holding him off the ground. For [[Pindar]], Hearacles' battle with Alcyoneus (whom he calls a herdsman) and the Gigantomachy were separate events, see: ''Isthmian'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DI.%3Apoem%3D6 6.30–35], ''Nemean'' [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0162%3Abook%3DN.%3Apoem%3D4 4.24–30].</ref> She is presented as Heracles' "stern ally",{{sfn|Pollitt|1999|page=50}} but also the "gentle&nbsp;... acknowledger of his achievements".{{sfn|Pollitt|1999|page=50}} Artistic depictions of Heracles's [[apotheosis]] show Athena driving him to Mount Olympus in her chariot and presenting him to Zeus for his deification.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=65}}

In ''[[The Odyssey]]'', [[Odysseus]]' cunning and shrewd nature quickly wins Athena's favour.{{sfn|Jenkyns|2016|page=19}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=124}} For the first part of the poem, however, she largely is confined to aiding him only from ''afar'', mainly by implanting thoughts in his head during his journey home from Troy. Her guiding actions reinforce her role as the "protectress of heroes", or, as mythologian [[Walter Friedrich Otto]] dubbed her, the "goddess of nearness", due to her mentoring and motherly probing.<ref>W. F. Otto, ''Die Gotter Griechenlands (55–77)''. Bonn: F. Cohen, 1929.</ref>{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=141}}{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=59}} It is not until he washes up on the shore of the island of the [[Phaeacians]], where [[Nausicaa]] is washing her clothes that Athena arrives personally to provide more tangible assistance.{{sfn|de Jong|2001|page=152}} She appears in Nausicaa's dreams to ensure that the princess rescues Odysseus and plays a role in his eventual escort to Ithaca.{{sfn|de Jong|2001|pages=152–153}} Athena appears to Odysseus upon his arrival, disguised as a herdsman;{{sfn|Trahman|1952|pages=31–35}}{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=142}}{{sfn|Jenkyns|2016|page=19}} she initially lies and tells him that Penelope, his wife, has remarried and that he is believed to be dead,{{sfn|Trahman|1952|pages=31–35}} but Odysseus lies back to her, employing skillful prevarications to protect himself.{{sfn|Trahman|1952|page=35}}{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=142}} Impressed by his resolve and shrewdness, she reveals herself and tells him what he needs to know to win back his kingdom.{{sfn|Trahman|1952|pages=35–43}}{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=142}}{{sfn|Jenkyns|2016|page=19}} She disguises him as an elderly beggar so that he will not be recognized by the suitors or Penelope,{{sfn|Trahman|1952|pages=35–42}}{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=142}} and helps him to defeat the suitors.{{sfn|Trahman|1952|pages=35–42}}{{sfn|Jenkyns|2016|pages=19–20}}{{sfn|Burkert|1985|page=142}} Athena also appears to Odysseus's son Telemachus.{{sfn|Murrin|2007|page=499}} Her actions lead him to travel around to Odysseus's comrades and ask about his father.{{sfn|Murrin|2007|pages=499–500}} He hears stories about some of Odysseus's journey.{{sfn|Murrin|2007|pages=499–500}} Athena's push for Telemachus's journey helps him grow into the man role, that his father once held.{{sfn|Murrin|2007|pages=499–514}} She also plays a role in ending the resultant feud against the suitors' relatives. She instructs [[Laertes (father of Odysseus)|Laertes]] to throw his spear and to kill [[Eupeithes]], the father of [[Antinous son of Eupeithes|Antinous]].

<gallery mode="packed" heights="200">

File:Athena Herakles Staatliche Antikensammlungen 2648.jpg|Athena and Heracles on an [[Attica|Attic]] red-figure [[Kylix (drinking cup)|kylix]], 480–470 BC
File:Kantharos 58.9.jpg|Athena, detail from a silver ''[[kantharos]]'' with [[Theseus]] in [[Crete]] ({{circa}} 440-435 BC), part of the [[Vassil Bojkov Collection|Vassil Bojkov collection]], [[Sofia]], Bulgaria
File:Herakleia AR SNGANS 064.jpg|Silver coin showing Athena with [[Scylla]] decorated helmet and Heracles fighting the Nemean lion ([[Heraclea Lucania]], 390-340 BC)
File:Orestes Delphi BM GR1917.12-10.1.jpg|Paestan red-figure bell-krater ({{circa}} 330 BC), showing Orestes at [[Delphi]] flanked by Athena and [[Pylades]] among the Erinyes and priestesses of [[Apollo]], with the [[Pythia]] sitting behind them on her [[Sacrificial tripod#Ancient Greece|tripod]]
</gallery>

===Punishment myths===
A myth told by the early third-century BC Hellenistic poet [[Callimachus]] in his ''Hymn'' 5 begins with Athena bathing in a spring on [[Mount Helicon]] at midday with one of her favorite companions, the nymph [[Chariclo]].{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}}{{sfn|Morford|Lenardon|1999|page=315}} Chariclo's son [[Tiresias]] happened to be hunting on the same mountain and came to the spring searching for water.{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}}{{sfn|Morford|Lenardon|1999|page=315}} He inadvertently saw Athena naked, so she struck him blind to ensure he would never again see what man was not intended to see.{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}}{{sfn|Morford|Lenardon|1999|pages=315–316}}{{sfn|Kugelmann|1983|page=73}} Chariclo intervened on her son's behalf and begged Athena to have mercy.{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}}{{sfn|Kugelmann|1983|page=73}}{{sfn|Morford|Lenardon|1999|page=316}} Athena replied that she could not restore Tiresias's eyesight,{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}}{{sfn|Kugelmann|1983|page=73}}{{sfn|Morford|Lenardon|1999|page=316}} so, instead, she gave him the ability to understand the language of the birds and thus foretell the future.{{sfn|Edmunds|1990|page=373}}{{sfn|Morford|Lenardon|1999|page=316}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}}

[[Myrmex (Attic woman)|Myrmex]] was a clever and chaste Attic girl who became quickly a favourite of Athena. However, when Athena invented the plough, Myrmex went to the Atticans and told them that it was in fact her own invention. Hurt by the girl's betrayal, Athena transformed her into the small insect bearing her name, the [[ant]].<ref>[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], ''Commentary on Virgil's Aeneid'' [https://topostext.org/work/548#4.402 4.402] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101232723/https://topostext.org/work/548#4.402|date=1 January 2022}}; [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith]] 1873, s.v. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D32%3Aentry%3Dmyrmex-bio-1 Myrmex] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221225235924/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D32%3Aentry%3Dmyrmex-bio-1|date=25 December 2022}}</ref>[[File:Gorgona pushkin.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|Classical Greek depiction of [[Medusa]] from the fourth century BC]]

The [[Gorgoneion]] appears to have originated as an [[Apotropaic magic|apotropaic]] symbol intended to ward off evil.{{sfn|Phinney|1971|pages=445–447}} In a late Roman myth invented to explain the origins of the Gorgon,{{sfn|Phinney|1971|pages=445–463}} [[Medusa]] is described as having been raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena.{{sfn|Seelig|2002|page=895}} Upon discovering the desecration of her temple, Athena transformed Medusa into a hideous monster with serpents for hair whose gaze [[Petrifaction in mythology and fiction|would turn any mortal to stone]].{{sfn|Seelig|2002|page=895-911}}

In his ''Twelfth Pythian Ode'', [[Pindar]] recounts the story of how Athena invented the ''[[aulos]]'', a kind of flute, in imitation of the lamentations of Medusa's sisters, the Gorgons, after she was beheaded by the hero [[Perseus]].{{sfn|Poehlmann|2017|page=330}} According to Pindar, Athena gave the aulos to mortals as a gift.{{sfn|Poehlmann|2017|page=330}} Later, the comic playwright [[Melanippides|Melanippides of Melos]] ({{circa}} 480–430 BC) embellished the story in his comedy ''Marsyas'',{{sfn|Poehlmann|2017|page=330}} claiming that Athena looked in the mirror while she was playing the aulos and saw how blowing into it puffed up her cheeks and made her look silly, so she threw the aulos away and cursed it so that whoever picked it up would meet an awful death.{{sfn|Poehlmann|2017|page=330}} The aulos was picked up by the satyr [[Marsyas]], who was later killed by Apollo for his [[hubris]].{{sfn|Poehlmann|2017|page=330}} Later, this version of the story became accepted as canonical{{sfn|Poehlmann|2017|page=330}} and the Athenian sculptor [[Myron]] created a group of bronze sculptures based on it, which was installed before the western front of the Parthenon in around 440 BC.{{sfn|Poehlmann|2017|page=330}}

[[File:René-Antoine Houasse - Minerve et Arachne (Versailles).jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.3|''[[Minerva]] and [[Arachne]]'' by [[René-Antoine Houasse]] (1706)]]

The [[fable]] of [[Arachne]] appears in the Roman poet [[Ovid]]'s ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' (8 AD) (vi.5–54 and 129–145),{{sfn|Powell|2012|pages=233–234}}{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|page=78}}{{sfn|Norton|2013|page=166}} which is nearly the only extant source for the legend.{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|page=78}}{{sfn|Norton|2013|page=166}} The story does not appear to have been well known prior to Ovid's rendition of it{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|page=78}} and the only earlier reference to it is a brief allusion in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Georgics]]'', (29 BC) (iv, 246) that does not mention Arachne by name.{{sfn|Norton|2013|page=166}} According to Ovid, Arachne (whose name means ''spider'' in ancient Greek<ref>{{LSJ|a)ra/xnh|ἀράχνη}}, {{LSJ|a)ra/xnhs|ἀράχνης|ref}}.</ref>) was the daughter of a famous dyer in [[Tyrian purple]] in Hypaipa of [[Lydia]], and a weaving student of Athena.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=233}} She became so conceited of her skill as a weaver that she began claiming that her skill was greater than that of Athena herself and that she didn't feel grateful to the goddess for anything, despite Athena invented weaving.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=233}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}} Athena gave Arachne a chance to redeem herself by assuming the form of an old woman and warning Arachne not to offend the deities.{{sfn|Powell|2012|pages=233–234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}} Arachne scoffed and wished for a weaving contest, so she could prove her skill.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}} Athena revelead her true form, accepted and wove the scene of her victory over [[Poseidon]] in the contest for the patronage of Athens.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}} Her tapestry also depicted the 12 Olympian gods and defeat of mythological figures who challenged their authority.{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|p=92}} Arachne's tapestry featured twenty-one episodes of the deities' sexual affairs,{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}} including [[Zeus]] being unfaithful with [[Leda (mythology)|Leda]], with [[Europa (mythical)|Europa]], and with [[Danaë]].{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}} It represented the unjust and discrediting behavior of the gods towards mortals.{{sfn|Roman|Roman|2010|p=92}} Athena admitted that Arachne's work was flawless,{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}} but was outraged at Arachne's choice of subject.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}} Finally, losing her temper, Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry and loom, striking it with her shuttle.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}} Athena then struck Arachne across the face with her staff four times.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}} Arachne hanged herself in despair,{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}} but Athena took pity on her and brought her back from the dead in the form of a spider.{{sfn|Powell|2012|page=234}}{{sfn|Harries|1990|pages=64–82}}{{sfn|Leach|1974|pages=102–142}}

In a rarer version, surviving in the [[scholia]] of an unnamed scholiast on [[Nicander]], whose works heavily influenced Ovid, Arachne is placed in Attica instead and has a brother named [[Phalanx (mythology)|Phalanx]]. Athena taught Arachne the art of weaving and Phalanx the art of war, but when brother and sister laid together in bed, Athena was so disgusted with them that she turned them both into spiders, animals forever doomed to be eaten by their own young.<ref>{{cite book | title = A Web of Fantasies: Gaze, Image, and Gender in Ovid's Metamorphoses | first = Patricia B. | last = Salzman-Mitchell | publisher = [[Ohio State University Press]] | date = 2005 | isbn = 0-8142-0999-8 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Sfz9GZIYPcsC | page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=Sfz9GZIYPcsC&pg=PA228 228]}}</ref>

According to Book VIII (236–59) of Ovid's ''[[Metamorphoses]]'', [[Daedalus]] was so proud of his achievements as an inventor that he could not bear the idea of a rival. His sister had placed her son [[Perdix (mythology)|Perdix]] under his charge to be taught the mechanical arts. While walking on the seashore, he picked up the spine of a fish or a serpent's jaw. Imitating it, he took a piece of iron and notched it on the edge, thus inventing the saw. Daedalus was so envious of his nephew's accomplishments that he took an opportunity, when they were together one day on the top of a high tower, to push him off, but Athena, who favors ingenuity, saw him falling and saved his life by changing him into a bird called after his name, the ''[[perdix]]'' ([[partridge]]). This bird does not build its nest in the trees, nor take lofty flights, but nestles in the [[hedge]]s, and mindful of his fall, avoids high places. For this crime, Daedalus was tried and banished. In some accounts, she leaves Daedalus with a scar in the shape of a partridge, to always remind him of his crime.{{clear}}

===Trojan War===
{{Main|Judgement of Paris}}

[[File:Judgement Paris Antioch Louvre Ma3443.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Ancient Greek mosaic from [[Antioch]] dating to the second century AD, depicting the [[Judgement of Paris]]]]

The myth of the Judgement of Paris is mentioned briefly in the ''[[Iliad]]'',{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=31}} but is described in depth in an [[epitome]] of the ''[[Cypria]]'', a lost poem of the [[Epic Cycle]],{{sfn|Walcot|1977|pages=31–32}} which records that all the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the marriage of [[Peleus]] and [[Thetis]] (the eventual parents of [[Achilles]]).{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=31}} Only [[Eris (mythology)|Eris]], goddess of discord, was not invited.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|pages=31–32}} She was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the word καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, "for the fairest"), which she threw among the goddesses.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=32}} Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful owner of the apple.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=32}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a [[Troy|Trojan]] prince.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=32}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} After bathing in the spring of [[Mount Ida]] where Troy was situated, the goddesses appeared before Paris for his decision.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=32}} In the extant ancient depictions of the Judgement of Paris, Aphrodite is only occasionally represented nude, and Athena and Hera are always fully clothed.{{sfn|Bull|2005|pages=346–347}} Since the [[Renaissance]], however, Western paintings have typically portrayed all three goddesses as completely naked.{{sfn|Bull|2005|pages=346–347}} All three goddesses were ideally beautiful and Paris could not decide between them, so they resorted to bribes.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=32}} Hera tried to bribe Paris with power over all Asia and Europe,{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=32}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} and Athena offered fame and glory in battle,{{sfn|Walcot|1977|page=32}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} but Aphrodite promised Paris that, if he were to choose her as the fairest, she would let him marry the most beautiful woman on earth.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|pages=32–33}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} This woman was [[Helen of Troy|Helen]], who was already married to King [[Menelaus]] of [[Sparta#Prehistory, "dark age" and archaic period|Sparta]].{{sfn|Walcot|1977|pages=32–33}} Paris selected Aphrodite and awarded her the apple.{{sfn|Walcot|1977|pages=32–33}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}} The other two goddesses were enraged and, as a direct result, sided with the Greeks in the [[Trojan War]].{{sfn|Walcot|1977|pages=32–33}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=125}}

[[File:Antalya Museum 06022022 003.jpg|thumb|Athena statue in the Antalya Museum.]]

In Books V–VI of the ''[[Iliad]]'', Athena aids the hero [[Diomedes]], who, in the absence of Achilles, proves himself to be the most effective Greek warrior.{{sfn|Burgess|2001|page=84}}{{sfn|Hansen|2004|page=124}} Several artistic representations from the early sixth century BC may show Athena and Diomedes,{{sfn|Burgess|2001|page=84}} including an early sixth-century BC shield band depicting Athena and an unidentified warrior riding on a chariot, a vase painting of a warrior with his charioteer facing Athena, and an inscribed clay plaque showing Diomedes and Athena riding in a chariot.{{sfn|Burgess|2001|page=84}} Numerous passages in the ''Iliad'' also mention Athena having previously served as the patron of Diomedes's father [[Tydeus]].<ref>''Iliad'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D4%3Acard%3D350 4.390] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130204829/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134:book%3D4:card%3D350 |date=30 November 2021 }}, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D5%3Acard%3D84 5.115–120] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130204825/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134:book%3D5:card%3D84 |date=30 November 2021 }}, [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0134%3Abook%3D10%3Acard%3D254 10.284-94] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130204827/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0134:book%3D10:card%3D254 |date=30 November 2021 }}</ref>{{sfn|Burgess|2001|pages=84–85}} When the Trojans go to her temple on the Acropolis to plead her for protection from Diomedes, Athena ignores them.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=68–69}} Later, when Zeus allows the gods to fight, Ares, who sided with the Trojans, attacks Athena, but she overpowers him by striking him with a boulder.<ref>''Iliad'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:15.78-15.112 15.110–128], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:20.1-20.29 20.20–29], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0012.tlg001.perseus-eng1:21.361-21.399 21.391–408].</ref>

In Book XXII of the ''Iliad'', while Achilles is chasing [[Hector]] around the walls of Troy, Athena appears to Hector disguised as his brother [[Deiphobus]]{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=69}} and persuades him to hold his ground so that they can fight Achilles together.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=69}} Then, Hector throws his spear at Achilles and misses, expecting Deiphobus to hand him another,{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=69–70}} but Athena disappears instead, leaving Hector to face Achilles alone without his spear.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=69–70}} In [[Sophocles]]'s tragedy ''[[Ajax (play)|Ajax]]'', she punishes Odysseus's rival [[Ajax the Great]], driving him insane and causing him to massacre the Achaeans' cattle, thinking that he is slaughtering the Achaeans themselves.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|pages=59–60}} Even after Odysseus himself expresses pity for Ajax,{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=60}} Athena declares, "To laugh at your enemies – what sweeter laughter can there be than that?" (lines 78–9).{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=60}} Ajax later commits suicide as a result of his humiliation.{{sfn|Deacy|2008|page=60}}