In fact, Athena was jealous of Medusa's beauty and lustrous hair.
In "Aphrodite the Beauty", Aphrodite gives her a makeover, but becomes jealous when Athena has attracted the attention of Ares. However, Athena never liked Ares in the first place, and is more concerned over her friendship with Aphrodite.
Arachne's weaving depicted ways that the gods, particularly Zeus, had misled and abused mortals, tricking, and seducing many women. 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.
Athena's feelings about Poseidon are not really discussed, though they are clearly rivals. Athena and Poseidon entered into a contest to be the patron of Athens. Poseidon produces a spring of water but it was salty. Athena bested Poseidon by producing an olive tree on the Acropolis.
Answer: As goddess of wisdom and war, and protector of Athens and heroes, Athena has little to fear. In mythology, she is immensely powerful and immortal, but in The Odyssey the story of her contest with Poseidon reveals her only fear. This is the fear of being defeated.
Athena was an armed warrior goddess. The Parthenon at Athens was her most famous shrine. She never had a true lover or someone to hug and hold her; all she had was her loving mother, caring father and most of all her brothers and sisters.
Athena was also incredibly jealous. She once challenged a young girl named Arachne to a weaving competition, because Arachne claimed to weave better than Athena. Of course, Athena won the competition, but before Athena could dole out any punishment, Arachne hung herself.
Hades is Athena's uncle. She appears to be very fond of him, as she greets him with an enthusiastic hug when she sees him after a presumably long time.
Enemies: Athena's most famous enemy was Medusa, a gorgon with snakes for hair who could turn people to stone with her gaze. Athena turned her into a monster as punishment for her vanity and was the one who helped Perseus slay her.
According to the Bibliotheca, Athena visited the smith-god Hephaestus to request some weapons, but Hephaestus was so overcome by desire that he tried to seduce her in his workshop. Determined to maintain her virginity, Athena fled, pursued by Hephaestus. He caught Athena and tried to rape her, but she fought him off.
She was angered by the idea that someone would say that they were more talented than a god so Athena hatched a plan to confront Arachne. A few days later, disguised as an old woman, Athena knocked on Arachne's door. “I have come to warn you,” Athena rasped.
She was one of the most intelligent and wisest of the Greek gods. She was also good at war strategy and giving heroes courage. Athena's special powers included the ability to invent useful items and crafts. She invented the ship, chariot, plow, and rake.
In fact, Athena was jealous of Medusa's beauty and lustrous hair. Poseidon ravaged her and took what she held dearly, her purity. Athena, outraged by this incident, cursed Medusa and turned her wonderful hair into venomous snakes, her beautiful face turned so ugly that any man who gazed upon would turn to stone.
Ares and Athena: The Ultimate Sibling Rivalry
The role that Ares plays in Greek mythology is rather small. This has a lot to do with Athena being perceived as superior. As such, the two siblings were bitter rivals and were always in constant competition.
When the Trojan prince Paris was asked to judge which of three Olympian Goddesses was the most beautiful, he chose Aphrodite over Hera and Athena, despite the latter* two trying to bribe him with power and victory in battle. Aphrodite won because she offered Paris the love of the most beautiful woman in the world.
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.
The other gods came to see what the problem was. 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.
According to mythology, Hades, god of the Underworld, fell in love with beautiful Persephone when he saw her picking flowers one day in a meadow. The god then carried her off in his chariot to live with him in the dark Underworld.
Athena shares a special relationship with the hero Odysseus. She is his patron goddess and she will always intervene in time to assist him when he is in danger. The goddess herself explains this special relationship with Odysseus in Book 13 of the Odyssey.
Athena's life passion was to protect and lead the people of Athens. She fought for values like justice, truth, and moral values and put it all on the line to protect her beliefs. She was fearless and was exalted for her heroic endeavors and her unmatched intellect earned her the title of the Goddess of War.
TEIRESIAS (Tiresias) A seer of Thebes in Boiotia (central Greece) who accidentally came across the goddess Athena bathing in a mountain stream. As punishment for seeing her naked she took away his sight, but in recompense also bestowed him with gifts, since his crime was not a deliberate one.
Athena is typically depicted as a virgin goddess with no husband or offspring. 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.
23 She is a female goddess, but she is also a soldier, which traditionally is a male role. Throughout Greek history, Athena's cult eventually came to replace that of other palace-citadel goddesses, so she fulfilled the role of female deity for a large geographical area.
Strengths: Rational, intelligent, a powerful defender in war but also a potent peacemaker. Weaknesses: Reason rules her; she is not usually emotional or compassionate but she does have her favorites, such as the beleaguered hero Odysseus. Birthplace: From the forehead of her father Zeus.