Athena, known as Minerva to the Romans, was the ancient Greek goddess of wisdom, heroic endeavor, and warfare. Her father, the lightning god Zeus, ate his wife, the goddess Metis, when he found out from Gaia that their child would be wiser than Zeus and could overthrow him. However, it was too late to stop the pregnant Metis from giving birth, and Zeus experienced a major headache six wives later. He ordered Hephaestus to cleave his head open with an axe, and Athena leaped from his head, fully grown and armed. Because she was born from Zeus' brain, she became the goddess of wisdom and was smarter than her father, fulfilling the prophecy.
Athena was said to have played an active role in supporting the heroic endeavors of heroes such as Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, and Jason, and supporting the Achaean side during the Trojan War and serving as Odysseus' divine counselor during his return home. The city of Athens was dedicated to Athena, supposedly after Athena won a contest with Poseidon, and several statues and temples (most notably the Parthenon) were dedicated to her.
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