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The Birth of Athena

Also called: Athena born from the head of Zeus, Metis

A legend handed down over the centuries.

A Greek myth told in Hesiod’s Theogony and the Homeric Hymns. Fearing that Metis, goddess of wisdom, would bear a son mightier than himself, Zeus swallowed her; later Athena sprang fully armed from Zeus’ head.

A small Athena emerging from the head of Zeus — Athenian black-figure amphora, c. 550–525 BC, Louvre
A small Athena emerging from the head of Zeus — Athenian black-figure amphora, c. 550–525 BC, Louvre

User:Bibi Saint-Pol · Public domain · Source

This Greek myth is told in Hesiod’s Theogony and Homeric Hymn 28. Zeus’ first wife was Metis, goddess of wisdom. Warned by Gaia and Uranus that the son she would bear would surpass his father, Zeus swallowed her while she was pregnant. In time Athena was born from Zeus’ head; the Homeric Hymn sings that as she leapt out in gleaming golden armour, brandishing a spear, Olympus shook and the sea surged.

Pindar and later writers add that the smith god Hephaestus (or Prometheus) split Zeus’ head with an axe. Athena became goddess of wisdom and war, weaving and crafts, and patron of Athens; her birth was carved on the east pediment of the Parthenon.

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Themes that include this event

  • The Olympian Gods800 BC – 432 BC

    From Chaos and Gaia to the War of the Titans, the reign of Zeus, Prometheus and Pandora — the gods of Greek myth in story order, alongside Hesiod’s Theogony and the real sanctuaries where the myths lived: Eleusis, Delphi, the Parthenon and Olympia