Athena took care of this infant, and eventually he became king of Athens and made Athena the chief deity of the city. Once Hephaestus tried to violate her, but Athena managed to defend herself and Hephaestus spilled his seed on the ground, which gave birth to Erichthonius. Nonetheless, Athena never felt the pangs of love and she remained a virgin. A protectress of heroes, she assisted Perseus, Heracles, Bellerophon, Achilles, and Odysseus in their various exploits. Unlike Ares, who was rashly bellicose and sometimes cowardly in battle, Athena had a cool, prudent courage that aided her in various undertakings. She was a redoubtable fighter and took an active part in the war against the Giants and in the Trojan War. His quarrelsome greed made him rather unpopular with the other Olympians.Īs a warrior goddess, Athena was depicted in long, flowing robes, wearing a helmet and holding a spear in one hand and a winged victory in the other. His other bids for power were unsuccessful, too, as he tried to seize Naxos from Dionysus, Aegina from Zeus, Corinth from Helios, and Argolis from Hera. But Poseidon flooded the country around Athens in retaliation. Since Zeus withheld his vote, the goddesses were in the majority so that Athena won. Then the male gods sided with Poseidon, while the goddesses favored Athena. Zeus, however, demanded that the quarrel be submitted to the arbitration of the gods. And Poseidon challenged Athena to combat.
Undismayed, Athena gave the Athenians an olive tree. Poseidon shoved his trident into the Acropolis and produced a flowing stream or a horse. In his dispute with Athena for dominion over Athens, the two gods had a contest as to which one could give the Athenians the best gift. Not satisfied with lordship over the sea, Poseidon coveted earthly realms as well. In one case Amphitrite transformed her husband's mistress into a loathsome, barking monster. Yet the marriage was not very happy for her because Poseidon, like Zeus, persisted in extramarital affairs. Poseidon sent messengers to fetch her, and one of them, a dolphin, was able to persuade her to marry the lord of the sea. Then he courted Amphitrite, another sea nymph, but she disliked him and fled far away. At one time he courted Thetis, the sea nymph, but he gave her up when he learned that she would bear a son greater than its father. Poseidon built a palace in the watery depths and sought a wife who could live there. And like the sea he had a stormy, violent nature.
Zeus's brother Poseidon gained control of the sea as his portion of the world.
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