Athena+7

= ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssl **__Athena__**= sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss By Victoria G. and Grace

 ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssl Summary
Athena (or Minerva in the Roman myths) is the goddess of wisdom, battle, strategy, and reason. She was born out of Zeus’ head in full body armor. She was Zeus’ favorite child, and she was trusted to carry his thunderbolt. Some of her accomplishments included inventing the bridle for taming horses and creating the olive. She was good at agriculture and handicrafts. Athena valued civility, independence, and purity. She was one of three “maiden goddesses”. Her special city was Athens; her tree, the olive; and her bird, the owl. Athena was a highly important goddess to the Greeks and Romans.

 sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss Analysis
  sss Athena is the embodiment of strength, fierceness, and, most of all, wisdom to the Greeks. The people of Greece put value in these traits, because they were important in every person, and warrior, of Greece. They would need a combination of wisdom, strength, and independence, which Athena shows when she is born of no mother, proving that she didn’t need parents to guide her into life.  sss Athena displays extremely appropriate behavior for for Greek citizens. They were expected to use their wits to handle situations that came their way. Greeks were expected to protect the state, like Athena is known to do, becoming fierce and belligerent if the country’s peace was threatened. Overall, Athena combines many of the traits of acceptable behavior for Greeks.

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Many things people think are important today were also important to Athena. Some of these include:
 * Using reason to chose between right and wrong
 * Not to depend solely on others, as it is important to be able to support yourself
 * To stand up and fight for what you believe is right

Some people who are like "modern day Athenas" include:
 * Hermione Granger (from Harry Potter) - She was extremely wise and loved logic
 * Women Soldiers - They are brave, resilient, and smart in battle, like Athena, and are often fiercely independent.
 * Professor McGonagall (from Harry Potter) - She was also extremely bright and valued order and civility. Even her name, Minerva, is the same (It is Athena’s Roman name.).
 * Teachers- They can sometimes be strict to have order in the classroom, but are very smart and wise.
 * Inventors – They use reason a lot and, like Athena, make things that no one has seen before for the good of the people.

s ss  ss  ss Our source is:  Hamilton, Edith. // Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes //. New York, NY: Warner, 1999. Print.