Birth of Athena. In the most common versions of this myth, Athena (Minerva) sprang, fully grown and fully armed, from the head of Zeus (Jupiter). Early sources, such as Homer, make no mention of Athena's mother, but later mythographers identify Metis, the consort of Zeus and wisest of all the gods, as her mother. According to Hesiod, when Metis was pregnant by Zeus, he took the advice of Gaia and Uranus and swallowed the expectant mother so that his offspring would not usurp his power. In time Hephaestus (Vulcan)—in some versions Prometheus— split Zeus's forehead open with an ax and Athena was born.
    The birth of Athena is a theme commonly shown on Athenian black-figure vases of the sixth century BCE. One of the best-known depictions of the myth, only fragments of which survive today, was on the east pediment of the Parthenon.

Listings are arranged under the following headings:
General List (Athena)
Contest with Poseidon