Athena in the Ancient Sources: 465 Passages in Greek & English

Hesiod (9)

Hesiod, Theogony 900–929tZeus's marriages and children; the birth of Athena (900-929)Zeus marries Themis (the Hours and the Fates), Eurynome (the Graces), Demeter (Persephone), Mnemosyne (the Muses), Leto (Apollo and Artemis) and lastly Hera, whose children are Hebe, Ares and Eileithyia. Zeus bears Athena from his own head, and Hera bears Hephaestus without Zeus. The section recounts again how Zeus swallowed Metis, who conceived Athena, and how she was born by the river Trito.
Hesiod, Works and Days 40–104Prometheus, fire and Pandora (40-104)The gods keep the means of life hidden from men, and Zeus hides fire because Prometheus deceived him; Prometheus steals it back in a fennel-stalk. As the price for fire Zeus has Hephaestus mould a maiden, whom Athena, Aphrodite, Hermes and the Graces equip with skills, charm and a deceitful nature. She is named Pandora and sent to Epimetheus, who accepts her despite Prometheus's warning, and she lifts the lid of the jar and scatters evils among men, while Hope alone stays inside.
Hesiod, Fragments 1.1–13Deucalion, Hellen and their descendantsThe Catalogue of Women opens with the descendants of Deucalion and Hellen, saying that Deucalion was the son of Prometheus and Pronoea, that Hellen fathered Dorus, Xuthus and Aeolus, and that Thyia bore Magnes and Macedon to Zeus. The fragments then turn to the Aloiadae, Eurynome, Endymion, the sons of Actor and Molione, Periclymenus, and the sons of Neleus whom Heracles killed. Most are short quotations from later writers who cite Hesiod for a name or a descent.
Hesiod, Theogony 570–614The first woman: Zeus's price for fire (570-614)Zeus gives men an evil in return for fire: Hephaestus moulds a maiden from earth, Athena dresses her, and the other gods adorn her. Hesiod says that from her comes the race of women, a great trouble to mortal men, like drones among the bees, and that marriage and bachelorhood each bring their own sorrow. He ends with the fate of Prometheus, whom strong bonds confine.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 400–480Heracles kills Cycnus and wounds Ares (400-480)Heracles drives his spear into Cycnus's neck between helmet and shield, and he falls like a lightning-struck oak. Ares attacks next, and although Athena tells him to stop, he is wounded in the thigh and cast down, and Panic and Dread carry him to Olympus. Heracles and Iolaus strip Cycnus's armour and go to Trachis, where Ceyx buries him, but Anaurus, swollen by rain at Apollo's command, washes the grave away.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 75–149Heracles and Iolaus arm for battle (75-149)Heracles tells his charioteer Iolaus how Amphitryon came to Thebes after killing Electryon over oxen, and how Iolaus's father lost his senses through Zeus and went to serve the wicked Eurystheus. He bids Iolaus drive straight at Ares, who is raging in Apollo's grove, and Iolaus answers with encouragement. Heracles then arms himself with greaves from Hephaestus, a breastplate from Athena, a quiver, a spear and a helm, and takes up the shield, which has Fear in adamant at its centre with Strife above his brow.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 325–399Athena's counsel; Heracles meets Cycnus (325-399)Athena tells Heracles and Iolaus that Zeus gives them power to kill Cycnus and strip his armour, but that they must only wound Ares and then draw back. When the chariots meet, Heracles tells Cycnus to turn aside because he is bound for King Ceyx at Trachis, and recalls how he once wounded Ares at Pylos. Cycnus refuses, both men leap to the ground, and Zeus thunders and rains drops of blood as the fight begins.
Hesiod, Theogony 870–899The winds of Typhoeus; Zeus becomes king and swallows Metis (870-899)Hesiod describes the destructive winds that spring from Typhoeus and wreck ships and fields. When the gods have settled their struggle with the Titans, they press Zeus to reign, and he divides their honours. Zeus's first wife is Metis, the wisest of gods and men; to prevent her bearing a son who would rule over him, he deceives her and puts her inside his own belly.
Hesiod, Shield of Heracles 150–239The shield of Heracles: war, Lapiths and Centaurs, the harbour, Perseus (150-239)The shield's decoration continues with Pursuit, Flight, Tumult and Panic, deadly Fate dragging a dead man, twelve snake heads, and boars and lions glaring at one another. Other scenes show the Lapiths fighting the Centaurs, Ares in his golden chariot with Athena, the gods on Olympus where Apollo plays the lyre and the Muses sing, and a harbour with dolphins and a fisherman. Perseus, wearing the cap of Hades and carrying the Gorgon's head, flies above the shield while the Gorgons pursue him, and beyond him men fight for and against a town.

Homer (99)

Homer, Iliad 6.237–368Hector in Troy: Hecuba, Athena's temple, Paris and HelenHector reaches the Scaean gates, where the Trojan women ask for their sons and husbands, and goes on to Priam's house, where Hecuba offers him wine. He tells her to gather the older women and lay the finest robe on the knees of Athena, and Theano the priestess prays for Diomedes' fall, but Athena denies the prayer. Hector then goes to Paris, rebukes him, and refuses Helen's offer to sit, since he wants to see his own household.
Homer, Odyssey 24.412–548The kinsmen of the suitors; peace restoredRumour carries the news of the slaughter through the city, and the kinsmen of the suitors take up their bodies and gather in the market-place, where Eupeithes, the father of Antinous, calls for revenge. Odysseus and his men arm and go out to meet them. Laertes kills Eupeithes with a spear, and Athena, in the likeness of Mentor, calls off the fighting, and a covenant is made between the two sides.
Homer, Odyssey 3.1–101Telemachus lands at PylosTelemachus and Athena reach Pylos at sunrise and find Nestor and his people sacrificing black bulls to Poseidon on the shore. Nestor's son Peisistratus welcomes them, gives them a place at the feast and hands Athena the golden cup. When they have eaten, Nestor asks who they are, and Telemachus asks him for news of his father.
Homer, Iliad 5.793–909Diomedes wounds AresAthena finds Diomedes cooling the wound the arrow made, rebukes him, and takes Sthenelus' place in his car, putting on the helm of Hades. They go against Ares, who is stripping the body of Periphas, and Diomedes drives his spear into the god's belly. Ares bellows like nine thousand men and goes up to Olympus, where Zeus tells him that he is hateful to him, but has Paeon heal him.
Homer, Odyssey 22.205–309The slaying of the suitors: Athena as MentorAthena comes to the hall in the likeness of Mentor, and Odysseus calls for his aid, but she rebukes him for lacking his old courage. She flies up to a beam in the roof as a swallow, and the suitors take courage and throw their spears, but Athena turns them aside. Odysseus and his three companions throw in reply and kill four men, and then Athena shakes her aegis and the suitors flee like cattle stung by gadflies.
Homer, Iliad 8.350–484Zeus turns back Hera and AthenaHera and Athena set out to help the Achaeans, but Zeus sends Iris to turn them back with the threat of lamed horses and a shattered car. Zeus returns to Olympus and tells the two goddesses that at dawn he will destroy more of the Argives and that Hector will not stop fighting until Achilles rises at the ships over the body of Patroclus. Hera refuses to be rebuked and says that she will not oppose him.
Homer, Odyssey 2.382–434Athena makes ready the shipAthena, in the likeness of Telemachus, goes through the city gathering a crew, and borrows a swift ship from Noemon. She sheds sleep on the suitors, and then, as Mentor, calls Telemachus out to the ship. They stow the stores and set sail with a fair west wind, with Athena sitting at the stern.
Homer, Odyssey 3.329–403Athena departs; the night at PylosAs evening falls Athena pours a libation and departs in the shape of an osprey, and Nestor knows that his guest was a god. Nestor vows a heifer to her and takes Telemachus to the palace, where Telemachus sleeps in the porch beside Peisistratus.
Homer, Iliad 10.469–579The slaying of RhesusOdysseus and Diomedes go on through the arms and blood and find the Thracians sleeping. Diomedes kills twelve men and then Rhesus, while Odysseus drags the bodies aside and leads off the king's white horses. Athena tells Diomedes to flee and Apollo wakes the Trojans, but the pair reach the ships with the horses, bathe and eat.
Homer, Iliad 21.383–513The battle of the godsThe gods go to war with one another: Ares attacks Athena with his spear and is knocked down by a stone she hurls, and Athena strikes Aphrodite when she comes to help him. Poseidon challenges Apollo, who refuses to fight over mortals, and Artemis, scolded by Hera, is beaten and runs in tears to Zeus. Hermes declines to fight Leto, who gathers up the scattered bow and arrows of her daughter.
Homer, Odyssey 1.96–199Athena visits TelemachusAthena goes to Ithaca in the shape of Mentes, chief of the Taphians, and finds the suitors playing draughts in the courtyard while Telemachus sits among them, unhappy. He welcomes the stranger and sets a meal before him, and the two speak of the suitors who feast in the hall while a minstrel plays. Athena says that she is an old guest-friend of Odysseus' house and that he is still alive, held back on an island.
Homer, Odyssey 7.1–77Athena guides Odysseus to the palaceNausicaa reaches home, and Odysseus walks to the city, where Athena in the shape of a young girl with a pitcher meets him and offers to show him Alcinous' house. She covers him with a mist so that no Phaeacian sees him, tells him of the line of Alcinous, and tells him to approach the queen Arete first.

87 more passages of Homer that name Athena

Apollodorus (15)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.14.1–8Cecrops, Athena and Poseidon, and the early kings of AthensCecrops, a son of the soil, is the first king of Attica, and in his reign Athena and Poseidon contend for the land and the gods award it to Athena. The section covers Cecrops's daughters, Cephalus, Cinyras and Adonis, the kings Cranaus, Amphictyon and Erichthonius (born from Hephaestus's seed), the gift of wine to Icarius and Erigone's death, and ends with Pandion and the story of Procne, Philomela and Tereus.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.4.1–5Perseus: Danae, Medusa and AndromedaAn oracle tells Acrisius that his daughter's son will kill him, so he shuts Danae in a brazen chamber, but she bears Perseus to Zeus and is cast into the sea with him in a chest. On Seriphus, Polydectes sends Perseus to fetch the Gorgon's head; with help from Hermes and Athena he gets the nymphs' gear from the Phorcides and beheads Medusa, from whom Pegasus and Chrysaor spring. He rescues Andromeda from a sea monster, turns Polydectes to stone, and accidentally kills Acrisius with a discus at Larissa, so fulfilling the oracle. The section ends with Perseus's descendants and the birth of Eurystheus.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.12.1–7Dardanus, Priam and the royal house of TroyElectra's son Dardanus founds the line of the Trojan kings through Erichthonius and Tros, to Ganymede, Anchises and Ilus. Ilus founds Ilium on the spot where the cow lies down and receives the Palladium, and Laomedon and Priam follow him, with Tithonus and Memnon among Laomedon's line. The section lists Priam's children, including Hecuba's dream before Paris's birth, Cassandra's gift, and Paris and Oenone, and ends with the sons of Aeacus, Peleus and Telamon, the murder of Phocus and the birth of Ajax and Teucer.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.6.1–8The Seven against ThebesEteocles and Polynices quarrel over the throne of Thebes, and Polynices gathers an Argive army under Adrastus. Amphiaraus foresees disaster but is compelled to join by Eriphyle, who has accepted the necklace of Harmonia. At Nemea the infant Opheltes is killed by a serpent and the Nemean games are founded; at Thebes Menoeceus sacrifices himself on Tiresias's word, Capaneus is struck by lightning, and Eteocles and Polynices kill each other. Tydeus loses Athena's gift by eating Melanippus's brain, Amphiaraus is swallowed by the earth, and only Adrastus escapes.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.6.1–29The returns from Troy: Nauplius, Agamemnon's murder and OrestesThe Greeks quarrel at an assembly over whether to leave at once, and the section follows the returns: Calchas and Mopsus at Colophon, the storm at Tenos in which Ajax dies, Nauplius's false beacon at Caphereus, Neoptolemus in Molossia, and the fates of Demophon and Phyllis, Podalirius and the Locrian maidens. Agamemnon is murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, and Orestes avenges him, is tried at Athens, and brings the image of Artemis from the Taurians. The section ends with Menelaus's wanderings and his return to Sparta.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.6.1–3The Giants and TyphonEarth bears the Giants, led by Alcyoneus and Porphyrion, and because an oracle says no god can kill them, Zeus summons Heracles; the section lists which god kills which Giant. Earth then bears Typhon, who drives the gods to Egypt, takes Zeus's sinews and hides them in a Cilician cave until Hermes and Aegipan steal them back. Zeus pursues him through Thrace and Sicily and buries him under Mount Etna.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome E.5.1–23The death of Achilles, the Wooden Horse and the fall of TroyPenthesilea and then Memnon come to Troy's aid and are killed by Achilles, who is himself shot by Paris and Apollo. The contest for Achilles' arms drives Ajax to madness and suicide. Troy falls after Philoctetes shoots Paris, Helenus reveals the three conditions, Neoptolemus joins the army and Odysseus steals the Palladium, and the Greeks take the city with the Wooden Horse, Sinon and the beacon at Tenedos; the section closes with the sack, the deaths of Astyanax and Polyxena, and the division of the captives.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.1.1–5Inachus, Io and the DanaidsThe line of Inachus of Argos runs through Phoroneus and Apis to Argus the All-seeing, whom Hermes kills while he guards Io, whom Zeus has turned into a cow. Io wanders to Egypt and bears Epaphus, whose descendants include the twins Belus and Agenor. Belus's twin sons Aegyptus and Danaus quarrel over the kingdom, Danaus flees to Argos with his fifty daughters, and they are married to Aegyptus's sons and kill them on the wedding night, all but Hypermnestra, who spares Lynceus.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.7.1–8Heracles' wars, Deianira and the death of HeraclesHera's storms drive Heracles to Cos on his way back from Troy, and he then fights beside the gods against the Giants. He campaigns against Augeas and the Molionides in Elis, against Pylos and against Hippocoon in Sparta, and fathers Telephus by Auge. He wins Deianira from Achelous and kills the centaur Nessus at the Evenus; after taking Oechalia, he puts on the robe stained with Nessus's blood and burns on Mount Oeta, rising to heaven and marrying Hebe. The section ends with a long list of his children, among them his sons by the daughters of Thespius.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.4.1–4Cadmus and the founding of ThebesAfter the death of Telephassa, Cadmus is told at Delphi to follow a cow and found a city where it lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares, sows its teeth to raise the Spartoi, serves Ares for a year, and marries Harmonia. Their daughters Autonoe, Ino, Semele and Agave are named; Semele is destroyed when she asks to see Zeus in his glory, Dionysus is born from Zeus's thigh, and Ino and Athamas rear him and are driven mad. The section ends with Actaeon, torn apart by his own dogs after seeing Artemis bathing.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.3.1–6Zeus's children, the Muses, Orpheus and the birth of AthenaZeus marries Hera and has children by many goddesses, among them the Seasons, the Fates, the Graces, Persephone and, by Mnemosyne, the nine Muses. The Muses' sons include Linus and Orpheus, who goes down to Hades for Eurydice and loses her by looking back, as well as Hyacinth (loved by Thamyris and by Apollo), Rhesus and the Corybantes; Thamyris is blinded by the Muses and the Sirens are born of Melpomene. Hephaestus is born to Hera (alone, or by Zeus, in Homer's version) and thrown out of heaven, and Athena springs from the head of Zeus after he swallows Metis.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.9.16–22Jason and the Argonauts: the voyage to PhineusPelias is warned against the man with one sandal and sends Jason to fetch the Golden Fleece from Colchis. Argus builds the Argo, the crew is listed, and the ship calls at Lemnos, at the land of the Doliones where Cyzicus is killed by mistake, and at Mysia, where Hylas is lost and Heracles is left behind. Polydeuces kills Amycus of the Bebryces, and at Salmydessus Zetes and Calais drive the Harpies from the seer Phineus, who tells the crew how to pass the Clashing Rocks.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.4.6–12Amphitryon, Alcmene and the youth of HeraclesElectryon's sons are killed in a cattle raid by the Taphians, and Amphitryon accidentally kills Electryon and takes refuge at Thebes, where he wins the Teleboan war with the help of Cephalus's dog. Zeus lies with Alcmene in Amphitryon's likeness and she bears Heracles and Iphicles; the infant Heracles strangles the serpents Hera sends. Heracles is taught by several masters, kills the lion of Cithaeron after fathering children by Thespius's fifty daughters, and defeats the Minyans of Erginus. Hera then drives him mad and he kills his children, and the Pythia at Delphi names him Heracles and sends him to serve Eurystheus.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 2.5.1–6The Labours of Heracles (1-6): the Nemean Lion to the Stymphalian BirdsHeracles goes to Tiryns and serves Eurystheus, who sets him labours. He strangles the Nemean lion, kills the Lernaean hydra with Iolaus's help, takes the Cerynitian hind alive, and captures the Erymanthian boar after the fight with the centaurs at Pholus's cave, in which Chiron is wounded. He then cleans the stables of Augeas by diverting two rivers, and scares off the Stymphalian birds with Athena's castanets. Eurystheus refuses to count the hydra and the stables, because Iolaus helped and Augeas paid a wage.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.9.1–2Arcas, Auge and Telephus; Atalanta and MelanionArcas has two sons, Elatus and Aphidas, who divide the land; Aphidas's son Aleus has a daughter, Auge, who bears Telephus to Heracles and is sent away to Teuthras in Mysia. Lycurgus's son Iasus has a daughter, Atalanta, who is exposed but suckled by a she-bear and raised by hunters. She kills the centaurs who attack her, wrestles Peleus and hunts the Calydonian boar, and Melanion wins her in a foot race with Aphrodite's golden apples; both are later turned into lions, and their son is Parthenopaeus.

Pindar (5)

Pindar, Olympian Odes 13.1–115Olympian 13: for Xenophon — Corinth and BellerophonPindar praises Corinth and the house of Xenophon, victor in the foot-race and pentathlon, and asks who first invented the dithyramb and the bridle. He tells of the Corinthian heroes of the Argo and of Troy, and how Bellerophon slept at Athena's altar, was given the golden bridle and tamed Pegasus at the spring of Peirene. The ode ends with the list of the family's victories at the Isthmus and Nemea and a prayer to Zeus.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 12.1–32Pythian 12: for Midas — Perseus, Medusa and the flutePindar praises Acragas and Midas, flute-player and Pythian victor, and tells how Perseus cut off the head of Medusa and blinded the brood of Phorcus, freeing his mother from Polydectes. He says that Athena made the many-voiced music of the flute to echo the lament of the Gorgons, and gave it to mortals for their contests. The ode ends with the reflection that without toil there is no success, and that fortune is unforeseen.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 5.1–24Olympian 5: for Psaumis — CamarinaPindar greets Camarina, daughter of Ocean, and the mule-car victory of Psaumis, who has raised her new city and honoured the gods with sacrifices and contests at Olympia. He praises Pallas, the river Oanis, the lake and the streams of the Hipparis, and calls on Zeus, lord of the hill of Cronus, as a suppliant. He ends by saying that a man who spends his wealth well should not seek to become a god.
Pindar, Olympian Odes 7.1–95Olympian 7: for Diagoras — Rhodes and the HeliadaePindar compares his gift of song to a golden bowl given by a father to his son-in-law and praises Diagoras of Rhodes, boxing victor, and Rhodes, bride of the Sun. He recalls Tlepolemus, son of Heracles, who killed Licymnius and founded the Rhodian cities, and tells how Zeus rained gold on the island when Athena sprang from his head, and how the Heliadae learned craft from her. The Sun, forgotten at the first division of the earth, then claimed the island that rose from the sea; the ode ends with a prayer to Zeus for Diagoras and the Eratidae.
Pindar, Pythian Odes 10.1–72Pythian 10: for Hippocleas — Perseus and the HyperboreansPindar praises Thessaly and the Aleuadae and Hippocleas, victor in the boys' double foot-race, and prays that his house may prosper. He tells how Perseus, favoured by Athena, feasted among the Hyperboreans, killed the Gorgon Medusa and turned the islanders of Seriphus to stone. He ends by praising Thorax of Larissa and by saying that men cannot climb to heaven but may reach the furthest limit allowed them.

Aeschylus (15)

Aeschylus, Eumenides 397–489Athena arrives and hears both sidesAthena arrives from the Scamander and is astonished at the strange group. The Furies tell her who they are and what their function is, and she says that only half of the case has been heard. Orestes tells her who he is, and says that he killed his mother by Apollo's command. Athena says that the case is too great for any single mortal, and decides to appoint judges from the citizens to try it.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 870–915Athena persuades the FuriesThe Furies repeat their lament, and Athena says that she will never tire of telling them of the good things she offers them, and that they will have a home in her land. The Furies ask what place they will have and what blessings to invoke, and Athena tells them to wish for a victory without evil, and for the blessings of earth, sea and sky.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 622–680The arguments of Apollo and the FuriesThe Furies ask how Zeus' oracle can make the murder of a mother right. Apollo answers that the death of a king, honoured by the sceptre, is not the same as the death of an ordinary person, and that a mother is the nurse and not the parent of the child. He points to Athena, who was born from her father without a mother. The Furies point out that Zeus himself bound his father, and Apollo says that fetters can be undone; Athena then asks the jurors to vote.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 734–777The votes are counted: Orestes is acquittedAthena declares that she will cast her vote for Orestes, since no mother bore her and she favours the male in all things but marriage, and says that Orestes wins even if the vote is equal. The votes are counted and found equal, and Orestes is acquitted. He thanks Athena and promises that his country will never take up arms against Athens.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 1–93Prologue: the Priestess at Delphi and Apollo's promiseThe Priestess of Apollo at Delphi prays to the gods who held the oracle before Apollo and then goes in to the shrine. She comes out terrified, having seen a man at the altar with bloody hands and sword, surrounded by sleeping women with snakes in their hair. Apollo tells Orestes that he will not abandon him, tells him that the Furies are asleep, and sends him to the city of Athena with Hermes as his escort.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 235–298Orestes at Athena's statue; the Furies find himOrestes comes to Athens and, clasping the statue of Athena, asks her to receive him kindly and to be his ally in Argos without war. The Furies arrive, following the blood-scent, and find him, and say that they will drink his blood and drag him down. Orestes answers that he has been purified many times and knows the rules of speech and silence, and calls on Athena to help him.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 566–621Second episode: the trial opensAthena has the herald call the court to order, and Apollo comes to give evidence, claiming that he is responsible for Orestes' act. The Furies question Orestes, who admits that he killed his mother, and says that Clytaemestra killed her husband. Orestes calls on Apollo to speak for him, and Apollo says that he spoke the oracle at the command of Zeus.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 988–1047Exodos: the procession of the EumenidesAthena tells the Chorus that they are finding the path of good speech, and promises them a house under the earth, where they will be honoured. She calls on the people of the city to escort them, with torches and in robes dyed scarlet, and the Chorus bless the citizens and the land. The escort goes off in procession singing a hymn.
Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 78–180Parodos: the Theban women in terrorThe Chorus of Theban women sing in terror of the sound of the approaching army, the clatter of the chariots and the dust, and call on the gods of the city for help. They pray to Athena, Poseidon, Ares, Aphrodite, Apollo, Artemis and Hera and beg them to save Thebes from capture and slavery.
Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 457–562Second episode: Eteoclus, Hippomedon and Parthenopaeus at the next three gatesThe Scout reports Eteoclus at the third gate, Hippomedon, who spins his huge shield, at the fourth, and Parthenopaeus of Arcadia at the fifth. For each, Eteocles names a Theban to meet him, Megareus, Hyperbius and Actor, and he says that the signs on the enemies' shields tell of their own doom.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 179–234Apollo drives the Furies out of his templeApollo orders the Furies out of his shrine, saying that no god loves such creatures as they are, and that they belong where punishment is given. They answer that he alone is guilty of Orestes' deed, since he told him to kill his mother, and that they will never leave their prey. Apollo says that he will protect his suppliant, and that Athena will judge the case.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 299–396First stasimon: the Furies' binding songThe Furies tell Orestes that neither Apollo nor Athena can save him, and dance and sing a song that binds their victim. They say that they are the children of Night and that their office was assigned to them from the beginning. They tell how they drive out those whose hands are bloody and who have killed a kinsman, and they say that mortals who feel proud will be brought low.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 778–869The Furies' anger and Athena's first appealsThe Furies cry out that the younger gods have ridden down the ancient laws, and threaten to let their anger fall on the land. Athena tells them that they have not been defeated, since the vote was equal and Zeus himself gave testimony, and offers them a share of honour in her land. They answer with the same threat, and Athena repeats her offer.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 916–987Kommos: the Furies accept Athens and bless itThe Furies accept a home in Athens, and Athena tells the city's guardians how the Furies will keep the land free from harm. The Chorus pray for fruitful trees and flocks, for marriage for maidens, and for the protection of the young from untimely death, and for the city to be spared civil strife and the shedding of kindred blood.
Aeschylus, Eumenides 681–733Athena founds the court on the Hill of AresAthena addresses the people of Attica and establishes the court on the Hill of Ares for the first trial of a murder case. She says that the reverence and fear of the citizens will keep them from doing wrong by day and night as long as they do not corrupt the laws, and she tells the jurors to cast their votes. The Furies and Apollo threaten and warn each other while the jurors come forward.

Sophocles (5)

Sophocles, Ajax 1–133Prologue: Athena shows Odysseus the madness of AjaxAthena sees Odysseus tracking footprints near the tent of Ajax, and Odysseus says that the army's cattle have been found slaughtered and that everyone blames Ajax. Athena tells how she sent a madness on Ajax, so that he took the animals for the Greek chiefs and tortured and killed them, and calls him out of his tent. Though Ajax boasts to her that he has dealt with the Atreidae and Odysseus, Odysseus does not rejoice, but pities him, and Athena tells him to learn from this to avoid arrogance toward the gods.
Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus 1044–1098Second stasimon: the Chorus imagine the pursuitThe Chorus pray to be where the enemy will soon join battle, by the shores of Apollo or at the torch-lit beach, and imagine the horsemen of Athens overtaking the fugitives. They pray to Zeus and Pallas Athena, and to Apollo and his sister, for help, and sense that today the maidens will be recovered, and see the daughters returning.
Sophocles, Ajax 693–814Second stasimon: the sailors' joy; the Messenger's warningThe Chorus sing a joyful song to Pan, thinking that Ajax's trouble is over. A Messenger arrives from Teucer, whom the army has been abusing, and tells them that the seer Calchas has said that Ajax must be kept in his tent that day, since Athena's wrath will last only that day, and that if he goes out he will die. Tecmessa and the Chorus rush out to search for him.
Sophocles, Women of Trachis 947–1042Exodos: Heracles is carried inThe Chorus see Heracles carried in on a litter by attendants, with Hyllus, and an old man tells them to keep silent, since he is asleep. He wakes in agony and cries out against the pain, and asks for someone to strike off his head with sword or fire. He tells Hyllus to lift him and to end his life with a sword, and curses Deianeira.
Sophocles, Oedipus Tyrannus 151–215Parodos: the Chorus of Theban elders pray against the plagueThe Chorus of Theban elders ask what the oracle of Apollo means, and pray to Athena, Artemis and Apollo to drive away the plague. They describe the dying city, the unburied dead and the cries of women at the altars, and call on Zeus, Apollo, Artemis and Bacchus to drive out the god of war and plague.

Euripides (30)

Euripides, Trojan Women 48–97Prologue: Athena and Poseidon plan to wreck the Greek fleetAthena asks Poseidon to join her in a plan, though she was once the enemy of Troy, and complains that the Achaeans did nothing and said nothing when her temple was outraged. She says that Zeus will send rain, hail and tempests on the Greeks when they sail from Ilium, and asks Poseidon to make the Aegean roar with billows and whirlpools and to fill the hollow bay of Euboea with corpses, and Poseidon agrees, saying that the mortal who sacks cities and temples is a fool.
Euripides, Ion 987–1047Third episode: Creusa plans to poison Ion with Gorgon's bloodCreusa tells of the war of the earth-born, of how Athena slew the Gorgon and wears its skin on her aegis, and of how Athena gave Erichthonius two drops of the monster's blood, one that kills and one that heals. She says that she wears the poisonous drop in a golden bracelet, and that it is to be put in the cup of the boy at the feast, in Delphi rather than Athens. She gives the bracelet to the Old Servant, who goes to do the deed.
Euripides, Ion 1553–1622Exodos: Athena appears and foretells the IoniansAthena appears and tells them not to fly, saying that she is Pallas, after whom the land is named, sent in haste by Apollo, who would not appear himself for fear of reproaches for the past. She declares that Creusa is Ion's mother and Apollo his father, and that the god gave him to Xuthus only to bring him to a house of high repute, and she foretells the Ionians, and that Xuthus and Creusa will have Dorus, ancestor of the Dorians, and Achaeus. Ion and Creusa accept her words, and the Chorus ends with praise of Apollo.
Euripides, Rhesus 627–674Fourth episode: Athena, as Aphrodite, deceives ParisAthena sees Paris coming toward them, and tells them that it is not decreed that he should fall by Diomedes' hand. She takes the likeness of Cypris and tells Paris that all is quiet and that Hector has gone to assign Rhesus' army a sleeping place, so that he goes off free from fear. She then tells Odysseus to sheathe his swords, since Rhesus is dead and the enemy is coming, and to flee to the ships.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 1422–1499Exodos: Athena stops Thoas and sets out the future of the cultThoas calls on all citizens to rush to the coast and seize the Greek ship, and says that he will punish the Chorus later. Athena appears and tells him to cease the pursuit, since Orestes has come at Apollo's command and Poseidon will let him sail safely. She tells Orestes to found a temple at Halae in Attica, and that Iphigenia will be priestess at Brauron, and Thoas yields, saying that whoever hears the words of the gods and does not obey is not thinking rightly.
Euripides, Suppliants 1165–1234Exodos: Athena binds Argos to Athens by an oathTheseus tells Adrastus that he gives him these bones, and asks that Argos remember Athens' service, and Adrastus pledges eternal gratitude. Athena appears and tells Theseus that he should not give the bones back until the Argives have sworn an oath never to attack Athens, and tells him how the oath is to be sworn over a tripod of Heracles, and she foretells that the sons of the dead, the After-born, will avenge them and take Thebes.
Euripides, Trojan Women 1–47Prologue: Poseidon bids farewell to ruined TroyPoseidon, who with Phoebus built the walls of Troy, says that he has come from the Aegean to a city that lies in ruins, with its temples forsaken and Priam dead at the altar, while the Greeks carry off the spoils. He tells how the captive women are being allotted, some to Arcadia, some to Thessaly, some to the sons of Theseus, while the rest wait in the tents, and says that he bids farewell to the city, which would still stand if Pallas had not decreed its ruin. He sees Hecuba lying at the gate, and learns that Polyxena has died and that Cassandra has been taken by Agamemnon.
Euripides, Trojan Women 966–1032Third episode: Hecuba answers HelenThe Chorus urges Hecuba to defend her children and her country, and Hecuba says that she will take up the cause of the goddesses, since she cannot believe that Hera or Athena would have behaved so foolishly. She says that Helen followed Paris of her own will, enticed by his Phrygian wealth and splendour, and that the Cypris she names is only the folly of men, and she bids Menelaus to make a law of death for all such wives.
Euripides, Rhesus 595–626Fourth episode: Athena sends them against RhesusAthena appears and tells them that Rhesus has come to aid Troy and must be killed before dawn, saying that Hector will find death at another hand. Odysseus recognizes her voice, and she tells them that Rhesus lies close by, outside the ranks, with his white horses tethered near. They agree that Diomedes will do the killing and Odysseus will master the horses.
Euripides, Children of Heracles 333–380Demophon prepares for war; the Chorus sings in defiance of ArgosDemophon says that he will muster the citizens and send scouts, and tells Iolaus to enter the house with the children. Iolaus refuses to leave the altar, and says that Athena, the goddess of Athens, will not brook defeat. The Chorus, in a song, says that Athens will not be frightened by the Argive's boasts, and warns him not to bring war against the city.
Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 939–988Second episode: Orestes tells of the trial at Athens and Apollo's oracleOrestes tells of the beginning of his troubles: that he killed his mother at Apollo's command, was pursued by the Furies, and was tried at Athens by the gods, and that some of them accepted the verdict while the others still pursued him. He says that the oracle told him to bring the image of Artemis from the land of the Taurians to Athens, and the Chorus says that a terrible anger from the gods has boiled up against the race of Tantalus.
Euripides, Ion 1–81Prologue: Hermes at Delphi tells of Apollo, Creusa and the hidden childHermes, whose mother Maia was a daughter of Atlas, tells how Apollo took Creusa, daughter of Erechtheus, in a cave under the cliffs of the Acropolis at Athens, and how she bore a son in secret and left him to die in the cave. At the god's request Hermes carried the child in his basket to Delphi, where the priestess reared him as a servant of the temple. He says that Creusa and her husband Xuthus are coming to consult the oracle about children, and that Apollo means to give Xuthus his own son, who will be called Ion.

18 more passages of Euripides that name Athena

Apollonius Rhodius (7)

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.1–166Hera and Athena ask Cypris to make Medea love JasonThe poet calls on Erato, and Hera and Athena decide to go to Cypris to ask her to make Aeetes' daughter Medea fall in love with Jason. Cypris finds her son Eros playing dice with Ganymede, and persuades him with the promise of a ball that once belonged to Zeus.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 2.528–647Through the Clashing RocksAfter days of gifts from the Thynians the heroes leave Phineus' land, and Euphemus carries a dove to the Clashing Rocks. The dove passes through, losing only its tail feathers; the heroes row hard, Athena holds back one rock, and Argo comes through with only the tip of her stern ornament lost. Jason confesses his fears and the heroes cheer him.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.1–121Pelias' oracle and the catalogue of the ArgonautsThe poet invokes Phoebus and tells how Pelias, warned by an oracle to beware the man with one sandal, sends Jason after the Golden Fleece when Jason loses a sandal crossing the Anaurus. The catalogue of the Argonauts begins with Orpheus and goes on through Asterion, Polyphemus, Admetus, Mopsus, Peleus and Telamon and Tiphys, who steers the ship Athena and Argus built. It closes with Phlias and the sons of Bias from Argos.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.721–909Jason and Hypsipyle on LemnosJason puts on the purple mantle that Athena gave him, woven with scenes such as the Cyclopes at their forge, and goes to the city. Hypsipyle tells him how the women drove out the men and offers him her father's rule. The Argonauts linger on Lemnos until Heracles rebukes them, and Hypsipyle bids Jason a tearful farewell.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.234–305The Argonauts leave Iolcus; Alcimede's lamentThe heroes go through the city to the ship at Pagasae while the townspeople wonder at Pelias' purpose and the women pity Alcimede. Alcimede clings to Jason, wishing she had died before this day, and Jason comforts her and tells her to trust the oracles and Athena.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.448–558The feast, Orpheus' song and the departure from PagasaeAt the feast on the shore Idas jeers at Idmon's prophecy and Idmon answers him, and Orpheus ends the quarrel by singing of the origin of earth, sky and sea. At dawn the heroes embark, Tiphys takes the helm and Argo leaves Pagasae to the music of Orpheus' lyre while Cheiron shows Achilles to his father Peleus from the shore.
Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 3.299–438The banquet and Aeetes' demandsAt the banquet Aeetes questions his grandsons, and Argus tells how his ship was wrecked and why the Argonauts have come. Aeetes grows angry and agrees to give up the Fleece only if Jason will yoke the fire-breathing bulls, plough the field of Ares and sow the dragon's teeth, and Jason accepts.

Callimachus (1)

Callimachus, Hymns 5.1–142Hymn to Athena: the Bath of Pallas and TeiresiasThe women of Argos are summoned to the Bath of Pallas and told to bring no perfume or mirror, only plain olive oil, as Athena herself used. The poet tells how Teiresias, son of Everes, unwittingly saw Athena bathing with his mother Chariclo at the Fountain of the Horse on Helicon and was blinded. Athena tells Chariclo that this is the law of Cronus, foretells the fate of Actaeon, and promises to make Teiresias a seer who knows the birds, has a staff to guide him and keeps his understanding among the dead. The hymn closes with greetings as the goddess arrives and a prayer for Argos.

Aristophanes (7)

Aristophanes, The Knights 1111–1228bEpisode: the contest of dainties before DemusThe Chorus praise the sway of Demus, who answers that he plays the fool by design, fattening one thief at a time and then squeezing him dry. Paphlagon and the Sausage-seller race to serve him with chairs, cakes, porridge, fish and a hare, each saying that the goddess Athena sent the dish. Demus inspects the two hampers, finds the Sausage-seller's empty and Paphlagon's full of stolen dainties, and takes the crown from Paphlagon.
Aristophanes, The Knights 498–623aParabasis: the Chorus speaks for the poet, then praises Poseidon, Athena and the KnightsThe Chorus wish the Sausage-seller luck and then turn to the audience, explaining why their poet did not ask for a chorus earlier, since training a comedy is the hardest of tasks. They recall the fortunes of earlier poets, Magnes whom the audience deserted in his grey hairs, Cratinus swept along like a river and now drivelling, and Crates who held out to the end. They ask for a hearty welcome for the poet, invoke Poseidon and Pallas and praise the Knights who fought with them afloat. The Sausage-seller then returns, and the Chorus ask him to tell what happened.
Aristophanes, The Knights 973–1110bEpisode: the rival oracles of Bakis and GlanisThe Chorus sing of the day of Cleon's fall. Paphlagon reads oracles of Bakis, and the Sausage-seller reads those of Bakis's elder brother Glanis, about a dog, a lion, a wall of wood and iron, a hound-fox and an eagle, and each explains the verses in his own favour. They offer Demus rival dreams of Athena, and he gives himself over to the Sausage-seller's care. He then says that whichever of them brings him the most titbits that day will be given the Pnyx.
Aristophanes, The Knights 624–690aEpisode: the Sausage-seller reports on the CouncilThe Sausage-seller tells how he followed Paphlagon into the Council-chamber, where Paphlagon was denouncing the Knights as conspirators. He announced that pilchards were cheaper than ever, and outbid Paphlagon's offering of a hundred oxen to Athena with a promise of a thousand she-goats if the price fell further. He then bought up the leeks and coriander in the market and gave them to the Council for their fish. The Chorus congratulate him and urge him to keep up the fight.
Aristophanes, The Clouds 889–1112Agon: the Better Logic and the Worse LogicThe Right Logic and the Wrong Logic come forward and quarrel, each calling the other names, and the Right Logic argues that there is such a thing as Justice, whereupon the Wrong Logic asks why Zeus is unpunished for chaining his father. The Chorus invite each to state his case, and the Right Logic describes the old education of boys, who walked in silence to school and sat modestly, which the Wrong Logic mocks. The Wrong Logic argues that warm baths are good for the young, that chastity does a man no good, and that the audience are full of adulterers, so the Right Logic admits defeat and runs off to join them, and Strepsiades tells Socrates to flog his son and sharpen his wits for lawsuits.
Aristophanes, Birds 798–861Episode: the new wings; the city is named CloudcuckooburyPeisthetaerus and Euelpides return with wings and laugh at each other's looks, and Peisthetaerus says that the first need is a grand name for the city. Euelpides rejects Sparta, and Peisthetaerus proposes Cloudcuckoobury, which the Chorus like. Peisthetaerus would keep Athene as guardian of the city, but Euelpides objects, and the Chorus propose a Persian cockerel to hold the citadel. Peisthetaerus sends Euelpides up into the air to help with the wall and calls for a priest to sacrifice to the new gods.
Aristophanes, Plutus 1171–1209Exodos: the Priest and the closing processionA Priest of Zeus the Saviour tells Chremylus that he is starving because nobody sacrifices now, and means to give up his service and settle in the house. Chremylus tells him that Zeus himself is within, and arranges that Wealth shall be led in procession to the Treasury in Athene's temple. The Old Lady is given the pots to carry and promised a visit from her young man, and the Chorus follow the procession out.

Diodorus Siculus (5)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.3.1–5.5.3Demeter and Core in SicilyThe rape of Core is placed in the meadows of Enna, and Athena, Artemis and Core are said to have taken their portions of the island, with the springs of Himera, Arethusa and Cyane given to them by the Nymphs. Demeter, searching for her daughter, passes through many lands and gives the Athenians the first fruit of the wheat after the people of Sicily; the festivals held in Sicily of the two goddesses are described and the tragic poet Carcinus is quoted.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.55.1–5.59.6Rhodes: the Telchines, the Heliadae and later settlersThe Telchines first lived on Rhodes, followed by the children of Helius and Rhodos, the Heliadae, who are famed for their learning and for their sacrifice without fire. The historian tells of the killing of Tenages and Danaüs's visit to Lindus, and of the later settlers Phorbas, Althaemenes and Tlepolemus.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.68.1–5.72.5Zeus and the children of Cronus in CreteAccording to the Cretans the children of Cronus and Rhea discovered or introduced many arts, and the sea, the hearth and the corn belong to Poseidon, Hestia and Demeter. The historian gives the conflicting accounts of how Zeus became king, the places in Crete tied to his infancy, his benefactions to mankind and the punishment of the Giants.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 5.73.1–5.77.8The gods' discoveries and their Cretan originsZeus is said to have given each god a field of invention: the Muses the letters and poetry, Apollo the lyre, healing and the bow, Hermes the herald's staff, Athena the olive, and Dionysus the vine. The chapters then give an older Heracles, Artemis, Plutus, and the claim that most of the gods began in Crete and spread to other lands.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.8.1–4.10.7Heracles: birth and early deedsThe historian begins with the difficulty of reporting Heracles' deeds worthily and with the claim that myth should not be scrutinised too sharply. He traces the hero's descent from Perseus and Zeus, tells how Hera delays the birth of Heracles so that Eurystheus is born first, and how Heracles as a baby strangles the two serpents she sends. As a young man he frees Thebes from the tribute owed to Erginus king of the Minyans, kills Erginus, burns the palace of the Minyans and razes the city of the Orchomenians, and marries Megara, daughter of Creon.

Ovid (18)

Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.1–145Arachne and AthenaArachne, a girl of Lydia famed for her weaving, refuses to say that her skill came from Athena (Minerva) and challenges the goddess to a contest. Athena appears as an old woman and warns her, and then reveals herself, and both begin to weave. Athena's tapestry shows the contest of the gods for Athens and warnings to mortals, Arachne's the loves of the gods, and when the goddess can find no fault she tears it and strikes Arachne, who hangs herself and is turned into a spider.
Ovid, Fasti 3.809–884Fasti 3: The Quinquatrus of Athena (Minerva); Phrixus and HelleThe Quinquatrus honours Athena (Minerva) over five days, with her patronage of crafts and a note on her shrine as Minerva Capta. Ovid then gives the story of Phrixus and Helle: a stepmother's trick brings a false oracle, their mother snatches them away, and a golden ram carries them until Helle falls into the sea. He ends with equinox, Janus and Peace, and the Moon on 31 March.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.708–832Aglauros and EnvyHermes (Mercury) sees Herse, daughter of Cecrops, among the girls bringing offerings to Athena (Minerva), and her sister Aglauros asks for gold before she will help him. Athena, angry, goes to the dwelling of Envy and sends her to fill Aglauros with jealousy. Aglauros sits at the door to bar Hermes' way and is turned to stone.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 5.250–337Athena visits the Muses; PyreneusAthena (Minerva), having helped Perseus, visits the Muses on Mount Helicon and sees the spring that Pegasus made with his hoof. One of the Muses tells how King Pyreneus once offered them shelter in a storm and then tried to rape them, and fell to his death when he leapt from a tower thinking he could fly. The Muses then speak of the nine daughters of Pierus, who had challenged them to a singing contest, and Athena sits down to listen.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 2.527–632Coronis and the RavenThe crow warns the raven, who is flying to Apollo ('Phoebus' in More's translation) with the news that Coronis has been unfaithful, by telling him how she herself was punished for bringing a message and was changed from a girl into a bird. The raven goes on, and Apollo, enraged, kills Coronis with an arrow and then rescues the unborn Asclepius (Aesculapius) from her body. He turns the raven's white feathers black.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.663–801Perseus and AndromedaPerseus sees Andromeda, chained to a rock to be devoured by a sea-monster because her mother Cassiope boasted of her beauty. He strikes the monster from the air with his sword, kills it, and wins Andromeda, and her parents agree to the marriage. He lays the Gorgon's head on a bed of seaweed, which turns to coral, and sets up altars to Athena (Minerva), Hermes (Mercury) and Zeus (Jupiter). At the wedding feast he tells how Medusa won her serpent hair.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 3.1–137Cadmus and the DragonZeus (Jupiter) reveals himself to Europa in Crete, and her father Agenor sends his son Cadmus to look for her and not to return without her. Cadmus consults the oracle of Apollo, which tells him to follow a heifer and to found a city where she lies down. He kills the dragon of Ares (Mars), which guards a spring, and sows its teeth on Athena's (Minerva's) advice, and armed men spring up from the furrows and fight until only five are left. These help him to build Thebes, and Cadmus prospers, though his story shows that no man can be called happy before his death.
Ovid, Metamorphoses 13.255–381Odysseus' speech: his services at TroyOdysseus (Ulysses) lists the Trojan warriors he killed, reminds the chiefs that he carried the body of Achilles from the field, and answers the charge about Palamedes. He tells how the prophets said that Philoctetes and his arrows were needed to take Troy, and how he brought Philoctetes to the army. He says that he alone dared to enter Troy by night and take the Palladium, and he ends by asking for the arms as the reward of his mind, pointing to the image of Athena (Minerva).
Ovid, Fasti 3.1–42Fasti 3: Ares (Mars) and SilviaOvid asks Ares (Mars) to put down his arms at the start of Book 3, since the month is named for him, and points to Athena (Minerva) as a warlike goddess who also makes time for the arts. He tells how the Vestal Silvia falls asleep by a river and is possessed by Mars. She wakes pregnant, tells a dream of two palms, and Remus and Quirinus grow within her.
Ovid, Fasti 3.657–712Fasti 3: Anna Perenna (2), Ares (Mars) and Athena (Minerva); Caesar's murder on the IdesOvid lists other views of who Anna Perenna is, and gives one in which an old woman named Anna feeds the people on the Sacred Mount and is honoured with a statue. He explains the ribald songs: Ares (Mars) asks her to win him Athena (Minerva), and she presents herself as the veiled bride. He then has Hestia (Vesta) speak of Caesar's murder.
Ovid, Fasti 6.395–472Fasti 6: Customs of the Vestalia; the PalladiumOvid meets a barefoot matron at the Vestalia, and an old woman explains the marshy ground of the Forum. He then recounts the Palladium of Athena (Minerva), its keeping at Troy and the uncertainty over who took it to Rome. He tells how Metellus saved it from a fire in Vesta's temple, and adds notes on Brutus and Crassus.
Ovid, Fasti 6.649–710Fasti 6: The flute-players' festival and Athena (Minerva)For 13 June Ovid asks Athena (Minerva) why flute-players parade in masks and long gowns. She says they left Rome in anger over a restriction on funeral musicians, and were tricked drunk into a wagon and returned in disguise. She adds that she invented the flute but threw it away, and a satyr found it.

6 more passages of Ovid that name Athena

Pausanias (90)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.24.1–8Athens Acropolis: Zeus Polieus, the Parthenon and Phidias’ AthenaPausanias lists sculptures on the Acropolis showing Athena and Marsyas, Theseus and the bull, Phrixus, Hercules and the serpents, and Athena’s birth, and describes the ox sacrifice to Zeus Polieus. He then describes the Parthenon: the gable sculptures, Phidias’ ivory and gold Athena with her sphinx and griffin helmet, the Victory, shield, serpent and the birth of Pandora on the pedestal. He ends with the bronze Locust Apollo.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.17.1–9Sparta: the acropolis, Athena of the Brazen House and the end of PausaniasOn the acropolis stands the sanctuary of Athena of the Brazen House, with bronze reliefs by Gitiadas, followed by the temples of Athena the Worker, Zeus Orderer and Warlike Aphrodite, and Lysander’s eagles and Victories. Pausanias also describes the oldest bronze image, a Zeus by Clearchus of Rhegium, and the two statues of Pausanias. He gives a Byzantine’s account of why the regent could not find protection there: his killing of the girl Cleonice at Byzantium.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.47.1–6Tegea: the cult image, offerings and sanctuaries of Athena AleaPausanias says the present image of Athena Alea at Tegea came from the township of Manthyrenses, where it was called Hippia, and was flanked by Aesculapius and Health by Scopas. He lists the offerings in the temple: the hide of the Calydonian boar, the fetters of Spartan prisoners, a picture of Auge and the shield of Marpessa. The altar by Melampus, the boy priest, the stadium and the games Aleaea and Halotia follow. He describes the fountain where Auge is said to have been violated, the sanctuaries of Athena Poliatis and of Artemis the Leader, and the story of Chronius and the tyrant Aristomelidas.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.28.1–11Athens: Acropolis offerings, the Areopagus and the courts of justicePausanias lists offerings on the Acropolis, including Phidias’ bronze Athena from the Marathon spoils and the Lemnian Athena, then the Pelasgian wall and a cave sanctuary of Apollo. Below it he describes the Areopagus, the sanctuary of the Venerable Ones (the Furies) and the tomb of Oedipus. He ends with the Athenian law courts, from the Parabystum and the Heliaea to the Palladium, Delphinium, Prytaneum and Phreattys, with the stories of Demophon, Theseus, the Ox-slayer’s axe and Teucer.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 8.26.1–8Heraea and Aliphera: Dionysus, the grave of Coroebus and the Fly-catcherPausanias describes Heraea on the Alpheus, with its riverside avenues, baths, temples of Dionysus and Pan and the ruined temple of Hera, and names Damaretus as its most famous athlete. He gives the boundary with Elis at the grave of Coroebus, winner of the first Olympic race after the revival by Iphitus. He then describes Aliphera, where Athena is said to have been born and bred, with its altar of Zeus Lecheates, its bronze Athena by Hypatodorus and its sacrifice to the Fly-catcher, and ends with Melaeneae and the springs of the Buphagus.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.26.1–7Athens Acropolis: Olympiodorus, the Erechtheum and the golden lampOlympiodorus leads the Athenians to retake the Museum hill from the Macedonians, with Leocritus first over the wall, and later helps recover Piraeus and Eleusis. Pausanias then describes the Leucophryenian Artemis and Endoeus’ seated Athena, and the Erechtheum with its altars of Zeus, Poseidon, Erechtheus, Butes and Hephaestus and a well of sea-water with the mark of the trident. He ends with the ancient image of Athena and Callimachus’ golden lamp.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 7.20.1–9Patrae: Dionysus Aesymnetes and the sanctuaries of the market-placePausanias describes the god in the chest, Dionysus Aesymnetes, served by nine men and nine women, and the children who go down to the Milichus wreathed in corn or ivy. He lists the temples and images of Patrae: Panachaean Athena in the Laphria enclosure, Mother Dindymene and Attis, Olympian Zeus, and an Apollo with an ox skull, with Homer cited for Apollo herding cattle. He also names the Music Hall, second only to that of Herodes at Athens, the gate with statues of Patreus and Preugenes, and the Lady of the Lake brought from Sparta.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.1.1–5Attica: Sunium, Laurium and the harbours of Piraeus and PhalerumPausanias begins at Cape Sunium and sails along the Attic coast past Laurium and the island of Patroclus. He explains how Piraeus replaced Phalerum as the port of Athens under Themistocles, and describes the grave of Themistocles, the precinct of Athena and Zeus, the Long Colonnade and Conon’s sanctuary of Aphrodite at Piraeus. He also notes shrines at Munychia, Phalerum and Cape Colias, and a temple of Hera on the road to Athens said to have been burnt by Mardonius.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.27.1–10Athens Acropolis: Athena Polias, the Arrephoroi, Tolmides and the bull of MarathonIn the temple of Athena Polias Pausanias lists a wooden Hermes, Daedalus’ folding chair, Persian spoils and the sacred olive, then the temple of Pandrosus and the secret night rite of the Arrephoroi. He describes figures of Erechtheus and Eumolpus, the statue of Tolmides with a summary of his campaigns, and bronze groups of Theseus lifting the rock, and of Theseus and the bull of Marathon, told through Troezenian and Cretan tales.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.42.1–7Megara: the Alcathoan acropolis, the singing stone and Memnon’s ColossusPausanias describes the acropolis named after Alcathous, with the tomb of Megareus, the hearth of the Prodomeis and the stone that sounds like a lyre. He compares it with the Colossus of Memnon at Egyptian Thebes, which sounds at sunrise. He also notes the Council House, temples of Athena and Apollo, the ebony statues, the sanctuary of Lawgiver Demeter, the tomb of Callipolis and the shrine of Ino.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.21.1–10Argos: the market-place, the death of Pyrrhus and the head of MedusaIn and around the Argive market-place Pausanias notes the tomb of Cerdo, a temple of Asclepius, the tomb of Hypermnestra, the sanctuary of Trumpet Athena and the grave of Epimenides. He describes the marble building where Pyrrhus was cremated, the mound said to hold the Gorgon’s head with two rationalising accounts of Medusa, and the grave of Gorgophone. He ends with the stone trophy over the tyrant Laphaes and the sanctuary of Latona with the story of Chloris.
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.15.1–11Sparta: heroes’ shrines, Hercules and Hippocoon, Enyalius in fetters and MorphoPausanias lists the shrine of Cynisca, the heroes’ shrines behind the colonnade, the tomb of Alcman and the sanctuaries of Helen and Hercules, and tells how Hercules came to punish Hippocoon’s sons after the death of Oeonus. He also describes Athena Serve-them-right, the temple of Hipposthenes, the fettered Enyalius, Hera Goat-eating, and the temple of armed Aphrodite with its upper storey sacred to Morpho, whose fetters he does not take to be a punishment.

78 more passages of Pausanias that name Athena

Quintus Smyrnaeus (14)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 12.117–213Epeius builds the Wooden HorseEpeius tells the Argives his dream, and Ida's pines are cut and hauled to the Hellespont, where in three days he builds the Wooden Horse and Athena makes it a marvel. While Zeus is away at the Ocean, the gods take sides and fight beside the Xanthus until he returns in anger. Themis warns them to stop fighting for the sake of mortals.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 12.1–116Odysseus plans the Wooden HorseCalchas assembles the chiefs and tells of a falcon that waited in vain by the cleft in the rock where a dove had hidden. Odysseus proposes building a great horse in which the best of the Argives will hide. Neoptolemus objects, but Zeus's thunderbolt falls, and Athena appears to Epeius in a dream and tells him to build.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 12.346–443Sinon and LaocoonAt dawn the Trojans see the smoke and the empty shore, and find the Horse and Sinon, whom they question and torture. Laocoon warns them and urges that the Horse be burned. Athena, angered, shakes the earth under him and torments his eyes.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.333–455The madness of AiasThetis and the Nereids plunge back into the sea, where Cymothoe curses Prometheus. Aias, furious at the verdict, will not eat or sleep and arms himself in the night, and Athena strikes him with madness to spare Odysseus. Menelaus fears for the army, but Aias slaughters the flocks in the plain, thinking them Argives, and taunts a slain ram as if it were Odysseus.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 11.283–357Athena turns the battleAthena comes into the fight for the Greeks, and Aphrodite snatches Aeneas from the field in a mist. The Trojans are broken and flee, and a remnant enters the city. At dawn the Argive chiefs attack the gates of Troy.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 12.444–585Laocoon's sons and CassandraLaocoon still urges the burning of the Horse, and Athena sends two serpents from the island of Calydna that kill his sons. The Trojans make offerings, but the flames die and the temples sweat blood. Cassandra alone sees the truth and runs at the Horse with a firebrand and a two-edged halberd, and the Trojans drag her away.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.415–563Troy burns; Aethra rescuedThe gods mourn Troy, all but Hera and Athena, though Athena turns away in anger as Aias son of Oileus outrages Cassandra in her temple. Fire destroys the city and Trojans die in their burning houses, and the glow is seen from Ida and Tenedos. Aethra is found by her grandsons Demophoon and Acamas, who promise to take her home to Greece. Laodice is swallowed by the earth, and the Pleiad Electra hides herself from sight.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.419–547Athena's stormAs the Argives near Euboea, Athena asks Zeus for vengeance on Aias son of Oileus and for the storm that follows. Zeus gives her his thunder and lightning, and she puts on the Aegis and darkens sea and sky. Her thunderbolt breaks Aias' ship and drowns its crew, and captive women drag Danaans down with them.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 1.1–133Penthesileia comes to TroyAfter Hector's funeral the Trojans cower in Priam's city, afraid of Achilles. Penthesileia arrives from the Thermodon, longing for battle and fleeing the reproach of her own people, and the Trojans take heart. Andromache, hearing the queen's boasts, murmurs that she is no match for Achilles. At night Athena sends Penthesileia a deceitful dream.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 7.556–734Neoptolemus is honoured at the feastAthena comes down to Sigeum to watch Neoptolemus, who kills the twin sons of Meges, Celtus and Eubius, and many more. At nightfall the Argives honour him with gifts and a feast, and Agamemnon praises him as his father's image. Meanwhile the Trojans in their camp praise Eurypylus.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 9.321–443Philoctetes on LemnosOn Calchas' advice the Argives draw back, for Troy cannot fall until Philoctetes comes. Diomedes and Odysseus sail to Lemnos and find him in his cave, wounded and clothed in feathers. He aims at them with his bow, and then they win him over and carry him to the ship.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 14.548–658The wreck of the Argive fleetAias swims on through the storm until Poseidon splits the rock and buries him. The fleet is wrecked, and Nauplius lures some ships on to the rocks with a false beacon. Poseidon, Zeus and Apollo then flood the Argive wall at Troy, and the survivors go home as heaven guides them.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 3.514–581Achilles' body is washedAt nightfall Nestor tells Agamemnon what to do for the body. Water is heated, and Achilles is washed and dressed, and Athena pours ambrosia on him so that he looks as if asleep. The captive women, and above all Briseis, lament him.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 5.456–567The death of AiasAthena clears his mind, and Aias sees the dead sheep and, knowing that the gods have cheated his senses, thrusts Hector's sword into his throat. Teucer wants to die with him and is held back. Tecmessa, his captive-bride, wails over the body, and Agamemnon promises her that no man shall make her a slave while he and Teucer live.

Nonnus of Panopolis (39)

Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 24.242–348Book 24: Leucos sings of Aphrodite at Athena's loomLeucos sings how Aphrodite took up Athena's loom, so that marriage and birth failed throughout the world. Athena complains to the gods and Hermes mocks Aphrodite, telling her to go back to her girdle, which she does. The army then sleeps, guarded by leopards, lions and hounds.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 4.382–463Book 4: Athena aids Cadmos; the sown men destroy one anotherAthena appears and tells Cadmos to kill the serpent and sow its teeth. Cadmos kills the dragon with a stone and a knife and sows the teeth, and armed men spring up out of the furrow. At Athena's counsel he throws a stone among them, and they destroy one another.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 27.241–341Book 27: Zeus' council of the gods on OlymposOn Olympos Zeus appeals to Apollo, Athena and Hephaistos to defend Dionysos, reminding each of their ties to him, and complains that Hera, Athena and Ares seem to side with Deriades. The gods depart: Apollo, Athena and Hephaistos go to help Dionysos, while Hera leads Ares and Hydaspes to the other side, with Deo supporting her.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 40.0–95Book 40: Deriades is killed in the HydaspesAthena, taking the shape of Morrheus, shames the fleeing Deriades into turning back to fight. At the river Hydaspes, where his father the river-god roars in support, Dionysos hurls his thyrsus and just grazes the Indian chief's skin. Struck with the ivy-cluster, Deriades slips headfirst into his father's flood and bridges the whole stream with his long body.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 8.0–121Book 8: Semele's pregnancy; Ares threatens to leave heavenSemele grows heavy with child and is carried off by every strain of pipes and cymbals in the hills. Envy, jealous of the unborn Dionysos, stirs up Ares, who complains of Zeus's loves and says he will leave Olympos for Thrace. Hera, still angry, meets Deceit near Mount Dicte.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 36.0–95Book 36: Dionysos recovers; the gods take sidesThe armies form up and the Olympians divide into two parties. Athena wounds Ares, Hera overcomes Artemis with a cloud and a lump of hail and mocks her, and Apollo prepares to fight Poseidon.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 37.236–421Book 37: The chariot race: Erechtheus passes Scelmis; Actaion upsets PhaunosThe race begins, and Scelmis in his sea-horse chariot leads at first. Erechtheus, praying to Athena, overtakes him on the last lap. Actaion upsets Phaunos' chariot by a trick, and Achates taunts Phaunos as he catches up.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 30.243–326Book 30: Athena shames Dionysos back into the fightDeriades presses forward as Dionysos withdraws, until Athena, sent by Zeus, shames him for fleeing, comparing him with Perseus and Aiacos, and urges him back to the battle. Inspired, Dionysos kills and wounds many Indians and scatters several tribes, and the Indians fall back.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 45.0–95Book 45: Agaue runs to the mountain; Pentheus rebukes TeiresiasAutonoe and Agaue, maddened by Dionysos, rush to the hills to join the Bacchic dance, and Agaue swears she will defy Pentheus. The hills ring with the revels of Thebes' women. Pentheus meets the garlanded Teiresias and angrily accuses him of lying oracles and taking Lydian gold, arguing that Dionysos, with his horns and fawnskin, cannot be a son of Zeus.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 5.0–121Book 5: Cadmos founds Thebes and its seven gatesCadmos sacrifices the cow to Athena, fights the neighbouring peoples and lays out the city of Thebes with seven gates named for the seven planets. Harmonia's wedding is celebrated with dances, music and the gods' attendance, and Zeus sits at the same table as Cadmos.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 5.280–408Book 5: Actaion among his dogsAutonoe and Aristaios have a son, Actaion, a hunter who spies on Artemis bathing. The goddess turns him into a stag, and his own dogs tear him to pieces while he keeps his human mind and laments. Autonoe searches the hills and does not know his remains.
Nonnus of Panopolis, Dionysiaca 16.71–227Book 16: Dionysos woos Nicaia and is refusedDionysos sees Nicaia's colours in the flowers of a meadow and offers to carry her hunting gear, spread her bed with fawnskins under a vine, and give her dogs, handmaids and the Graces as servants. Nicaia answers that he must first win Athena or Artemis, her comrades, and threatens to chain him as the sons of Iphimedeia chained Ares. Left behind, Dionysos talks to the hound Pan gave him and promises to make it a star near Seirios if it will track the girl.

27 more passages of Nonnus of Panopolis that name Athena

[Eratosthenes] (1)

[Eratosthenes], Catasterismi (Constellation Myths) 13–16The Charioteer, the Bull, Cepheus and CassiepeiaThe Charioteer is Erichthonius, born from Hephaestus's failed pursuit of Athena, and with him are the Goat and Kids of Zeus's infancy. The Bull is either Zeus's bull of Europa or an image of Io, and the Pleiad is explained from the Atlantid sisters. Cepheus and Cassiepeia belong to the story of Andromeda and the sea monster.

Antoninus Liberalis (1)

Antoninus Liberalis, Metamorphoses 14.1–16.3Munichus, Meropis and OenoeThe family of the Molossian seer Munichus, attacked by robbers who burn their house, are turned by Zeus into birds. The children of Eumelus on Cos insult Athena, Artemis and Hermes and become an owl and other birds. Oenoe, a Pygmy woman who slighted Hera, becomes a crane at war with the Pygmies.

Bacchylides (1)

Bacchylides, Dithyrambs 15.1–16.35Dithyrambs 15–16: the sons of Antenor; Heracles and DeianeiraTheano, priestess of Athena, opens the temple doors to the Greek envoys Odysseus and Menelaus, and the sons of Antenor lead them to the Trojan assembly, where Menelaus speaks of Insolence and Justice. In the next song the poet prays to Apollo, and sings how Heracles, after burning Oechalia, sacrifices at the cape of Cenaean Zeus. A god then weaves a cruel device for Deianeira when she learns that Iole is to come to the house as a bride, and she takes the fatal gift of Nessus.

Epic Cycle (3)

Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 8.1–8Sack of IliumProclus' summary tells how the Trojans debated what to do with the wooden horse, some wishing to hurl it from the rocks, some to burn it and some to dedicate it to Athena. The fragments say that one Palladium was given to Dardanus, that Astyanax was hurled from the wall, and that Agamemnon gave gifts to the sons of Theseus. One fragment describes the gifts of the Earth-Shaker to Machaon and Podaleirius.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 9.1–10.2Returns and TelegonyProclus' summary of the Returns begins with Athena causing a quarrel between Agamemnon and Menelaus about the voyage from Troy. The fragments mention Medea and Aeson, Heracles at Themiscyra, and Telemachus marrying Circe. The Telegony, in two books, has Odysseus sailing to Elis after the suitors are buried, and the author says that Odysseus had a son Telegonus by Calypso.
Epic Cycle, Summaries and Fragments 7.1–26Little IliadProclus' summary of the Little Iliad begins with the judging of the arms of Achilles, which Odysseus wins, and the madness and death of Aias. Philoctetes is brought from Lemnos, Eurypylus is killed by Neoptolemus and Epeius builds the wooden horse. The fragments give the girls' quarrel over Aias and Odysseus, Achilles at Scyros, the golden vine given to Laomedon for Ganymedes, and the death of Astyanax.

Herodotus (10)

Herodotus, Histories 1.59–64Pisistratus becomes tyrant of AthensPeisistratos son of Hippocrates seized power at Athens by wounding himself and his mules and asking the people for a guard. Driven out, he returned with the help of Phya, a tall woman dressed as Athene in a chariot. Driven out again, he came back from Eretria, won the battle near the temple of Athene Pallenis and held Athens for the third time.
Herodotus, Histories 4.177–180The Lotus-eaters, Jason's tripod and the festival of AthenaThe Lotophagoi live on the fruit of the lotos, and the Machlyans use it too, near the river Triton and the lake Tritonis. Jason, blown to Libya, gave Triton a tripod for guidance out of the shoals. At a yearly festival of Athene the Auseans' maidens fight with stones and staves, and the Auseans say that Athene is the daughter of Poseidon and Tritonis.
Herodotus, Histories 4.186–190The customs of the nomad LibyansThe nomad Libyans eat flesh and drink milk, but do not eat cows, because of Isis. They burn the veins on the heads of four-year-old children, and the Libyans are the most healthy people known. They sacrifice to the Sun and the Moon, and the dress and aigis of Athene seem to come from Libyan women. The Nasamonians bury their dead sitting.
Herodotus, Histories 1.15–22Alyattes, Miletus and ThrasybulusArdys, Sadyattes and Alyattes ruled Lydia after Gyges. Alyattes inherited a war against Miletos, ravaging its crops each year. After a temple of Athene was burnt, the Pythian prophetess refused him an answer until it was rebuilt. Thrasybulos feigned plenty in the city so that the herald from Sardis reported no famine, and peace was made.
Herodotus, Histories 8.34–39The Persians at DelphiThe Barbarian army divided, and part of it went to plunder the temple at Delphi. The god told the Delphians to leave his treasures alone, and they fled to Parnassos. When the Barbarians reached the temple of Athene Pronaia, thunderbolts and two crags fell on them, a battle-cry was heard, and the Delphians drove them off.
Herodotus, Histories 2.169–171The fall of Apries and the royal tombs at SaisAt Momemphis Apries' foreign troops fought well but were outnumbered, and Apries was taken to Saïs, where Amasis treated him well. The Egyptians blamed this, so Amasis handed him over and they strangled him. The kings of Saïs are buried in the temple of Athene, and the tomb of Amasis has a colonnade with date-palm pillars. By the lake at Saïs the writer says the Egyptians perform by night the mysteries of his sufferings, and the daughters of Danaos brought the rite called thesmophoria to the women of the Pelasgians.
Herodotus, Histories 2.181–182Amasis, Ladike of Cyrene and his offerings in HellasAmasis allied himself with Kyrene and married Ladike, but found himself unable to lie with her and threatened her with death for drugging him. She vowed an image to Aphrodite, and thereafter he could, and became fond of her. Her image stood at Kyrene turned away from the city, and Cambyses later sent her home unharmed. Amasis dedicated offerings at Kyrene, Lindos and Samos, and was the first to conquer Cyprus and make it pay tribute.
Herodotus, Histories 2.28–34The sources of the Nile and the NasamoniansThe scribe of Athene at Saïs claimed the Nile rose between the peaks Crophi and Mophi. The writer travelled to Elephantine and learned of the river beyond, including Meroe and the Egyptian deserters called Asmach. Men of Kyrene report that five young Nasamonians crossed the desert, were seized by small men and reached a city beside a river with crocodiles, which Etearchos took for the Nile. The writer compares its course to that of the Ister.
Herodotus, Histories 2.175–177Amasis' monuments and the law on livelihoodAmasis built a gateway for Athene at Saïs and set up colossal statues and sphinxes. He brought from Elephantine a monolith chamber, which two thousand boatmen took three years to carry, and it was left unmoved by the temple entrance. He dedicated a colossus seventy-five feet long at Memphis and built the temple of Isis, and Egypt was never more prosperous than under him. He made every man declare his livelihood to the ruler of his district, a law Solon the Athenian took from Egypt.
Herodotus, Histories 7.40–44The royal procession from Sardis to AbydosThe order of march is described: sacred Nesaian horses, the sacred chariot of Zeus, Xerxes in his chariot, and chosen spearmen with golden pomegranates. Near mount Ida thunder and lightning kill many men, and at the Scamander Xerxes sacrifices a thousand heifers to Athene of Ilion. At Abydos he watches a contest of ships won by the Phenicians of Sidon.

Hyginus (8)

Hyginus, De astronomia 2.9.1–2.13.7Book 2: Cepheus, Cassiepia, Andromeda, Perseus and the CharioteerThe family of Andromeda and Perseus, rescued from the sea monster, is placed among the stars in four short chapters, with the story of Perseus and the Gorgons. The Charioteer is Erichthonius, born of Hephaestus's desire for Athena, and the chapter ends with the Goat and the Kids, Amalthea and the aegis.
Hyginus, Fabulae 155–167The children of the gods; Athena, Marsyas, Erichthonius and DionysusLists of the sons of Zeus, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes, Apollo and Heracles, with the names of the Amazons, introduce the group. Short stories follow: Athena's contest with Poseidon, Marsyas, Erichthonius and the birth of Dionysus.
Hyginus, Fabulae 89–97Troy: Laomedon, Priam's sons, Paris and the muster of the GreeksLaomedon, the sea-monster and Hesione begin the Trojan material. Paris is exposed, grows up and judges the goddesses; Cassandra, Odysseus' feigned madness and the discovery of Achilles on Scyros lead to the catalogue of the Greek ships.
Hyginus, Fabulae 98–111The Trojan War and the sack of TroyIphigenia at Aulis, Telephus, Philoctetes, Protesilaus and Laodamia, Palamedes, the ransom of Hector and the death of Achilles are narrated briefly. The wooden horse, the story of Iliona and Polydorus, and the sacrifice of Polyxena bring the war to its end.
Hyginus, Fabulae 125–126The wanderings and homecoming of OdysseusA condensed Odyssey runs from the Cicones to Phaeacia and the return to Ithaca. The recognition of Odysseus, the beggar scenes and the revenge on the suitors follow, with some passages in the text damaged.
Hyginus, De astronomia 2.0.1–2.3.2Book 2: The two Bears and the DragonAfter a preface listing the constellations to be treated, Hyginus begins with the Great Bear, whom Hesiod and others identify as Callisto, and the Little Bear, nurse of Zeus. The Dragon of the Hesperides follows. The stories turn on Hera's jealousy, Artemis's anger and the quarrel over how the Bears came to be called Wagon and Septentriones.
Hyginus, Fabulae 127–137Telegonus, Dionysus' deeds, Laocoon, Polyidus and MeropeTelegonus kills Odysseus, and a list of seers follows. Dionysus appears in tales of Oeneus, Icarius, Nysus, Lycurgus and the Tyrrhenian pirates, then come Laocoon, Polyidus and Glaucus, and Merope's revenge on Polyphontes.
Hyginus, Fabulae 168–177Danaus, Meleager and the Calydonian hunt, Lycaon and CallistoDanaus and his daughters, and Amymone, give way to a list of the Danaids and their husbands. The Calydonian boar hunt follows, with its catalogue of hunters, then Meleager's death, Agrius, and the stories of Lycaon and Callisto.

Lucian of Samosata (6)

Lucian of Samosata, The Judgement of the Goddesses 1–8Zeus sends the apple; the journey to Mount IdaZeus gives Hermes a golden apple for the fairest and sends the three goddesses to Paris, the herdsman of Mount Ida, as judge. On the way Aphrodite and Athene each ask Hermes in turn whether Paris is married and whether he cares for glory, and Hera sneers at Aphrodite's visits to Anchises. Hermes points out Paris among his herd and recalls how he once watched over Ganymede on the same hill.
Lucian of Samosata, The Judgement of the Goddesses 9–16The judgement of ParisParis agrees to judge, provided the goddesses will not be angry with him, and asks to see each in turn. Hera offers him lordship over Asia, Athene victory in every battle, and Aphrodite the love of Helen of Sparta. Paris looks at each of the goddesses before he decides.
Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues of the Gods 22.1–25.2Hera and Dionysus; Eros and Athene; Helius and the sun-chariot; Castor and PolluxHera complains to Zeus about Dionysus and his effeminate ways, and Zeus defends him and blames men for the misuse of wine. Aphrodite asks Eros why he has never struck Athene, and he answers that her eyes frighten him. Zeus rebukes Helius for letting his son drive the sun's chariot and ruin the earth, and Apollo asks Hermes how to tell Castor from Pollux.
Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues of the Sea-Gods 9.1–15.4The floating island; Xanthus; Io; Danae; Andromeda; EuropaIris brings Zeus's order to raise the floating island on which Leto is to give birth, and the river Xanthus complains to the Sea that Hephaestus has burnt him. The South Wind and the West Wind discuss Zeus's love for Io, Doris and Thetis pity Danae set adrift in a chest, and Triton tells the Nereids that Perseus has killed the monster sent against Andromeda. The winds describe the bull that carried Europa to Crete.
Lucian of Samosata, The Parliament of the Gods 12–19Trophonius and Amphilochus; the decreeMomus goes on to the oracles of Trophonius and Amphilochus, to men raised to godhood such as Hector and Protesilaus, and to personifications like Virtue, Fortune and Destiny that men now worship in place of the gods. He reads out a decree, drafted by Sleep, for a commission of inquiry to examine every claim to godhood. Zeus calls the decree just and tells the gods to bring proofs of their parentage.
Lucian of Samosata, Dialogues of the Gods 9.1–15.2Ixion and the cloud; the infant Hermes; the birth of Athene; Heracles and AsclepiusHera accuses Ixion of making advances to her, and Zeus proposes to deceive him with a cloud made in her likeness. Hephaestus and Apollo talk about Maia's baby, who has already stolen Posidon's trident, the sword of Ares, Apollo's arrows and the pincers of Hephaestus. Zeus has Hephaestus split his head with an axe, and a maiden in full armour springs out of it, and he then stops Heracles and Asclepius quarrelling over their places at table.

Lycophron (1)

Lycophron, Alexandra 252–405Alexandra 252–405: The fall of Troy's defenders, Cassandra's own seizure, and the wreck of the Greek fleetCassandra hears lamentation from the towers and foresees an eagle snatching up the dearest nursling of her brothers; his slayer, called a trafficker in corpses, is said to hide in a woman's robe at the loom and to cower even in sleep before her brother's spear. She mourns the destruction of that brother, 'a pillar of our house', and foretells the burning of the Dorian host among their ships, then grieves for a young man's death, a victim slaughtered at a marriage sacrifice, and an aged captive stoned to death. She herself, who refused the god Thoraios and took Pallas as her model, will be haled like a dove into the vulture's eyrie, and the goddess in her shrine will turn her eyes to the ceiling in anger. For one man's sin Hellas will mourn thousands of empty tombs, and the returning ships will break on named cliffs, one man being struck down by a three-taloned spear and cast up dead on the shore.

Orpheus (attributed) (1)

Orpheus (attributed), Orphic Hymns 32–36Hymns 32-36: Pallas, Victory, Apollo, Latona, DianaPallas (Athena) is hailed as the fierce daughter of Zeus who roused the Phlegraean giants to flight, and Victory as the goddess whom men desire in battle. The longest hymn of the group invokes Apollo as Paean, the healer and slayer of Tityus, who tunes the music of the universe on his lyre. Latona and Diana follow, the latter as the torch-bearing Dictynna who presides over births.

Palaephatus (1)

Palaephatus, On Unbelievable Tales 30–32Phrixus, the Phorcides, the AmazonsThe golden fleece becomes a golden image of Cos, the one-eyed Graiai a set of sisters guarding a statue of Athena, and the Amazons bearded Thracian-style warriors mistaken for women. These are among the longest chapters of the work.

Parthenius of Nicaea (1)

Parthenius of Nicaea, Love Romances 26.1–28.1Apriate and Trambelus; Alcinoe; Clite and CyzicusTrambelus, son of Telamon, throws Apriate of Lesbos into the sea when she resists his ambush, and later, wounded in battle against Achilles, is mourned by him with a great barrow. Alcinoe, punished by Athena for cheating the spinner Nicandra, sails away with the stranger Xanthus and, repenting, throws herself into the sea. Clite, newly married to Cyzicus, hangs herself after he is killed fighting the heroes who sailed with Jason.

Plato (11)

Plato, Cratylus 405a–408eApollo, the Muses, Artemis, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Athena, Hephaestus, Ares, Hermes and PanSocrates says that Apollo's name expresses his four powers, music, prophecy, medicine and archery, and explains the Muses, Leto, Artemis, Dionysus (giver of wine) and Aphrodite (born of the foam). Pallas is the one who brandishes weapons, and Athena is the mind of god (theonoa); Hephaestus is the lord of light, Ares is named for his manliness and hardness. Hermes is the interpreter and messenger, the one who contrives speech, and Pan is the double-natured son of Hermes because speech makes everything (pan) known. He remarks that speech is smooth and divine above and rough and goatish below, as the tragic life is full of tales and falsehoods.
Plato, Protagoras 321a–322eProtagoras' myth: Epimetheus and Prometheus; Zeus sends justice and reverence by HermesProtagoras tells that once there were gods but no mortal creatures, and when the time for their creation came, the gods formed them inside the earth, and ordered Prometheus and Epimetheus to equip them with qualities. Epimetheus asked to make the distribution and gave strength to some and swiftness to others, protecting the weak by speed or wings, and, being not very wise, used up all the powers on the animals and left man naked and unarmed. Prometheus stole the mechanical arts of Hephaestus and Athene, with fire, and gave them to man, who thus had the wisdom for life but not political wisdom, which was kept by Zeus. Man worshipped the gods and made speech and houses, but when men gathered in cities they wronged each other, so Zeus, afraid that the race would perish, sent Hermes with reverence and justice, to be given to all.
Plato, Critias 109b–112eAthens and the land of Attica: Athene and Hephaestus, the old acropolis and the warriorsCritias says that the gods divided the whole earth into allotments, and Hephaestus and Athene, who were alike in their love of wisdom and craftsmanship, took this land as their joint portion and settled in it a race of good men. The names of their early kings and heroes, Cecrops, Erechtheus, Erichthonius and Erysichthon, survive in the story, but their deeds had been forgotten after repeated destructions. The land was richer than it is now, for the rains of Zeus were stored in deep soil, until the flood in the time of Deucalion and the convulsions of 9000 years stripped it, so that what is left is like the bones of a sick body. The acropolis then extended from the Eridanus and the Ilissus to the Pnyx and the Lycabettus, and on its top the warrior class lived round the temple of Athene and Hephaestus.
Plato, Laws 920a–922eBook XI: Craftsmen, debts of work, and the prelude on willsThe Athenian says that no citizen shall engage in ungentlemanly peddling, and that craftsmen must not lie about their crafts, out of reverence for their ancestors and for Hephaestus and Athena, the gods of the crafts. He says that a craftsman who fails to complete a work in the time agreed shall be liable to the god and, if the work is military, to the State, and he enacts laws against deceit and debt in such work. He then speaks of wills, and says that the legislator will answer those who complain that a man should be free to dispose of his property as he pleases.
Plato, Symposium 194a–197eAgathon: the nature and gifts of Love, youngest and best of the godsSocrates tells Eryximachus that he too would be in a great strait after Agathon has spoken, and Agathon replies that Socrates wants to cast a spell on him, and says that he will praise the god first and then his gifts. He argues that Love is the happiest of the gods because he is the fairest and best, and the youngest, as shown by his hatred of old age, and that the ancient doings of the gods, which Hesiod and Parmenides tell of, were done of Necessity and not of Love. He says that Love is tender, soft and flexible and lives among flowers, and has justice, temperance, courage and wisdom, since he is a poet and the cause of poetry in others. Love overcomes Ares, the god of war, and he inspires the arts of medicine, archery, divination, the music of the Muses, the metalwork of Hephaestus and the weaving of Athene.
Plato, Republic 380a–383cBook II: God does not change and does not deceiveSocrates says that stories which make Athena and Zeus responsible for the breaking of the truce by Pandarus, or which say that the gods send evil to men, as the words of Aeschylus do, must not be told. He argues that the god, being perfect, does not change his shape, since anything that changes does so for the worse, and so the stories of gods in disguise, of Proteus and Thetis and of Hera collecting alms, are not to be allowed. He also says that a god does not lie, in word or in deed, and that the veritable lie, a lie in the soul about the most important things, is hated by gods and men. The stories of Zeus sending a false dream to Agamemnon and of Apollo, in Aeschylus, promising Thetis a happy fate for her child are therefore to be rejected.
Plato, Timaeus 20a–22eCritias' story from Solon: the priests of Sais and the children of GreeceCritias says that the state described by Socrates is the very Athens of an old story, which Solon brought from Egypt and told to Dropides, great-grandfather of the speaker. Solon would have been a greater poet than Hesiod or Homer if he had not been drawn off to politics, and in the Delta of Egypt he visited the city of Sais, founded by the goddess Neith, who is Athena. When he tried to tell the Egyptian priests the oldest Greek traditions about Phoroneus and Niobe and the flood of Deucalion and Pyrrha, an old priest said that the Greeks are always children. He explains that the story of Phaethon, son of Helios, who burnt up things on earth, is a mythical way of telling of the destruction by fire and by flood that recurs, while Egypt is spared.
Plato, Laws 745a–747eBook V: The acropolis, the twelve portions and the practicability of the planThe Athenian says that the lawgiver must set apart a sacred glebe for Hestia, Zeus and Athena, calling it the acropolis and surrounding it with a ring-wall, and from there divide the city and the country into twelve parts, each with its own temples, and each of the parts into allotments. He says that each citizen is to have two houses, one near the centre and one near the border, and the equal and unequal parts of the land must be so combined that every man has an equal share of the good and bad land. He admits that all these arrangements are unlikely to meet with such favourable conditions that the whole plan can be carried out exactly, and that it is a model to be approximated. He says that even the size of utensils must be regulated, and that places differ in how they make men better or worse, as the Egyptians and Phoenicians are shaped by the illiberal character of their property and institutions.
Plato, Laws 847a–850dBook VIII: Crafts, the villages and the distribution of produce; markets and foreign residentsThe Athenian says that no smith shall act as a joiner nor a joiner supervise others at smith-work under the pretext of supervising his servants, and that every man shall practise only one craft, since a citizen's pursuit is virtue. He says that the produce of each twelfth part of the country shall be divided in three, the first share for the free citizens, the second for their servants, and the third for craftsmen and foreigners, and that there shall be twelve villages, one in each district, with temples to Hestia, Zeus, Athena and the local deity. The city-stewards supervise the craftsmen and the market-stewards the market and the temples round it, and sales are to be made for cash, without credit, so that anyone who gives credit has no right to sue. He says that resident aliens may enter on fixed terms provided they have a craft and stay not more than twenty years, and pay no tax.
Plato, Timaeus 23a–25eAthens nine thousand years ago and the island of AtlantisThe priest says that Athena founded Athens a thousand years before Egypt, from the seed of Ge and Hephaestus, and that the Egyptian records describe the laws and exploits of that Athens 9,000 years ago. The city had a class of warriors separated from the rest, and was devoted to wisdom, and its women and men practised the same pursuits. The priest tells of a great host that came out of the Atlantic Ocean from an island larger than Libya and Asia together, lying in front of the Pillars of Heracles, and that threatened Europe and Asia. Athens stopped the invasion alone, and afterwards earthquakes and floods in a single day and night swallowed the warriors and made the island of Atlantis disappear into the sea.
Plato, Laws 793a–796eBook VII: Unwritten customs, games of the young child, left and right hand, wrestling and the war-dancesThe Athenian says that the unwritten customs of the fathers are the bonds of every constitution, and that the children from three to six need games, which they invent for themselves, and punishment, which must not be of a degrading kind, to prevent their being spoiled. He says that from six, boys and girls are to be separated, the boys learning horsemanship, the bow, the javelin and the sling, and that the habit of using only the right hand is a fault of nurses and mothers, and both hands should be trained equally. He rejects the wrestling devices of Antaeus and Cercyon, and the boxing of Epeius and Amycus, as useless in war, but praises the standing wrestling and the free movement of the body. He adds that the gymnastic dances of imitation, such as the sword-dance of the Curetes in Crete, of the Dioscuri in Lacedaemon and of the armed Virgin Athena at Athens, are fit for the boys and girls.

Plutarch (30)

Plutarch, Life of Eumenes 4.1–6.7Eumenes' dream of Athena and Demeter before facing CraterusPerdiccas sends Eumenes to subdue Armenia, where he raises a force of cavalry, and then names him commander in Armenia and Cappadocia against Craterus and Antipater. He defeats the treacherous Neoptolemus, who flees to Craterus, and he refuses an offer of friendship from Craterus and Antipater. Before Craterus attacks, Eumenes hides the enemy general's name from his men, dreams of two Alexanders at war, Athena aiding one and Demeter the other, and gives the watchword Demeter and Alexander.
Plutarch, Life of Demosthenes 9.1–11.6Prepared and improvised speeches; Demades, Phocion and the pebbles in his mouthPlutarch asks whether Demosthenes was timid, citing how he spoke against Python of Byzantium and against Lamachus at Olympia, and notes that his off-hand speeches were reported to be bolder than his written ones. Demades is judged unbeatable when improvising, and Demosthenes calls Phocion, who speaks with fewest words, the chopper of his speeches. To cure his lisping and weak voice he speaks with pebbles in his mouth, recites while running or climbing, and declaims before a large looking-glass. He answers Demades' taunt about the sow teaching Athena with a jest about Athena in Collytus, and mocks a thief nicknamed Brazen.
Plutarch, Life of Cicero 31.1–34.2The exile of Cicero and his return to RomeThe knights and many senators plead for Cicero, but Pompey slips away from him, the consuls give no help, and Cicero dedicates a statue of Athena (Minerva) on the Capitol and leaves Rome at night. Clodius has him banished and burns his villas and house, and Vibius and Vergilius turn him away, while Cicero passes his exile in dejection abroad. After disorder in Rome Pompey and Milo help to have him recalled, and he comes home in the sixteenth month. When he later argues that Clodius's acts are invalid, Cato opposes him, and their friendship cools.
Plutarch, Table Talk (Quaestiones convivales) 9.4.1–9.12.1Book 9, Questions 4 and 5: the hand of Aphrodite; the souls Odysseus saw; lost questionsMaximus the rhetorician answers Zopyrion's challenge with the question of which hand of Aphrodite Diomedes wounded, and concludes from Homer's words that it was the right. Sospis teases Hylas with the soul of Ajax, and Lamprias explains Plato's myth of Er, while Marcus counts the souls in Homer's Nekyia to show that Ajax was the twentieth. Several questions are lost, shown as [...].
Plutarch, Life of Theseus 12.1–14.3Theseus in Athens: Medea's poison cup, the sons of Pallas and the Marathonian BullAfter being cleansed of bloodshed by the Phytalidae, Theseus reaches Athens, where Medea persuades Aegeus to poison the stranger. Aegeus recognises the sword Theseus draws at the banquet and dashes down the cup. The sons of Pallas go to war, but the herald Leos reports their plan, and Theseus slays the party lying in ambush. Theseus then masters the Marathonian bull, drives it alive through the city and sacrifices it to Apollo, and the old woman Hecale, who entertained him on that journey, is honoured with the Hecalesia.
Plutarch, Life of Coriolanus 30.1–32.7Marcius at the gates of Rome; the priests' embassyMarcius camps at the Fossae Cluiliae, five miles from Rome, and the senate sends his kinsmen to offer his return. He demands the restoration of Volscian cities and equal civic rights for the Volscians, gives thirty days, and in the interval captures seven cities of the Roman allies while Tullus and others envy him. A second embassy fails, and so do the priests, augurs and keepers of the mysteries who go to him in their robes. Plutarch then discusses how Homer attributes inspired deeds to a god or to Athena (Athene) without making human choice involuntary.
Plutarch, Life of Pyrrhus 26.1–11Pyrrhus defeats Antigonus; the Gauls at Aegae; Cleonymus brings him against SpartaAfter six years in the west Pyrrhus returns to Epeirus, invades Macedonia, and wins over the army of Antigonus, dedicating shields taken from Gauls to Athena Itonis. His Gauls plunder the royal tombs at Aegae, and Pyrrhus is slow to punish them. He accepts the invitation of the Spartan Cleonymus, whose wife Chilonis loves Acrotatus, son of King Areus, and marches into Laconia, claiming to free cities from Antigonus while he ravages the land. Mandrocleidas answers him in Spartan speech.
Plutarch, On Isis and Osiris 72–75Sacred animals: the gods in animal form, benefit, symbol and the crocodilePlutarch calls it a folly to say that the gods took the shape of ibises, dogs and hawks in fear of Typhon, and he rejects the stories of the transmigration of souls into animals. He says that some animals are honoured for their use, such as the ox, the sheep and the ichneumon, and others as symbols. The crocodile, which has no tongue, is a symbol of God, who needs no voice, and the account explains its honours.
Plutarch, Parallel Stories (Greek and Roman Parallel Stories) 7–14Pyraechmes, Philip's eye, Icarius, Pausanias, Epaminondas' son, Iole and MetellusHeracles, still a youth, defeats Pyraechmes of Euboea and has him torn apart by horses, and Philip is shot in the eye by Aster of Olynthus. In the story of Icarius, Saturn lodges with a farmer whose daughter Entoria bears Janus, Hymnus, Faustus and Felix, and Icarius learns the use of wine. Others tell of Pausanias, whose father walls him into the temple of Athena of the Brazen House, of Darius and his son Ariobarzanes, of Epaminondas' son Stesimbrotus who fights against orders, of Iole who falls from the wall of Oechalia unhurt, and of Metellus, who neglected Vesta.
Plutarch, Life of Theseus 1.1–5.4Prologue; Aegeus, Aethra and the birth of Theseus; his hair offering at DelphiPlutarch, having written the Lives of Lycurgus and Numa, turns back to Romulus and sets Theseus beside him as the founder of Athens, asking indulgence for the tales of fable. Aegeus is told by the Pythian priestess not to loose the wine-skin until he reaches Athens, and Pittheus at Troezen persuades him to lie with his daughter Aethra. Aegeus hides a sword and sandals under a great rock for the son who may be born. Theseus is reared by Pittheus and at Delphi cuts only the front of his hair, as Homer says the Abantes did.
Plutarch, Life of Lycurgus 10.1–12.7The Spartan common messes; Alcander strikes out Lycurgus' eyeLycurgus establishes common messes so that rich and poor eat the same food and wealth can be neither used nor shown. The wealthy citizens pelt him with stones, and the young Alcander strikes out one of his eyes, but Lycurgus takes him into his house, and the youth becomes his devoted follower. Lycurgus builds a temple to Athena Optilitis, though Dioscorides says his eye was only injured and healed. Plutarch describes the messes of about fifteen, with their monthly contributions, the black broth, the bread-ball ballot for new members and the rule that no word goes outside.
Plutarch, Life of Solon 12.1–6The Cylonian pollution and Epimenides of CretePlutarch tells how the archon Megacles had the followers of Cylon killed after they left the sanctuary of Athena, which brought a curse on his family. Solon persuades the polluted men to stand trial before three hundred nobles, and they are convicted and banished. Troubled by signs and omens, Athens summons Epimenides of Crete, who purifies the city with rites and sacrifices, befriends Solon and asks only for a branch of the sacred olive.

18 more passages of Plutarch that name Athena

Ptolemy Hephaestion (1)

Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History 6.1–25Book 6: Achilles, his ankle and his namesakesThe sixth book is the book of Achilles: his return from the dead, the ankle-bone fitted to him by Chiron, the gifts at his parents' wedding and the many other men called Achilles. Other items concern Aesop's resurrection, the judgement of the apple and the invention of the skindapsos.

Strabo (21)

Strabo, Geography 13.1.38–42The fall of Troy and the war for SigeiumStrabo says no trace of the ancient city remains because its stones were carried off, then tells of the Athenian and Lesbian fight for Sigeium, with Pittacus defeating Phryno in single combat with a net and Alcaeus fleeing the battle. He weighs the claim of the Ilienses that Troy was never wholly destroyed, the Locrian maidens sent there, and Homer's silence on Cassandra and Ajax. The statue of Athena (Minerva), which Homer shows seated but which now stands, is discussed as evidence of the destruction, and the site is conjectured to have been avoided as accursed.
Strabo, Geography 9.1.15–20Athens, the Piraeus and the AcropolisStrabo describes the Munychia and the Piraeus with its harbours and long walls, then the Acropolis of Athens with the temple of Athena (Minerva) Polias, the undying lamp and the ivory statue by Pheidias. He notes that the demes carry many fables, among them Aphidna, where Theseus carried off Helen and the Dioscuri recovered her, and the statue of Nemesis at Rhamnus. He also gives the founders of the city from Cecrops, the earlier names of Attica, and the history of Athenian government under Theseus, tyrants and Romans.
Strabo, Geography 6.1.14–15Siris, Heraclea and MetapontiumStrabo goes along the coast of the Tarentine gulf past Lagaria and Heraclea to Siris, said to be a Trojan colony, where the statue of Athena (Minerva) is supposed to have closed its eyes. He doubts the many claims to possess Trojan statues of the goddess. Metapontium follows, with its founding by Nestor's Pylians, the story of Melanippe and Boeotus, other founders, and the trick of Leucippus.
Strabo, Geography 9.2.25–32Helicon, Hesiod and the Muses: Thespiae to PlataeaeStrabo describes Thespiae with Praxiteles's statue of Eros (Cupid), Hesiod's birthplace Ascra, and Helicon with the temple of the Muses, the spring Hippocrene and the Leibethrides, linked to the Thracians. He then takes Homer through Copae, Eutresis where Zethus and Amphion lived, Thisbe and its doves, and Coroneia and its temple of the Itonian Athena (Minerva). The section ends with Plataeae, the victory over Mardonius and the Thebans living under the Cadmeia.
Strabo, Geography 3.4.1–5The Mediterranean coast of Iberia and UlysseaStrabo begins the Mediterranean side of Iberia from Calpe, with Malaca, Abdera and the Phoenician and Greek towns. In the mountains he describes Ulyssea with its temple of Athena (Minerva), hung with spears and ship prows, and other settlements tied to Odysseus (Ulysses), Teucer, Amphilochus and Heracles (Hercules). He defends Homer's placing of the wanderings in the Atlantic and blames Iberian disunity for foreign conquests.
Strabo, Geography 8.3.7–11Three places called Pylus, the Epeii and the CauconesStrabo discusses which of three places called Pylus was Nestor's home and how Homer divides the Epeii into four parts around Buprasium and Elis. He notes Hecataeus's story that the Epeii accompanied Heracles (Hercules) against Augeas, and treats the Caucones, whom Athena (Minerva) says she will visit to collect a debt, as a puzzle in Homer.
Strabo, Geography 9.2.33–42Onchestus, Lebadeia and Orchomenus of the MinyaeStrabo covers Onchestus with its temple of Poseidon (Neptune), Tenerus, son of Apollo, and the oracle on Mount Ptoum, and Alalcomenae, where Athena (Minerva) was said to be born and where Teiresias died. He mentions the oracle of Zeus (Jupiter) Trophonius at Lebadeia, and the battles at Chaeroneia and Leuctra. Orchomenus is described as rich and powerful, home of the Minyae, whose colony to Iolcus gave the Argonauts that name, with a temple of the Graces built by Eteocles and Erginus killed by Heracles (Hercules).
Strabo, Geography 3.2.12–15Homer, Odysseus and the west of IberiaStrabo argues that Homer knew the far west, deriving Tartarus from Tartessus and linking the Cimmerians and the Planetae to real places. He holds that the voyage of Odysseus (Ulysses) and the Phoenician expeditions lie behind the epics, pointing to Ulyssea and its temple of Athena (Minerva) in Iberia. The plain of Elysium of Rhadamanthus, the oxen of Geryon, the golden apples of the Hesperides and the long-lived king Arganthonius are tied to this region.
Strabo, Geography 5.4.7–8Naples, Vesuvius and the SirensStrabo tells of Naples, said to have been called Parthenope by the older poets after the siren cast up on its shore, whose tomb is shown, and of its Greek customs and games. He moves on to Heraclaeum, Pompeia, and Mount Vesuvius with signs of old fires. At Surrentum he places the temple of Athena (Minerva) founded by Odysseus (Ulysses) on the Athenaeum, near the rocky Sirenusae islands.
Strabo, Geography 8.8.1–5Arcadia: mountains, lakes and StymphalusStrabo describes Arcadia, the oldest people of Greece, its mountains such as Cyllene and Lycaeum, and the cities that became ruined or merged into Megalopolis. He mentions the temples of the Alaean Athena (Minerva) and the Lycaean Zeus (Jupiter). He explains the vanishing rivers of Stymphalus and Pheneus, the Styx near Pheneus, and the colony founders who followed the Heracleidae.
Strabo, Geography 9.1.1–8Attica and Megara: Sciron and the Ionian borderStrabo turns from the Peloponnesus to the next peninsulas, the second joining Megaris to it and the third comprising Attica, Boeotia, part of Phocis and the Locri Epicnemidii, and sets out the shores and distances of Attica and Megaris. He places the tale of Sciron and the pine-bender at the rocks called Scironides, killed by Theseus, and discusses Nisus, Aegeus, Lycus and Pallas, the Pandionidae who divided Attica. He also tells of the Ionian pillar at the Isthmus, the Heraclidae, Melanthus and Codrus, and the founding of Megara.
Strabo, Geography 9.1.9–14Salamis, Eleusis and the Thriasian coastStrabo describes Salamis and its older names, the serpent bred by Cychreus and welcomed into Eleusis by Demeter (Ceres), and the claim of the Aeacidae and Ajax on the island. He weighs the dispute between Athens and Megara over the Catalogue of Ships. He then passes to Eleusis with its Mystic Enclosure, the Thriasian plain, Xerxes at the strait, and the tomb of Circe on the Pharmacussae.

9 more passages of Strabo that name Athena

Virgil (9)

Virgil, Aeneid 2.318–452The last stand of the TrojansAeneas meets Panthus, who tells him Troy has fallen and the Greeks pour from the horse. Aeneas gathers a small band, including Coroebus, and they fight through the dark streets, kill Androgeos, and put on Greek armor. Cassandra is dragged from the shrine of Athena (Minerva), and the Trojans' own men, mistaking them for Greeks, attack from above, so Coroebus and others die. Aeneas is drawn toward Priam's palace, where a fierce battle rages.
Virgil, Aeneid 2.57–198SinonTrojan shepherds bring a bound Greek captive before King Priam. The man says he is Sinon and that the Greeks condemned his friend Palamedes, after which Odysseus (Ulysses) plotted against him and the Greeks chose him as a human sacrifice, but he escaped. Priam frees him and asks about the horse, and Sinon says it was built to atone for the theft of the Palladium from Athena (Minerva) and must not enter Troy. The Trojans believe him.
Virgil, Aeneid 3.506–587The voyage to Sicily and Mount EtnaThe Trojans sail toward Italy, and at dawn Achates is the first to see it. They land by a temple of Athena (Minerva), where Anchises reads four white horses as a sign of both war and peace, and they sacrifice to Hera (Juno) as Helenus instructed. They sail past Tarentum and Scylaceum, steer left to escape Charybdis, and reach the land of the Cyclops. There Mount Etna thunders and throws out fire and smoke through the night.
Virgil, Georgics 1.1–42Invocation to the gods of the countryside and to OctavianThe poet lists his themes: tilling the soil, vines and elms, cattle and bees. He calls on Dionysus (Bacchus) and Demeter (Ceres), the Fauns and Dryads, Poseidon (Neptune), Pan, Athena (Minerva), Silvanus and all the gods who care for the fields. He then addresses Caesar, whose place among the gods is not yet known, and asks him to favour the poem and the bewildered farmers.
Virgil, Aeneid 1.418–493Carthage and the pictures of the Trojan WarAeneas and Achates climb a hill and watch the Tyrians busily building walls, a harbor, and a theatre in Carthage. Hidden by the cloud, Aeneas walks into the city and reaches a temple of Hera (Juno) built by Dido. On its walls he sees pictures of the Trojan War, including Priam, Achilles dragging Hector's body, and the Trojan women at the shrine of Athena (Minerva). Aeneas weeps and takes comfort that his people's suffering is known even here.
Virgil, Aeneid 2.1–56The wooden horseAeneas begins his story at Dido's banquet. He tells how the Greeks, with the skill of Athena (Minerva), build a huge wooden horse, fill it with armed men, and pretend to sail away, hiding at Tenedos. The Trojans leave their gates and debate what to do with the horse. Laocoon warns them against Greek gifts and hurls a spear into its side, which rings hollow.
Virgil, Aeneid 2.199–249Laocoon and the serpentsLaocoon, priest of Poseidon (Neptune), is about to sacrifice a bull when two huge serpents swim in from Tenedos. They coil around his two sons and then around Laocoon himself as he tries to help. The serpents then take refuge at the feet of Athena (Minerva) in her temple. The terrified Trojans take this as punishment for his spear-cast, breach their own wall, and drag the horse into the citadel, while Cassandra's warning goes unheeded.
Virgil, Aeneid 2.559–633Helen and the vision of AphroditeAeneas sees Helen hiding at the altar of Hestia (Vesta) and burns with anger, resolving to kill her. His mother, Aphrodite (Venus), stops him, reminding him of his father, wife, and son and telling him that Helen and Paris are not to blame. She shows him Poseidon (Neptune), Hera (Juno), Athena (Minerva), and Zeus (Jupiter) all working against the city. She urges him to flee and promises to protect him, and he makes his way home through the fire.
Virgil, Aeneid 11.445–531CamillaNews arrives that the Trojans are advancing, and the city arms in panic. The women pray to Athena (Minerva) to break Aeneas's spear, and Turnus arms himself. Camilla offers to meet the Etruscan cavalry alone, and Turnus accepts, giving her Messapus's troops while he prepares an ambush in a mountain valley.

Athena in the ancient sources