ATHENA Greek Goddess of culture, wisdom, laws, crafts, and political and military strategy. Her symbols included the owl (wisdom) and the snake (ancient symbol of female power). Patriarchal Greek mythology tells of Athena being born from Zeus's head after he swallowed her mother, Metis. However, Metis can be traced back to North Africa as Medusa whose snake hair symbolized female wisdom. Athena was the virgin form of the triple Gorgon Mother of Fate: Neith; Metis or Medusa; Anath or Ath-enna. Originally, it was said that she was born in Libya from the uterus of Lake Tritonis (3 Queens). Athena is wearing a helmet with two horses, symbolizing the belief that it was she who first tamed the horse and invented the bridle and chariot. The sculpture after Phidias is from the Parthenon, c. 447 BCE, Greece.
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