Athena (Marvel)
Athena is a female comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
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Biography
Athena Parthenos was a female goddess of the pantheon of the Olympians that resided on Olympus. (Thor v1 #164) She was the daughter of Zeus after he got the Titaness Metis pregnant but then the Fates foretold that the child would be greater than him. Thus, Zeus decided to eat Metis before she gave birth but nine months later he suffered migraines with Hephaestus deciding to perform a trephination to relieve the pressure. However, from the crack on his temple emerged the fully grown and armed Athena who became the goddess of war as well as wisdom. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127) Athena came to punish one of her priestesses namely the beautiful Medusa Gorgon for consummating her passion with Poseidon on her altar. From this day on, Medusa and all her descendants were cursed. (Incredible Hercules v1 #128) It was noted that Athena joined the Olympians' battle against Nyx and her children Hypnos, Apate and Dolos when they turned on the other Olympians. Athena battled Hypnos and aided the Olympians defeat Nyx and her children, who were afterward exiled into a prison of eternal darkness. (Avengers: No Road Home v1 #4) Married to Aphrodite under direction of their mother, Hera, Hephaestus immediately realized she only had eyes for Ares. Hephaestus was himself impressed with Athena, who he felt was wise enough to see past his physical flaws. (Incredible Hercules v1 #140) Athena slew a chimera at Lycia. From this chimera's hide, Hephaestus forged for Athena his greatest work, the Aegis breastplate. He thought once she saw the gift she would open her heart to him, but when he threw himself at her, she punched him to the ground and departed. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127)
As a youth, Teiresias, spied Athena bathing, and the virgin goddess struck him blind to protect her modesty. Teiresias' mother, a nymph, begged Athena to undo the curse, but Athena instead opened Teiresias' ears so that he might hear the whispers of the gods. Teiresias became a great prophet. (Incredible Hercules v1 #126) Arachne was a vain woman who considered her weaving ability greater than that of Athena's. To resolve the matter, a competition was declared between the two where they would weave tapestries. Arachne created a tapestry that depicted events that happened in the lives of the gods and Athena, consumed with rage and jealousy at Arachne's handiwork, tore Arachne's tapestry apart causing the girl to flee and subsequently commit suicide in her grief. As penance for her actions, Athena cast a spell over Arachne and transformed her into a spider, preserving her life and allowing her to spin and weave via the natural abilities of a spider until the day she died in her new form. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127) Many people, such as the Thebans, placed weapons in the temples of gods such as Athena as offerings for past victories. (Incredible Hercules v1 #126)
In the 20th century, she took on the human guise of Miranda Minerva as she sought a human that possessed a Hypermind for a great task in the future. To that end, she wrote a book titled The Heroes Journey that detailed the various links between fact and myth. Minerva then established an orphanage at Mount Athena, New York. She had created a test involving the Mastermind Excello to find the Hypermind with her finding a young boy with a genius intelligence named Pytharoas Dupree. Upon identifying him possessing a Hypermind, she left him be till he reached adulthood where he used his intelligence to make himself wealthy. It was then that she visited him in her true form and asked him to be her champion. Dupree stated he needed time to think about the offer but instead he tried to kill her alongside the town of Excello. The paranoid man came to see other Hyperminds as threats to him and he sought to eliminate them whilst he hid from Athena. The mistake with Dupree made Athena realise that she would need to find the next Hypermind and approach them in a different way. (Incredible Hercules v1 #137)
At Daedelus IV, she arrived with the Olympians as they attacked the Guardians of the Galaxy. Despite their power, they came to be defeated by the band of galactic heroes where Star-Lord looked to stop the threat posed by the mad god Zeus. This involved trapping him within a black hole to a world without any suns where he sought to escape but was pinned by his daughter Athena. She kept him in place so that both her and Zeus would be trapped in that reality with Hercules remarking that she would be a capable jailer for their father. (Guardians of the Galaxy v6 #12)
Overview
Personality and attributes
At one point, she took a human guise where she went under the name of Miranda Minerva. (Incredible Hercules v1 #137)
The Fates had proclaimed that she would be greater than her father Zeus. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127)
It was said that she ran multiple simultaneous plans operating at any given time to save the world from great threats. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127)
She was the daughter of the Olympian god Zeus and the Titaness Metis. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127)
Trey Rollins after gaining the power of the Aegis was considered Athena's champion. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127)
Powers and abilities
A relic tied to her was the Aegis that was forged by Hephaestus from the hide of a chimera that was slain by Athena herself in Lycia. Such was its deep connection to her that she said it was like her own skin and could track it through her powers. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127)
She had a controlling interest in the shares of the Olympus Group where she had a stock broker responsible for managing it. (Incredible Hercules v1 #127)
Notes
- Athena was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby where she made her first appearance in Thor v1 #164 (May, 1969).
- The character was based on the Athena from Greek Myth.
Appearances
- Thor v1: (1969)
- Incredible Hercules v1:
- Hercules:
- Guardians of the Galaxy v6:
External Links
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