Athena

Athena's birth is unprecedented in mythology: she sprang out fully armed, letting out a war cry, from the split skull of Zeus. Her mother is Metis, goddess of wisdom and cunning, whom Zeus had swallowed after learning from a prophecy that a child born from her would dethrone him. He thought this would end the threat, but Metis, already pregnant, continued to forge inside Zeus's belly an armor and helmet for her coming daughter. The hammer blows of Hephaestus — called upon to split the suffering god's skull — freed Athena completely: an adult, a warrior, and already endowed with all her wisdom.

This extraordinary birth makes Athena a unique deity: she never knew childhood, never had a mother in the conventional sense, and is bound to no lover or husband. Her intellectual purity is absolute. She is often referred to as Pallas Athena — a title whose origin varies by source: some associate it with a childhood friend accidentally killed by the goddess, in whose memory she kept the name.

Athena's symbols reflect the duality of her nature. Her warrior attributes include a golden spear, a round shield adorned with a gorgoneion — the petrifying head of Medusa given to her by Perseus — and full armor topped with a griffin helmet. But it is the owl that best symbolizes her: a nocturnal creature capable of seeing in the dark, it embodies the wisdom that pierces the darkness of ignorance. The olive tree also belongs to her — she offered it to the Athenians to win the patronage of their city over Poseidon, who had only offered a saltwater spring.

Athena presides over many civilizing arts: weaving, pottery, navigation, agriculture. It is she who teaches humanity the techniques that allow society to organize. In war, she represents not the blind brutality of Ares, but military strategy — the art of winning through intelligence, of preserving lives through tactics. She is the goddess of heroes who think as much as they fight: Odysseus, Perseus, Heracles, Jason all benefited from her help.

The quarrel with Arachne is one of the most iconic tales. Arachne, a mortal weaver of exceptional talent, had the audacity to claim she was superior to Athena. The goddess, disguised as an old woman, came to visit her to invite modesty. Arachne refused. The weaving contest that followed saw Athena depict the gods in their splendor and mortals punished for their pride. Arachne's tapestry, technically flawless, mocked the gods. Furious, Athena tore it apart. Arachne, humiliated, hanged herself. Athena transformed her into a spider — condemned to weave for eternity.

Her role in the Trojan War is also major: she supports the Greeks, guides Odysseus, protects Achilles and favors stratagems like the famous Trojan Horse. After the war, she pursued in anger those who had desecrated her temples during the sack of Ilium, notably King Agamemnon and the navigator Ajax the Lesser — a reminder that even the victors are not safe from divine justice.

In the Saint Seiya universe, Athena reincarnates as Saori Kido, young heiress of the Graude family. This narrative choice by Masami Kurumada follows the mythological tradition where Athena regularly descends to Earth to guide mortals. Saori embodies all the divine aspects of the goddess: her quiet wisdom, her absolute compassion for human beings, and her willingness to sacrifice her own life to preserve peace.

The Knights of the Zodiac are Athena's Saints — her sacred warriors — just as in the myths her protected heroes. The very structure of the series reflects mythology: Athena guides, provides moral support, and gives her knights the strength to surpass their human limits. Facing the antagonist gods — Hades, Poseidon, Apollo — it is always Athena's love for mankind that forms the central stake, a mirror of the ancient myth.