Athena was born as a by-product of Zeus' attempt to retain
his throne after hearing that the son born to his first wife, Metis, would
unseat him. His response was to swallow Metis, who was pregnant with Athena at
the time. The child remained stuck inside Zeus until an ax-wielding Hephaestus
or, in some versions, Prometheus struck open his head and the fully-grown
Athena leapt out, wearing flashing armor, to the astonishment of the assembled
gods. Cosmic chaos ensued until, by removing her weapons, Athena restored normality.
Athena took possession of her favorite city, Athens, when her gift of the first
olive tree was preferred to the salt spring created by her rival, Poseidon. Her
tie to Athens was strengthened through her involvement in the birth of
Erichthonius, one of its ancestral heroes. When she went to Hephaestus to ask him
to make weapons, he attempted to rape her. During their struggle Hephaestus'
semen fell to the ground and a child, Erichthonius ("very-earthy"),
emerged from the fertilized earth. Gaia, the earth goddess, handed the child to
Athena, who then reared him. Athena was credited with numerous inventions, including
the flute, the ship, the horse-bit, the plow, and the chariot.
by Susan Deacy, 30 Second Mythology 
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