Goddess of Wisdom
There is always a degree of uncertainty when we try to be specific as to the names and origins of the Greek gods. This is especially true of Athene. She is called Athene in The Iliad but after 500 B.C.E. she is referred to as Athena. Some of her various other names are of uncertain meaning: Pallas Athene (the ‘young woman’ Athene?) and Glaukopis (blue eyed?) are a few examples. She is also called Tritogeneia because she was raised by the nymphs of the Tritonian lake in Lybia.
Her mother, Metis, was the first wife of Zeus and her name (Metis) might mean ‘wisdom’. If this is true, then it would be more proper to call Athene ‘The Daughter of Wisdom’ instead of ‘The Goddess of Wisdom’.
When Zeus saw that Metis was pregnant, he was afraid that the child, if allowed to live, would be his doom. He swallowed Metis to prevent the birth. It didn’t work. Athene sprang, fully armed and armored, from the head of Zeus but Metis was never seen again.
Stewart, Michael. "Athene", Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant. http://www.messagenet.com/myths/bios/athene.html (November 14, 2005)
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