Athena

Athena
 is the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill. The city of Athens was named after her, after her and Poseidon had a competition to see who gave the best present to the city. Poseidon gave horses, and Athena gave an olive tree. The townspeople used her tree to bear fruit, make olive oil, and to sell to surrounding cities as trade. Athena was born from Zeus, her father's, head. He had a bad headache and he asked his son [|Hephaistos] to chop open his head with an axe. She was the daughter of Zeus and [|Metis]. She was the cleverest of all goddesses and afterwards taught people to spin, weave, paint, and carve and many other clever things.

 Connection to Lightning Thief:
 Athena is the mother of Annabeth. While Percy, Grover and Annabeth are at Aunty Em's statue place, Medusa has a grudge against Annabeth because her mother turned her(Medusa) into a horrible looking witch. Athena caught Medusa and Poseidon in her monument years prior so as a punishment she turned her into an ugly beast and whenever anyone looks at her they turn to stone.

Bibliography:
Athena - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." "Athena". 14 Sept. 2010. .

Riordan, Rick. The Lightning Thief. New York: Hyperion Books, 2006.

Rouse, WHD. Gods, Heroes, and Men of Ancient Greece. New York: New American Library, 2001.

"Wild Animal Elite - Message Board. 19 Sept. 2010. <http://wildanimalelite.yuku.com/ (IMAGE)