Athena is the Olympian goddess of wisdom and war and the adored patroness of the city of Athens. A virgin deity, she was also—somewhat paradoxically—associated with peace and handicrafts, especially spinning and weaving. Majestic and stern, Athena surpassed everybody in both of her main domains. In fact, even Ares feared her; and all Greek heroes asked her for help and advice. In Rome, she is known as Minerva.
Athena is warlike, but only in defense of things she believes are worth protecting, such as cities, towns, and planted fields. She opposes the destructive rampages of her half brother, Ares, whenever and however she can.
Clerics of Athena fight against worshipers of Ares whenever they can and spend the rest of their time protecting civilized lands from outside threats. Athena's clerics are always active in civic life, serving as judges, advisors, planners, and teachers. Her church is a great patron of the arts, sponsoring both public works and individual painters, sculptors, and architects.
Vestments
Athena's clergy dress in long white tunics with filigreed trim, countered with elaborately graven breastplates and warhelms.
Temples
Temples to Athena are always stately and pleasant to look at. In less settled areas where monsters or raiders are a threat, Athena's temples tend to be fortified, but they are still built to be aesthetically pleasing.
Rituals
The goddess prefers offerings of burnt olive branches, fresh crops, cheeses, and oils, and bulls or pigs during times of war. Offerings are made annually or before wars or weddings. The eighth month is sacred to Athena, it is during this time that most of her annual festivals take place. Each year, two female clergy members are appointed to be the Bearers of the Sacred Offerings. For several months they must live in seclusion with the goddess, until the eighth month when her festivals are celebrated. The Bearers aid the high priestess in performing her nightly rituals for the festivals, which is comprised of carrying unknown sacrifices on their heads through a covert, natural underground passage that leads through the adjacent precincts to a secret location. There they exchange the offerings and return to Athena's temple with the new offerings. When they return they are freed from this duty and new clergy members are appointed to the position for the following year. Every five years an even greater festival is held in Athena's honor which lasts the entire twelfth month.
Uphold the highest ideals of wisdom, reason, and purity. Be prepared to defend your home and state from enemies, but be skilled in the art of peace as well as war.
Athena appears as a statuesque woman with fetching gray eyes. She usually carries a large round shield and wears a plumed helmet and armor.
Goddess Athena was a daughter of Zeus, the King of the Gods, and Metis, the first wife of Zeus, who was keeping inside herself all the world's wisdom. Athena never married and had no children.
She has been friends with Ra the Egyptian sun god for many centuries and works with him constantly in destroying evil intent. She also has strong ties to the Elven pantheon which is largely made up of good deities. She has worked politically with every known deity of good as is accepted as a friend in all their courts.
