http://store6.yimg.com/I/anempires_1776_4975826.gif 460-430 B.C. Phidias. The Louvre, Paris
As the goddess of civilized war, Minerva stands proudly holding her spear in her right hand and her famous snake-shield in the left.


Romans identified their goddess of war as Minerva. She ranked third among their gods, after Jupiter and Juno. Minerva was worshiped as the goddess of wisdom and of crafts, namely weaving and spinning. Also called "Minerve au Collier", she was the daughter of Jupiter and sister to Hebe, water bearer to the gods. Her shield represents the battle between the Greeks and Amazons. The original statue, now in The Louvre, is made of ivory and gold plate on a wooden core. She was sculpted by the great Athenian artist Phidius between 460 and 430 B.C.

Minerva (Also considered Pallas, Athene, the Goddess of Wisdom) was fathered directly from Jupiter without a mother. She is reputed to have sprang forth from his head completely armed. Her favourite bird was the owl, and the plant sacred to her the olive. Considered to be the virgin goddess of warriors, poetry, medicine, wisdom, commerce, crafts, and inventor of music, she is symbolic of the great power of thoughts and self talk.
http://www.minervatech.u-net.com/illos/athene.jpgOvid called her the "goddess of a thousand works".

In Romano-Etruscan mythology, Minerva was the goddess of wisdom. As the Romans conquered other states they integrated the other cultures with their own, thus she became identified with the Greek goddess Athena.

An oracle foretold to Zeus, the king of the gods, that if his wife Metis bore another child it would be a boy who would depose him. He promptly swallowed Metis, but was later smitten by terrible pains in his head. Hermes, the messenger of the gods, suspected the cause, and persuaded Hephaestus, the god of fire, to split his head open. Immediately Athena leapt out, fully grown and in full armour. She became his favourite child, and he gave her his shield, which bore the image of the gorgon Medusa, and the thunderbolt.

One of the principal deities in both mythologies, she stood for wisdom, reason and purity, was patron of arts, crafts and agriculture, and was the goddess of war and defender of the state.

She competed with Poseidon, the god of earthquakes and the sea, for possession of Athens. He offered the citizens the horse, whilst she offered the olive tree, which the Athenians deemed the better gift. In return they dedicated the Parthenon to her.

Other gifts of hers to man were the plough, the flute and the arts of taming animals and shipbuilding. She was often associated with the owl, an image which appeared on all Athenian coins. The phrase "owls to Athens" carried the same meaning as "coals to Newcastle".