Athena is a fictional deity appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. She is based on the Greek Goddess of the same name.
Publication history
Athena first appeared in The Mighty Thor #164 (May 1969), and was adapted from Greek mythology by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby.
Fictional character biography
Athena is the daughter of Zeus and Metis, having emerged fully formed from her father's brow after Zeus consumed Metis in hopes of avoiding a male child who would succeed him, as he had his father. She took the place of the goddess of wisdom, war, and heroic endeavor in the Olympian pantheon. Her grey owl companion is named Pallas, a reference to her own name.
In her first appearance, Athena stood alongside Zeus when he forbade Pluto from interfering on Earth. She then observed Pluto's later conflict with Zeus. Athena later accompanied Zeus to a meeting with Odin, who had requested Olympian aid in opposing the Eternals. As a result, she participated in the assault on the Eternal home city of Olympia, and fought her counterpart among the Eternals, Thena, for whom she evinces tremendous dislike.
Athena later battled Thor when Zeus had convinced her that the Avengers were enemies of Olympus. The battle ended when Thor saved her from a pool of molten metal in Hephaestus' workshop, and she realized that Thor was not her enemy. Athena, Hephaestus, and Venus went with the Avengers to heal the wounded Hercules, but Zeus was at his bedside and blasted them all with lightning. Zeus then forbade Athena and all Olympians from interfering with the Earth.
In modern times, Athena is responsible for Aegis gaining his superhuman powers from her gift of her aegis breastplate.
Athena later battled Pluto, and then met with the other Olympian gods to discuss their distaste at Ares' brutality. When Olympus was then invaded by Mikaboshi's demons, Athena fought for Olympus and looked to Ares for battlefield strategy. Athena joined the Olympians in battle against Mikaboshi's forces, and prevailed with the aid of the benevolent gods of the east.
She next appeared in The Incredible Hercules, offering shelter to Hercules and Amadeus Cho at her estate in Vermont, and warning Hercules about both Ares, and Amadeus' potential for becoming good or evil. After Hercules and Amadeus ultimately make it to her estate, she warns them of the threat of the Secret Invasion, and takes them to San Francisco, to convene a meeting of Earth's various pantheons, in the shadow of the Dreaming Celestial to discuss the threat. Following the "God Squad"'s victory, and Mikaboshi's takeover of the Skrull slave deities, Athena is shown watching from her scrying pool, and she says that this is an even better result than she had planned for. She expresses no alarm or shock when Mikaboshi vows to get revenge on the Olympians. Athena is thus confirmed not to be a Skrull.
In the past, she was shown using her foresight to predict the birth of Amadeus Cho and the events of the World War Hulk, predicting that while the still young Hercules would grow to be a force for good, Amadeus would always be her champion, foretelling the modern times and his final choosing in becoming a force for good himself, and her and Hercules' helper. Thus she accepted him as her helper.
The Olympus Group
Meanwhile, Hera and Pluto have taken over the Olympus Group, the modern day seat of power for the Olympians, via the inherited shares of Zeus' and by buying out Poseidon, and have decided the company has a new major goal: the deaths of Athena and Hercules. As a part of her master plan, Hera kills Aegis, a hero favored by Athena. Using his body as a bait, she lures Athena, Amadeus and Hercules into a trap. Among Hera's retinue is Delphyne Gorgon, who wishes to kill Athena in revenge for her cursing the original Gorgons. Athena formulates a new plan to counter Hera, and the heroes escape in the midst of a battle between Hera's forces and the Dark Avengers.