“Her home was on the radiant shores
Where snow-white Athens shines;
How beautiful her servitors,
How stately were her shrines!
And how from farthest east and west,
And by the unknown sea,
What goddess was so well beloved,
So much revered as she?”
Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter and was said to have leaped forth
from his brain mature and in complete armor. She was warlike in her
tendencies, but it was defensive war only with which she was in
sympathy.
As a goddess of storms and battles the Greeks called her Athene, and as
she also possessed gentle characteristics, she was styled Pallas.
She was the goddess of wisdom, of weaving and of agriculture, and was
forever a virgin, scorning the affections which were frequently offered
her. As the especial divinity of the people of Athens she put to flight
a deity named Dullness, who had ruled there.
“Ere Pallas issued from the Thunderer’s head,
Dullness o’er all possessed her ancient right,
Daughter of Chaos and Eternal Night.”
--_Pope._
Many temples and altars were dedicated to Minerva, the most celebrated
of all being the Parthenon at Athens.