So, who is Athene19? Well, she is me! I'm actually a very nice British girl without a posh accent (I don't know anyone who speaks like the Royal Family except them and my American friends who imitate me). I was born in North London at the end of the 70’s as the first of five children and was educated in Enfield, Hackney and Canterbury before taking up a job in a local government authority. Even though I am incredibly tall I don't want to be a model, despite the fact that I would do less and get paid more. (Those who know me are wise enough not to mention anything.) The love of my life is a very swish-looking Ford Ka that has been through tough times – the boot door caving in, the petrol tank being punctured, and the back right suspension arm being bent have been the main highlights. I can be spotted eating out with friends in the Angel and Muswell Hill, spending time in market places (Enfield, Covent Garden, and Camden), and chauffeuring my brother between music gigs and his mate's house! I also spend a worryingly amount of time playing the computer game Rollercoaster Tycoon, making candles, and watching TV (TXF, The Avengers, Buffy, Ally McBeal and Will & Grace are current faves).
and named her as their patron goddess after she won a competition placed with Poseidon. Both wanted to be the patron of Greece so the people decided that they would choose whoever could give them the best present. Athene gave them an olive branch, which would provide food and oil to cook and bathe in. This was more than Poseidon could give so Athene was chosen. She had an unusual birth, having sprung from the head of her father, Zeus, brandishing her spear and giving out a war cry. This led her to being given the name ‘Athene Niké’, meaning ‘Victory Athens’, used during war times. She was also the only goddess to remain both single and celibate. She wasn’t known for her beauty but it didn’t stop her entering a competition with her far prettier counterparts, Hera and Aphrodite. The three of them asked Paris, the son of Priam, King of Troy, which of them was the prettiest. He chose Aphrodite, who gave him Helen, wife of Menelaus, King of Sparta, as his own wife. In anger, Hera and Athene joined the Greeks in helping Menelaus rescue his wife from Troy. Aphrodite managed to withhold the Greeks for ten years but Zeus finally persuaded her to end the war and Helen was rescued. During the Battle of Troy and for ten years afterwards, Athene favoured the Greek hero Odysseus, who was delayed considerably from arriving in his home country by Athene’s old competitor, Poseidon. Odysseus had blinded the one eye of Poseidon’s son, a Cyclops called Polyphemus, and in revenge, Poseidon delayed Odysseus for ten years, seven of which were spent marooned on an island ruled by Calypso. Athene persuaded Poseidon to let Odysseus leave for home and she helped him regain his wife and home, which had been taken over by rowdy suitors. Athene disguised herself and helped Odysseus kill the suitors in his final victory. Apart from being the goddess of Greece, Athene was also the patron of war, wisdom and crafts. She was honoured every year at the Festival of Greece, and every four years at The Festival of Athens, or the ‘Panathenaia’. In the Athenian temple on the Acropolis there stood a statue of her. This statue was wooden with bronze and silver plating. This statue would be wrapped with a long and colourful cloak during the Panathenaia, and offerings and sacrifices would be made in her honour. She was a truly wonderful and strong woman of her time and no other god or goddess is held in the human mind with more respect than she is. So I can’t see any reason why her name shouldn’t be the one for me. Besides, I would have confused you all if I called myself something like Hestia...
