World Almanac

Athena

The Birth
Zeus was the father of Athena and her mother was Metis, which means wisdom. Zeus was told before Athena was born, that any child born to Metis would be more powerful than its father. Zeus was very worried by this and decided to swallow Metis before she could give birth to the child.
Some time later Zeus began to have terrible headaches. The pain grew so unbearable that Zeus asked Hephaistos to cut his head open to see what was wrong.
When Hephaistos opened his head, Athena emerged from Zeus' skull, fully grown and dressed for battle.

Athena is the goddess of war and cunning wisdom. She is also the goddess of pot-making and wool-working. She is associated with the city, and almost every town in Greece had a sanctuary dedicated to Athena.
She invented the chariot, the bridle and built the first ship. The olive tree is sacred to her.

There is some video that might help you gain knowledge about Athena



Ares

Ares was the god of war. However, unlike Athena, he was not very cunning in battle. He was not a popular god. In 'The Iliad' Zeus complained that Ares was the most hated of all his children.


Ares and Aphrodite were lovers even though Aphrodite was married to Hephaistos. Hephaistos found out about their affair and planned his revenge.
He began to make a metal net that was so fine it was almost invisible. He hung it over Aphrodite's bed. The next time Ares visited Aphrodite's room, Hephaistos released the net. Ares and Aphrodite were trapped in the bed. All the other gods came to laugh at the lovers.

 There is some video that might help you gain knowledge about Ares



Aphrodite

Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. She was the wife of Hephaistos but was in love with the war god Ares.


Eris the goddess of strife was offended that she had not been invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. In revenge, she threw down a golden apple inscribed with the words 'to the fairest', knowing that this would cause an argument amongst the other goddesses. Aphrodite, Hera and Athena all asked Zeus to decide to whom the apple belonged. Zeus did not want to cause any more trouble. He knew that by choosing one of the goddesses he would incur the resentment of the other two. Instead he decided that the mortal Paris should decide.
All three goddesses appeared before Paris. All three goddesses promised Paris different prizes if he picked them. Aphrodite promised him the most beautiful woman in the world. This woman was Helen, the wife of King Menelaus of Sparta. Aphrodite made Helen fall in love with Paris. The couple ran off together. Menelaus called together his allies in Greece. They set off to recapture Helen. The resulting war lasted for ten years.

  There is some video that might help you gain knowledge about Aphrodite


 (Sources:http://www.ancientgreece.co.uk/gods/explore/exp_set.html )