63+ Athena Tattoo Ideas That Are Fit For The Gods

athena tattoo

Get Inspired with these Athena tattoo ideas

Athena is the Greek Goddess of Wisdom and War. It’s only natural that tattoo artists would find her attractive as a subject for their works of art! In this post, we discuss the figure of Athena, and we then take a look at some great Athena tattoo design ideas.

Athena is depicted either wearing a helmet, carrying a shield and spear, or holding Nike in one hand and wielding a sword in the other. She often has an owl perched on top of her helmet, but she can also be found with a lion at her feet.

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Athena tattoo

What does the Athena tattoo mean?

When you think of the Greek goddess Athena, you probably picture her with a considerable helmet protecting her eyes and a spear in hand. She’s not your typical tattooed Greek god, but she is getting more popular as a subject matter for tattoos. Some people choose to go with a traditional portrait of Athena, but there are also several intriguing offshoot designs to choose from.

Athena was most likely based on an ancient Minoan earth mother goddess named Potnia, which means “mistress.” In effect, she was queen bee – all other gods and goddesses were under her command. She was wise and warlike, often depicted bearing gifts from the harvest before the battle.

According to myth, she sprang from the head of Zeus when he was in a fight with his father, Cronus. Athena helped him overcome Cronus and win command over the universe. After that, Zeus placed her in charge of Athens, where she established laws and civilization before going out to battle with Poseidon for control of the city.

Athena was a virgin goddess who shunned men but did have an epic romance with a mortal man named Arachne. In one version of this story, Arachne claimed she was a better weaver than Athena, which prompted our warrior goddess to challenge her to a weaving contest. When it looked like Arachne would beat the goddess at weaving, Athena turned on her and transformed Arachne into a spider.

Athena had an owl as her symbol and was often depicted wearing a gorgon’s head or Medusa’s head on her breastplate, which she used to turn people into stone if they upset her. She also wore the helmet of invisibility and carried a shield with the image of Medusa carved onto it and Zeus’ lightning bolts.

Athena was typically represented as calm and intelligent looking, bearing no expression of pain or anger. She is sometimes shown wearing an olive crown or wreath. She was usually portrayed in profile to highlight her sharp features and fierce gaze.

People who like Athena’s tattoos may be drawn to them for academic reasons (she is the goddess of wisdom and war strategy) or their historical value (Athena was the only female ever worshipped in Ancient Greece). She is considered a testament to the idea that women can succeed without a man at their side. Others interested in Greek mythology admire her as a mighty female warrior.

Many Athena tattoos feature images from ancient Greek pottery, armor, or sculptures, with Athena typically shown wearing a helmet and holding a spear. If you’re looking for something more modern, you might see her head floating in outer space with beams of light radiating from behind her head. If you want people to know that you are strong-minded, into history, or proud to be a woman, then this badass goddess may be the ideal subject of your next tattoo.

What is Athena the goddess of?

Athena is the daughter of Zeus, born from his head after he swallowed her pregnant mother, Metis. Athena is known to have sprung fully grown and armored from the head of Zeus with a shout of victory, which gave rise to this epithet or nickname of hers: “Tritogenia”, meaning ‘thrice-born’. Armed with shield and spear, Zeus transformed her into an undying maiden warrior goddess whose battles are legendary.

Athena is widely worshipped in Athens, where they built the Parthenon on top of an old shrine in her honor during Classical Greece’s golden age. To the Athenians, she was also their city’s patron goddess who fought alongside them in defense against Persian invaders and the patron goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare.

In Scotland, Athena is worshipped as a tattoo symbol among those who subscribe to Celtic spirituality, particularly among Pagans. She was known as the Maiden aspect of her triple-form in ancient Greek religion and mythology, including Artemis the Huntress and Hectate, a Crone figure associated with magic, crossroads, and witchcraft.

Early Greeks popularly practiced worship of all three aspects of the Triple Goddess until Christianity became widespread during Classical Greece’s dark ages when Pagans were driven underground or hiding from fear of persecution for their beliefs.

Today modern-day devotees can worship Athena simply by wearing her tattoo on the skin as homage via body art practices that emulate this ancient tradition. Her tattoo’s symbolism reflects the traditional values of beauty, craft, love, faith, healing, femininity, bravery, wisdom, and strength. The same can be said for wearing her inked image as a pendant, belt buckle, or any other place one might choose to attach it with string or chain to wear about their person.

What does Athena’s spear symbolize?

Athena’s spear symbolizes her role as a warrior goddess and protector of respectable citizens. The spear is also associated with war, so that Athena would use it in battle. Her shield symbolizes her protection and has an owl on it, which represents wisdom and foresight. Sometimes she would carry a small statue of Nike, the goddess of victory, to show her appreciation for the sport of boxing and that through sport, even wars could be won.

What does Athena’s shield symbolize?

Athena’s shield symbolizes her role as a warrior goddess, but it also represents wisdom and foresight. The owl on the shield represents wisdom and foresight. It was believed that an owl sat on the shoulder of the Goddess Athena as she slept to remind her of what she learned from her years as a mortal.

In some stories, women who visit Athens are said to be dressed as owls by Athene herself to keep them from being hurt. Owls were seen as protectors, too, protecting family members from harm at night when they could not see threats coming. Therefore, Athena’s owl shield protected citizens and kept them safe during the day and night.

What does Athena’s aegis symbolize?

The aegis also called “aigis”, is usually depicted as either Zeus’s gift to Athena or gorgoneion upon her breastplate. It was capable of changing its appearance into that of anything she desired and could produce such awe-inspiring sparks that it struck fear into those who looked at it.

The special goatskin cloak, lined with serpents and worn by Athena during her battles on land, had an image of the head of Medusa on the surface and added another layer of protection for its wearer (Athena). The aegis represents not only power and authority, but at the same time, strength and courage. This adds to the symbolism of Athena as a warrior goddess who is ready to protect her people no matter what.

What does Athena’s helmet symbolize?

Athena’s helmet symbolizes her role as the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law, justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength, strategy, the arts. The Romans later adopted it in their god Jupiter. They are often decorated with images symbolic of their beliefs or region. For example, fur or wings on helmets can represent animals sacred to a particular area.

Another common design motif is that of eyes placed either at eye level or along the brow line- believed in making one invulnerable when facing forward. The olive tree branch worn on Athena’s helmet represents peace. It was also used to bludgeon prisoners into submission rather than killing them. It was said that Athena would not fight unless necessary, but if she did, she always fought for a just reason and used her words to bring peace before going into battle. Athena’s helmet represents wisdom and courage and justice and the arts.

I hope that this post provides you with some background information to help you make an informed choice. It is always best to discuss your ideas with your tattoo artist. More often than not, you find this tattoo style on the upper arm but is adaptable to another body part. Why not take a look at our Virgen De Guadalupe tattoo, Zeus tattoo, Ganesha tattoo, Hades tattoo, Odin tattoo ideas, Cherub tattoo ideas, Halo tattoos, trident tattoo, Atlas tattoo ideas, Aries tattoo designs, Betty Boop tattoos, olive branch tattoo and Santa Muerta tattoos for a similar theme.

So, let us take a look at some great examples of the Athena tattoo.

athena goddess tattoo
Athena goddess tattoo

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These Athena goddess tattoo designs will leave you inspired!

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I hope that these Athena tattoo ideas have left you inspired and helped with your decision making. Why not share some of these images on your social media?

athena tattoo ideas
athena tattoo ideas

Since you are here…can I ask a favor?

It would be really nice if you could share this image and page on your social media.

It’s just a couple of clicks for you but it means everything to us here at Tattoozz.

Thank you so much!

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Athena – Wikipedia