Athena Hera, Athena was one of the three goddesses whose feud resulted in the beginning of the Trojan War. She plays an active role in the "Iliad", in which she assists the Achaeans and, in the "Odyssey", she is the divine counselor to Odysseus. In the later writings of the Roman poet Ovid, Athena was said to have competed against the mortal Arachne in a weaving competition, afterwards transforming Arachne into the first spider; Ovid also describes how she transformed Medusa into a Gorgon after witnessing her being raped by Poseidon in her temple. Since the Renaissance, Athena has become an
Temple of Athena Nike the north. The sheer walls of its bastion were protected on the north, west, and south by the "Nike Parapet", named for its frieze of Nikai celebrating victory and sacrificing to their patroness, Athena Nike. Nike means "victory" in Greek, and Athena was worshipped in this form, representative of being victorious in war. The citizens worshipped the goddess in hopes of a successful outcome in the long Peloponnesian War fought against the Spartans and their allies. In the sixth century BCE a cult of Athena Nike was established and a small temple was built using Mycenaean fortification and Cyclopean masonry.