Minerva of different Roman emperors. She often is represented on the reverse side of a coin holding an owl and a spear among her attributes. Stemming from an Italic moon goddess "*Meneswā" ('She who measures'), the Etruscans adopted the inherited Old Latin name, "*Menerwā", thereby calling her Menrva. It is presumed that her Roman name, Minerva, is based on this Etruscan mythology. Minerva was the goddess of wisdom, war, art, schools, and commerce. She was the Etruscan counterpart to Greek Athena. Like Athena, Minerva burst from the head of her father, Jupiter (Greek Zeus), who had devoured her mother (Metis) in
Column of the Goddess while the statue was sculpted by Théophile Bra as an allegory of the besieged city wearing a mural crown. It was nicknamed the "Goddess" by the inhabitants of Lille soon after the erection of the memorial, as some local poems suggest. Column of the Goddess The Column of the Goddess is the popular name given by the citizens of Lille (France) to the Memorial of the Siege of 1792. The memorial is still in the center of the "Grand′ Place" (central square) of Lille, and has been surrounded by a fountain since around 1990. The siege of September 1792 was