The Birth of
AthenaThe Birth of
AthenaAthena springs from the head of Zeus with shield in hand. Zeus has his right hand raised with thunderbolts ready. Is he threatening Hephaestus, who only came to help? Hephaestus carries a double axe in hand, having relieved Zeus of the headache that prompted this radical surgery.
How did Athena come to be in the head of her father? See Hesiod's Theogony (891ff).