Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess

Olympians, Book #2

By George O’Connor

ISBN# 9781596434325

Author’s Website: http://geooco.blogspot.com/

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Omar

“All of us are born naked, helpless, and defenseless. Not so Pallas Athena.”

After the events in Zeus: King of Gods, Zeus kept his promise to Metis (Goddess of Good Counsel,) and when he became King of gods he made her his Queen. But Mother Earth loved all of her children and was not happy that Zeus had locked his father and the other Titans in the Tartaros. So as she did with Kronos, she prophesied against Zeus:

 “As you overthrown your father, so shall your child by Metis overthrown you!.”

Zeus thought like his father, which led him to develop a plan: he took his wife for a fly Because Metis was daughter of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, she was able to change forms as Zeus and the other Olympians could, too. He tricked her to change into different animals: from bird to raven to bat; to serpent; to eagle, and finally a dragonfly.  He stayed as an eagle and ate her in the form of a dragonfly to always be together.

Time passed and Zeus forgot to listen to the voice in his head. He then took Hera as his new Queen. But unknown to everybody Metis was pregnant with his child. Zeus and Hera had children of their own and in his subconscious Metis had their child, a daughter.  Inside Zeus’ head, Metis’ daughter learned about science, and fought the anxieties and nightmares of his father. When time was near for her debut on Olympus, Metis made the perfect clothings for her daughter pouring the last of her essence to it.

One day Zeus had the worst headache of his life. He asked for help to his children Hephaistos and Ares. While Poseidon and Ares hold him down, Hephaistos took his hammer and spike, and delivered a blow to Zeus’ forehead to ease the pain. From the wound was born Athena already a young woman and fully clothed. Her cry was not of a newborn, but of a warrior, and her eyes were the color of her father’s storm clouds.

From here on, the volumes of the olympians tell the stories of the main characters, while interacting or creating events for other greek figures. In this volume, we see the stories of Athena with Perseus, and Pallas and her father. I liked how the author brought to life other Greek stories as he is portraying Athena’s life.

One of my favorite characters in this comic were the Fates. To share one eye and a tooth between the three of them is something only triples like them could do. Not to mention how sarcastic they were.

As the story progresses we see Athena change. She is smart and clever as her mother, but she is also has the power and the ferocity of her father. And if Zeus was capable of eating her mother, to stop a prophecy from coming true, what is Athena not capable of doing for the things she wants?

George O’Connor shows the reader that the old stories of the Greek weren’t always good or had a happy ending. He tells the stories as they were, and we see this one in a state of rage because her sanctuary was defiled by Medusa and Poseidon’s affair, she turns Medusa into the Gorgon monster that we know. Or how she used Perseus, her half brother, to later kill the Medusa.

The graphic novel teaches us that even though Athena is the God of Wisdom, being smart and wise, doesn’t mean that a person is good. Something that caught my attention was where the scientific name of the spiders come from. The cover for this graphic novel is great, too, it has Athena’s spear finished in a silver print, Medusa’s head can be seen, just like the Fates and the Giants.

I recommend you to read Athena: Grey-Eyed Goddess. It is good to revisit old tales and remember them. And if you don’t know a lot about greek gods this comic will get you started on the right path.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*