Athena was born fully armed out of her father’s head. It all began with Zeus falling in love with Metis, his older cousin and daughter of Oceanus, the great river that encircled the world. She played hard to get, ever-changing her form to escape the amorous god, but eventually, Zeus caught up with her. Soon after the deed though Zeus learned that Metis (meaning “magical cunning”) would give birth to a daughter and a son. The latter would become more powerful than Zeus and would eventually overthrow him. Zeus would have none of that, so he tricked Metis into turning herself into a fly and swallowed her, but he was too late.