Goddess of Wisdom who, like her Chinese counterpart, taught the art of war rather than took part in bloodshed. She was also in charge of wisdom and ethics, the order of civilization, justice and fertility. One can definitely see her as an all-rounded figure, in whom war was only one of many important functions.
E. A Great Mother goddess of War is also the Hindu Kali (s. link below), known both for her cruelty and for her motherly care for all creation; Kali is sometimes considered an aspect of another Hindu War goddess, Durga, about whom the following story is told on the site ‘Goddesses of War’ (s. links below): Durga, a fierce warrior, was born during a lengthy battle between the Hindu gods and an army of demons. In desperation, the gods gathered together and breathed in unison. A ferocious fire blazed forth from their mouths, out of which Durga was born — a fully grown warrior, ready to fight. The gods quickly gave her a lion (or, some say, a tiger), to mount, and a weapon for each of her ten hands. Durga advanced toward the demons – one of them in the form of a buffalo, which is reminiscent of the Chinese story (s. above); as her arms flashed with their weapons, within moments she had slaughtered all the demons. On a site dedicated to her particularly, Durga is said to represent the power of the Supreme Being Shiva, to whom she was married, who preserves moral order and righteousness in creation. She is called “Divine Mother”, and one of her epithets is Maha, which means “Great” or “Terrific”. She had three divine children, two sons and a daughter.
It seems obvious that both Athena and Durga, springing forth with full armor ready for battle out of the effort of male divinities, were created by