Minerva

Roman A Goddess of Etruscan or perhaps Sabine origins. Over time, the Romans elevated Minerva to a high-ranking position and she joined with Jupiter and Juno to form the main triad of Roman worship, replacing an earlier triad of Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. In her earliest form, Minerva was a goddess of education and business worshiped by the Etruscans and neighboring peoples of central Italy. She then developed into a goddess of war, battle, death, and sexuality. Numa Pompillius, the second king of Rome, who ruled from 715 to 673 b.c., introduced the worship of Minerva to the citizens of that city-state. Artisans and well-educated people paid special honor to Minerva. In about 509 b.c., the Romans built a majestic temple on the Capitoline Hill to honor Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. The chamber to Jupiter, the supreme god, stood in the middle, with smaller chambers to the two goddesses on either side. As the Roman Empire grew in the first and second centuries b.c., people built temples to Minerva across the conquered lands. Minerva lost many of her warlike, savage attributes as Greek influence on Roman culture increased (see Hellenization), and she became the goddess of domestic skills, industry, culture, and arts and sciences. Though her name was used in place of Athene in the Greek stories of that goddess, some scholars believe Minerva was a much more warlike goddess than her Greek counterpart. Minerva wore a helmet and held an owl, her sacred animal, in most images of her, including statues and coins. Romans celebrated her during the Quinquatria festival on March 19.