A young man named Paris loved a girl called Helen of Sparta. The goddess, Athena had promised to make Helen fall in love with Paris, so he journeyed to Sparta and kidnapped her. Paris took Helen to his home in Troy, and there he expected to spend the rest of his life in happiness.

Sparta’s King Menelaus would not give up Helen so easily. He gathered men, including a man named Odysseus. They fought the Trojans for 10 years, but did not get Helen. Finally, Odysseus thought of a plan.

He told his men to build a huge wooden horse with a trap door on it’s underside. Some of Odysseus’s men hid in it. Then the horse was rolled up to the gates of Troy, where the men inside the horse waited silently. The other men left. This made it look like the Spartan’s had given up, leaving a strange horse behind. All night it stood there.

In the morning, the gates were opened very carefully. They couldn’t figure out what the horse was doing there. Many Trojans were very happy when they found that the army had fled. They thought the horse was a gift to Athena, so they took it right outside of Athena’s temple. The people there were happy the long war was over.

One day, Zeus, the king of the gods, found a good spot for a city on Earth. "Which of you would like the city to be named after you?" he asked the gods and goddesses. Both Athena and Poseidon wanted it. Zeus decided to give a contest to see who should have it. He asked each of them to think of a gift to give to the mortals of the city. Whoever had the best gift would have the city named after them.

Poseidon showed his gift first. He struck the Earth with a three headed spear. Out sprang a huge, white horse, covered in war gear and ready to fight. The horse was more splendid than anyone could ever imagine. "Such a horse like this would always protect the people of the city," said Poseidon.

Athena thought a moment then said, "The horse may well protect the city, but it will also bring war and sadness." She drew an arc in the air with her hand and suddenly there appeared a tree. "My gift, the olive tree, is also a sign of peace, happiness, and freedom. Zeus, isn't this what you want for the mortals of your city?"

Zeus thought carefully about the two gifts. Finally, he said," Athena's gift is best. She brings the gift of peace which a war horse can only bring by harming people. Therefore, let the city be named Athens, city of fair Athena." And so it was.

The Spinning Contest 

There once lived a maiden named Arachne who could spin better than anyone in the land. She wove beautiful patterns-anyone who saw them was left in awe. Unfortunately, Arachne grew conceited and claimed that she could spin better than the Goddess Athena could!

One day, Athena heard Arachne's boasting and decided to speak with her about it. Disguised as an old woman, Athena approached Arachne and said,"I think you should stop acting as if you were a Goddess. You are but a poor mortal whose skills pale compared to Athena's." Arachne scorned the old lady and said she would gladly challenge Athena to a spinning contest. In an instant, the old woman dropped her disguise, showing her true self. She accepted the challenge.

The contest began at once. Athena thought Arachne's weaving was quite beautiful, but she saw that the young mortal was very conceited about the beauty of her work. This made Athena very angry, even though she thought Arachne was a better weaver. She thought Arachne's attitude was very foolish.

Athena looked at Arachne and said,"Since you love to weave so much, let's see how you like living in the webs you weave forever!" With that, Arachne was turned into a spider. Since that time, all spiders were punished because of Arachne, having to live in the webs they spin.