Athena (Saint Seiya)

Athena (Saint Seiya)

The Greek goddess Athena (アテナ, Atena?) (spelled in Greek as Ἀθηνᾶ and Ἀσάνα, in the manga and the anime adaptation respectively, and occasionally as Ἀθάνα in both) is one of the main characters in the Saint Seiya series, a manga authored by Masami Kurumada, which was later adapted to anime and originated three other spin-off manga.

Kurumada created her character based on the Greek goddess of the same name. As in classical mythology, Athena is the goddess of Wisdom and Justice, daughter of Zeus and sister of Artemis and Apollo. In Kurumada's story, she is reborn on Earth every 250 years, when evil threatens the world, to protect it, restore peace and bring hope. To do so, she counts on the assistance of an army of eighty-eight youths of great strength and courage, whose fists rend the skies and whose kicks split the earth, who don powerful armors called Cloths and who are known as the Saints of Athena. Athena is also the goddess of Battle, but she does not believe in conquest and fights only defensive wars. She hates weapons and thus only allows her Saints to battle using their bodies and Cloths. The only Saint allowed to wield weapons is the Libra Gold Saint. She has opposed the ambitions of other deities since the age of myth in Greece, earning herself the rejection of the other Olympian gods. She has especially had a long-standing conflict with the god of the Underworld, Hades.

During her twentieth century incarnation she uses the name Saori Kido (城戸 沙織, Kido Saori?) as her civilian identity. In the English-language version of the Saint Seiya manga and anime she is known as Princess Sienna.

Athena was introduced by Masami Kurumada in chapter 1 of his manga, Saint Seiya, as the mythical Greek goddess, and then in chapter 3 of the first volume as Saori Kido, the head of the Graude Foundation, an extremely beautiful young woman, who radiates elegance, wisdom and serenity, and who is followed and protected by her dedicated Saints. In the anime adaptation, she appears in episode 1, initially unaware of her divine nature. She also appears in several other related works, such as a sequel, five films, video games and two manga by different authors. Spin-off series Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas, written and drawn by Shiori Teshirogi, introduces an alternate eighteenth century incarnation of Athena named Sasha (サーシャ, Sāsha?), an orphan from a small village of Italy who is adopted by the Sanctuary, the home and training ground of the Saints. The incarnation of Athena in the fifteenth century also appears briefly, partaking in the holy war of that era. Teshirogi refers to her as "The previous Athena" (先代アテナ, Sendai Atena?).