✍️ The name of Athens, connected to the name of its patron goddess Athena, originates from an earlier Pre-Greek language.
The origin myth explaining how Athens acquired this name through the legendary contest between Poseidon and Athena was described by Herodotus, Apollodorus, Ovid, Plutarch, Pausanias and others.
It even became the theme of the sculpture on the west pediment of the Parthenon.
Both Athena and Poseidon requested to be patrons of the city and to give their name to it, so they competed with offering the city one gift each.
Poseidon produced a spring by striking the ground with his trident, symbolizing naval power.

• Situated in southern Europe, Athens became the leading city of Ancient Greece in the first millennium BC, and its cultural achievements during the 5th century BC laid the foundations of Western civilization.