# Minerva — Metamorphoses character guide

> Minerva in Metamorphoses by Ovid.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Pallas

**First appearance:** 0059-transformation-of-arachne-into-a-spider

## Snapshot

Goddess of wisdom and craft, who turns Arachne into a spider and watches Niobe's pride get punished by Latona's children.

## Who they are

Minerva is the patron of skilled work and the goddess who cannot tolerate being outdone, whether by a mortal weaver or a boastful queen. She presides over the story of Niobe as a witness to the cost of comparing oneself to the gods, and her own contest with Arachne shows her both as judge and as sore loser. Her presence in the early books establishes the poem's rule: mortals who claim divine status pay for it in their bodies.

## Relationships

### [Arachne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/arachne)

_rivalry_

Arachne challenges Minerva to a weaving contest and is punished by being turned into a spider.

## In the story

### [Story of Coronis, and Birth of Esculapius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-coronis-and-birth-of-esculapius)

Minerva is the goddess who nursed Ericthonius and later punished the daw for revealing the secret, replacing her with the owl Nyctimene.

### [Story of Aglauros Transformed Into a Statue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-aglauros-transformed-into-a-statue)

Offended by Aglauros's greed, she commands Envy to torment her.

### [Story of Cadmus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-cadmus)

Goddess who descends to instruct Cadmus to sow the dragon's teeth and later commands Echion to cease fighting.

### [Andromeda Rescued from the Sea Monster](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/andromeda-rescued-from-the-sea-monster)

One of the gods to whom Perseus builds an altar.

### [Story of Medusa’s Head](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-medusa-s-head)

The goddess who punishes Medusa by changing her hair to snakes and later bears them on her aegis.

### [Book V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-v)

Visits the Muses on Mount Helicon and hears the story of Pyreneus.

### [Story of Perseus Continued](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-perseus-continued)

Supports her brother Perseus in battle, shielding him with her aegis.

### [Minerva's Interview with the Muses](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/minerva-s-interview-with-the-muses)

Visits Mount Helicon to see the spring of Pegasus and is entertained by the Muses.

### [Transformation of Lyncus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/transformation-of-lyncus)

Mentioned as patron of Athens, the city from which Triptolemus comes.

### [Transformation of Arachne Into a Spider](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/transformation-of-arachne-into-a-spider)

Goddess of wisdom and crafts, challenged by Arachne; disguises herself as an old woman, then reveals her divine form; weaves a tapestry depicting the gods' power and punishes Arachne by transforming her into a spider.

### [Book VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-viii)

Implied as a goddess associated with wisdom, though not directly named in excerpts.

### [Story of Nisus and Scylla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-nisus-and-scylla)

Implied as the impartial goddess of war who hovers over the battle.

### [The Labyrinth](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/the-labyrinth)

Implied as the goddess of wisdom, aiding Theseus through Ariadne's thread.

### [Story of Daedalus and Icarus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/story-of-daedalus-and-icarus)

Goddess who transforms Daedalus's nephew Perdix into a partridge after Daedalus throws him from a tower.

### [Book IX](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-ix)

Implied presence among the gods during the debate over renewing youth.

### [Debate of the Gods](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/debate-of-the-gods)

Present among the gods during the debate, though not directly speaking.

### [Adventures of Diomedes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/adventures-of-diomedes)

Incensed by the violation of her temple, she pursues the Greeks with storms and destruction.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/minerva
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters