Athena, was the goddess of war, intelligence/wisdom and the arts. As opposed to the previous gods, she is of Minoan origin, where she was the patron goddess of the palace, but it was via the Mycenaeans that she reached the Greeks as an armed deity and protectress. She was the patron goddess of the city of Athens. She is often associated with a battle shield, with the owl of wisdom, or olive tree. Athena is often also seen holding a small image of Nike, the goddess of victory, in one hand. Apparently, she remained a virgin throughout her life, thanks to the gods of Olympus to whom she pleaded not to fall in love, which would have implied children and domestic life and hence the abandonment of war.

Athena is represented on the coins in the Gulbenkian Collection, many on permanent exhibition, almost always on the reverse, sitting on a backless throne, with her left arm supported on a shield decorated with a star, wearing a helmet and holding in her right hand a figure of Nike with open wings placing a crown on the first letter of the name of Lysimachus (Thrace, 323-281 BC). On the obverse of these coins, there is always a representation of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC). We can see different poses of the goddess on the obverse of a coin from Pamphylia, Kilikia, from ca. 360-333 BC, with Athena standing, with helmet, shield and spear, and hovering above her right hand a Nike holding a crown and a pomegranate in the left. This depiction is an attempted copy of the image of the statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias in the Acropolis in Athens. Athena is also represented on the obverse of a exceptional coin, minted at Siracuse, from late 5th century BC, with her head shown from the front, and not in profile, with decorated helmet, an extremely audacious experiment, and three coins from Athens from the 2nd-1st centuries BC, again with her head in profile, reminiscent of the statue by Phidias. On the reverse is an owl, evocative of her wisdom.