Metis

Metis (counsel) In Greek mythology, a Titaness, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys; first wife of Zeus, according to Hesiod’s Theogony (886 ff). When Zeus was told by Heaven and Earth that his wife was to bear a child who would overthrow him, he swallowed Metis through trickery. Athena was born fully armed from Zeus’s head, which was split open by Hephaestus’s ax, or by Prometheus. In Greek religion Metis was a personification of counsel, prudence, and insight.

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend, Third Edition – Written by Anthony S. Mercatante & James R. Dow
Copyright © 2009 by Anthony S. Mercatante