Athena Areia
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Areia (Ancient Greek: Ἀρεία) was a cultic epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, under which she was worshipped at Athens and Plataea.
Athena's worship under this name was said to have been instituted by Orestes after he had been acquitted by the Areopagus of the murder of his mother.[1] It was Athena Areia who gave her casting vote in cases where the Areopagites were equally divided.[2]
There is some epigraphic evidence of a distinct priesthood for this aspect of Athena, but all we have are incomplete fragments, primarily of an oath from this priesthood at Acharnae.[3][4][5]
From these circumstances, it has been surmised by some scholars (primarily in the 19th century) that the name "Areia" ought not to be derived from Ares, but from "ara" (ἀρά), a prayer, or from "areo" (ἀρέω) or "aresko" (ἀρέσκω), to propitiate or atone for. This is not considered likely by modern scholars.
C. Hocker and L. Schneider suggest that by adopting the role and name of Ares, Athena—the patron goddess of Athens—appears to be symbolically asserting her dominance over Ares, the usual protector of the treacherous city of Thebes.[6][7]
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