In a way, Athena was a mother herself.
According to Oxford Classical Dictionary, Athena visited Hephaestus, the god of smiths, to ask him to forge some new weapons for her. While they were alone together, Hephaestus tried to seduce Athena, but he failed. Then he tried to force himself on her, but the goddess of war fought him off. Hephaestus, "succeeded only in spilling his seed" on Athena's leg, which she wiped off.
When the "seed" fell on the ground, however, it went to Gaea, the Earth. Gaea had a son, who she named Erichthonius. She gave the child to Athena. The goddess took the baby and locked it in a box, forbidding anyone to open it. When two mortal women did open the box, what they saw horrified them. Some versions of the myth state that the child was wrapped in snakes, while others specify that the child was half-snake himself. Whether by the snakes, the monster, or Athena for breaking her commandment, the women were killed.
While her parenting methods may seem unusual, there are signs that Athena and her adopted son had a good relationship. In many depictions of Athena, she is accompanied by a snake. The historian Herodotus claimed that the massive snake actually lived in Athena's temple, guarding the acropolis.
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