Wonderful post! Athena's behavior has been preying upon my mind. Sadly, I don't get the latest Herc til Monday.
Athena the spinster, virgin spider lady, a version of one of the Fates? I like her depiction here, though as an occasional worshipper, I don't appreciate the "she cursed people!" backhistory. She fits a kingmaker better than a queen, I think. Though you'd think she'd be thinking past monarchies..She IS the patron goddess of the birthplace of democracy.
I think the most exciting thing is Athena's suggestion that 'gods' can go without worship. While DC goes with the idea that mythic gods like Bast can fade away without being fed psychic energy (but space gods like Darkseid don't seem to care), Marvel has always had the notion that their gods were mystic entities who simply have taken on the portfolios of human memes so long, they often seem to forget they had lives outside of their popularity on earth.
It has led to a feeling of "I'm not popular anymore so I am no longer relevant!" whenever they do god/demon stories, which has always seemed tiresome to me. The old Greeks considered all gods relevant, regardless whether they were in vogue. The gods had their cartoon drama, but in their essence, they were eternal facets of the universe. I've also been told that Hercules is one of the Christ figures. In todays age, it would be appropriate for him to be raised up by a virgin who used a bird for her sign.