Athena vs Minerva

Are Athena and Minerva the same goddess? In the poems, yes — Ovid's Minerva is born of no mother, weaves the contest with Neptune for Athens and wears the Gorgon aegis Hesiod and Homer gave Athena. In cult, no — Minerva was an Italic goddess with her own festival, seated on the Capitol beside Jupiter and Juno, an arrangement Athens never had.