It is said that Zeus, the father of all Gods, promised to gift peninsula of Attica and would announce the patron saint of the eminent city , to whoever would bring to him the most valuable and useful present. Competitors to this challenge were Poseidon, the god of sea and Athena, the god of wisdom. Poseidon captured with his trident the sacred rock of Acropolis and sea water sprang from the rock. From the other hand, Athena planted an olive tree. Those days people were unaware not only of the cooking with olive oil but of the use of oil for lighting as well. With this gift Athena beat Poseidon to this challenge and from that moment and then the olive tree is considered to be sanctuary.
Nevertheless, the challenge did not end as Poseidon got frustrated. For this reason he decided to leave peninsula of Attica without water. People were angry against Poseidon and moreover the son of Poseidon was also angry that his father lost the power of Athens. Thus he climbed to Acropolis carrying along an axe with the intention to cut the olive tree that Athena had planted. The moment that he raised his axe to cut the tree, just as a miracle the axe turned against him and it killed him.