the Olympic gods have always been spiteful and bitter, Athena is probably just doing it for the sake of it. for example, shes known to be a sore loser with the tale of Arachne who was turned into the first spider because she beat Athena in a weaving contest. The 12 are flawed beings
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Flawed, certainly, but Athena isn't that kind of... impulsive is maybe the word I'd use? I think if a story had her doing something like this, something that requires this level of planning, logistics, negotiation, and strategy--all things she's admittedly good at--for no more reason than "just because," I'd say that story wasn't being fair to Athena
Even in stories with an antagonistic Athena, such as Arachne, or an outright evil Athena-equivalent, such as the Wicked and the Divine, I don't think a story gets to call an Athena "Athena" unless there's a reason for what she does and plans. That reason might be misguided, harmful, imperialistic, even insane, but she'd have to be the only Olympian who I just plain wouldn't ever buy that she's acting on pure whimsy.