QUOTE : ln imitation of Zeus' conception of Athene, gnostic Sophia produces a self-conceived offspring. As we read on, it may be thought that the Goddess has perpetrated a great joke. In the Valentinian Gnosis, the Demiurge-the alleged creator of the world-thinks that he has created everything out of himself. However, Achamoth (Sophia) wishes to be seeded everywhere without his knowledge. Accordingly, she conceives an embryo and secretly inserts it into the Demiurge, "that it might be sown into the soul created by him and into the material body .. . and might become ready for the reception of the perfect Logos." Accordingly, humanity does not derive its soul from the false Demiurge, but from the Mother Above. This gnostic joke may perhaps be translated into Athenian terms, for Metis is pregnant with Athene when Zeus swallows her, and Zeus remains forever afterward in her mighty shadow. Metis is derived of an earlier breed of gods, like gnostic Sophia, and her influence is absorbed by Zeus. Zeus acts like a divine creator, though it is his foremothers who are the real shapers.