Now you awaken a moral dilemma for me, because I love the rare m/f friendships we get across the millennia, and your points are so true.

However: re: Athena/Hera - don't see it. Do see darkfic potential in Athena/Arachne, given that story doesn't show Athena in a very good light and her overreaction must be due to some other factors than Arachne being better at weaving and sarcastic about the gods...