Athena‘s connection with Aries is fairly straight forward. Aries is associated with the head, and anyone even remotely aware of classical mythology knows that Athena sprung fully-formed from Zeus’ head, and is associated with intellect and all that it entails. Aries in particular is associated with traits like leadership, strategy and courage, all traits intrinsinc to Athena in her myths. Aries in particular is associated with the fire of the mind, raw creativity and thought, as well as the rising of the dawn, being the start of the Zodiac and exalted in the Sun, all traits visceral to the nature of Athena’s story, being the Nous of Zeus. Notably, the bird most associated with Aries is the owl, though Ares is also associated with owls (indeed, owls are also associated with Scorpio).
Athena in Aries is easily comparable to Hephaistos in Libra and Ares in Scorpio. The former relates directly to their mythology: the daughter of Zeus without a mother and the son of Hera without a father, the use of fire in benefit of civilisation, even their very unfortunate encounter. Aries and Scorpio are both signs associated with Mars, and represent vividly the contrast between Athena and Ares: the goddess of strategy versus the god of bloodlust, the light of the mind versus the water of the blood, the symbol of the dawn and renewal versus the symbol of death and the end.