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aegis
Sign in to saveAlso known as ægis
thumb|The aegis on the so-called Athena Lemnia, a Roman statue type often identified as a copy of a work by the Classical Greek sculptor [[Pheidias (Dresden Skulpturensammlung)]]
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Encyclopedic overview
6 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- In Greek mythology
- In classical poetry and art
- Interpretations
- References
- External links
thumb|The aegis on the so-called Athena Lemnia, a Roman statue type often identified as a copy of a work by the Classical Greek sculptor [[Pheidias (Dresden Skulpturensammlung)]]
The aegis ( ; aigís), as stated in the Iliad, is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a connection with a deity named Aex, a daughter of Helios and a nurse of Zeus or alternatively a mistress of Zeus (Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 13).
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “aegis” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.