Astræa

, a daughter of Astræus king of Arcadia, or, according to others, of Titan, Saturn’s brother, by Aurora. Some make her daughter of Jupiter and Them is, and others consider her to be the same as Rhea wife of Saturn. She was called Justice , of which virtue she was the godde . She lived upon the earth, as the poets mention, during the golden age, which is often called the age of Astræa; but the wickedne and impiety of mankind drove her to heaven in the brazen and iron ages, and she was placed among the constellations of the zodiac, under the name of Virgo. She is represented as a virgin, with a stern but majestic countenance, holding a pair of scales in one hand and a sword in the other. Seneca , Octavia .— Ovid , Metamorphoses , bk. 1 , li. 149 .— Aratus , bk. 1 , Phænomena , li. 98 .— Hesiod , Theogony .