AEGIS

( αἰγίς ) signifies, literally, a goat-skin. According to ancient mythology, the aegis worn by Zeus was the hide of the goat A mal the i a, which had suckled him in his infancy. Homer always represents it as part of the armour of Zeus, whom on this account he distinguishes by the epithet aegis-bearing ( αἰγίοχος ). He, however, a erts, that it was borrowed on different occasions both by Apollo and Athena. The aegis was connected with the shield of Zeus, either serving as a covering over it, or as a belt by which it was suspended from the right shoulder. Homer accordingly uses the word to denote not only the goat-skin, which it properly signified, but also the shield to which it belonged. The aegis was adorned in a style corresponding to the might and majesty of the father of the gods. In the middle of it was fixed the appalling Gorgon’s head, and its border was surrounded with golden ta els ( θύσανοι ), each of which was worth a hecatomb. The aegis is usually seen on the statues of Athena, in which it is a sort of scarf falling obliquely over the right shoulder, so as to pa round the body under the left arm. The serpents of the Gorgon’s head are transferred to the border of the skin. (See the left-hand figure in the cut.) The later poets and artists represent the aegis as a breast-plate covered with metal in the form of scales. (See the right-hand figure.)