The Olympian Aegis
The Olympian Aegis. According to the Iliad, both Zeus and Athena carried an aegis thought to be either a shield or animal skin adorned with the head of Medusa. The aegis was thought to have magical properies and when shook by an Olympian, would wrap clouds around Mount Ida, create claps of thunder and strike men down with fear. In the Iliad when Zeus sends Apollo to revive the wounded Hector, Apollo, holding the aegis, char ges the Achaeans, pushing them back to their ships drawn up on the shore. Roman poet Virgil described the aegis as a fearsome thing with a surface of gold like scaly snakeskin, edged with golden tassels and bearing the Gorgoneion in the central boss. But Augustus' freedman, Gaius Julius Hyginus, who became superintendent of the Palatine library, claimed it was the skin of a pet goat owned by Zeus' nurse, Amalthea, that he used as a shield when he went forth to do battle against the Titans. Images: Early Roman Imperial Zeus with Aegis and Gor...