previous next

[447] For the aegis see also 4.167, 5.738, 15.308, 17.593; it clearly symbolizes the storm-cloud, and as such belongs properly to Zeus; Apollo wields it 15.318, 361, 24.20; Athene here, 5.738, 18.204, 21.400. It is no doubt rightly explained by Reichel (Hom. Waffen, p. 69) as a “λαισήϊον” or skin with the hair left on, whence the epithet “ἀμφιδάσεια,” 15.309, covered with hair. This skin shield is the primitive form, superseded in Homer for the heroes by the solid shield overlaid with metal, but still carried by the common folk. But from its antiquity it remains as the divine armour. There is no ground for supposing it to have been of metal, except that it is made by Hephaistos the smith in 15.309. But the smith in his capacity of armourer may well have undertaken leather as well as metal work, and the mention of the golden tassels here and elsewhere in any case gives a reason for the intervention of the metal-worker. The “θύσανοι” are presumably a fringe with pendants, serving at once to adorn the edge, where the hair alone would make it look ragged, and to protect it where it was most liable to wear. So a belt is finished off with tassels in 14.181. These pendants developed later, under the influence of the Gorgoneion, into the snakes of Athene's aegis in classical art. ἀγήραον and ἀθανάτην being co-ordinated by “τε” are epexegetic of “ἐρίτιμον”.

The Iliad, edited, with apparatus criticus, prolegomena, notes, and appendices. Walter Leaf. London. Macmillan. 1900.

The National Endowment for the Humanities provided support for entering this text.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide References (10 total)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: