“Athena’s Aegis,” by me, (#10 in my “Quest for the Gorgon Head” series)
PART 10: With justice served and his mother saved, Perseus returned his Adamantine blade to Hermes, and the helmet of invisibility and winged sandals to the nymphs, and of Medusa’s head he offered it to grey-eyed Athena who placed the head upon her “Aegis” (armored breastplate) as a sacred weapon. Later in life, Perseus returns to his original homeland, fulfilling the original prophecy by accidently killing his grandfather with an accidental discus throw. Perseus and andromeda go on to found the great kingdom of Mycenae.
The original Aegis armor was described as a goat hide with golden tassels wrapped over a shield used by Zeus in the war against the Titans. In an alternative account, in the Olympians war against the titans, Athena strips a giant monster, Pallas, of his skin and wears the skin as armor. In ancient Greek vase paintings we can see a metal corselet worn by Athena upon her torso, with Medusas head positioned abreast. In Homer’s Iliad, Apollo borrows the Aegis, and joining in the war, provokes terror upon the battlefield with it, as it was said to produce “…a sound as from myriad roaring dragons.” (Iliad, 4.17)
combing through the references about the Aegis was a bit tricky. Does anyone have anything to add about this sacred piece of armor? Did i miss anything?
