Under the aegis
Under the protection of a powerful force.
The phrase "under the aegis" refers to being under the protection or sponsorship of a powerful, knowledgeable, or benevolent source. Its origin lies in the aegis, a device carried by Zeus, Apollo, and Athena in Greek mythology, often depicted as a shield or animal skin. The modern meaning of protection by a strong force is rooted in this mythological object.
Quick Facts
- Associated deities
- Zeus
- Apollo
- Athena
- Possible origin of name
- Aex, daughter of Helios
- Material interpretations
- Goatskin
- shield
- animal skin
Facts from the source article.
Etymology
The Greek word αἰγίς (aigis) carries several meanings, including "violent windstorm," derived from the verb ἀίσσω (aïssō) meaning "I rush or move violently." It is also related to καταιγίς (kataigis), meaning "thunderstorm." Another meaning is "goatskin coat," from αἴξ (aix, stem αἰγ-) meaning "goat" plus the suffix -ίς. The original sense may have been "violent windstorm," with the phrase Zeus Aigiokhos originally meaning "Sky/Heaven, who holds the thunderstorm." The shift to "shield" or "goatskin" may have arisen through folk etymology.
In Greek mythology
In Virgil's account, the Cyclopes in Hephaestus's forge burnished the aegis Athena wears in anger, a fearsome item with a gold surface like scaly snake-skin, linked serpents, and the Gorgon herself on the goddess's breast. When the Olympian shakes the aegis, Mount Ida is wrapped in clouds, thunder rolls, and men are struck with fear. In the Iliad, Zeus sometimes lends the aegis to Athena, and Apollo uses it to charge the Achaeans. According to Edith Hamilton, the aegis was the breastplate of Zeus, awful to behold.
In classical poetry and art
Classical Greece interpreted the Homeric aegis as a cover borne by Athena. Euripides supposed it was the skin of the slain Gorgon, though the usual understanding is that the Gorgoneion was added as a votive offering from Perseus. In another interpretation, Aex, a daughter of Helios represented as a great fire-breathing serpent, was slain by Athena, who wore its skin as a cuirass or chlamys. John Tzetzes says the aegis was the skin of the giant Pallas. Hyginus relates that Zeus used the skin of a pet goat owned by his nurse Amalthea as a shield against the Titans. In art, the aegis appears as an animal skin over Athena's shoulders, sometimes with a border of snakes and the Gorgon head, or as a tasselled cover over her dress.
Interpretations
Herodotus thought the aegis originated in ancient Libya, where Libyan women wore leather garments fringed with thongs. Robert Graves asserted that the aegis in its Libyan sense was a shamanic pouch containing ritual objects, bearing a monstrous serpent-haired visage meant to frighten the uninitiated. One current interpretation identifies the Hittite sacral hieratic hunting bag (kursas), a rough goatskin, as a source of the aegis.
More in Words and Phrases Derived from Greek Mythology
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