Aegis
The storm-bearing shield of Zeus, lent to Athena and sometimes Apollo, an aegis of goatskin fringed with gold tassels; in Homer it scatters armies with terror and houses the gorgoneion, the severed head of Medusa. Hephaestus forged its golden version for Zeus, and the aegis became Athena's emblem in art, worn over her breast or carried on her arm. It marks divine protection and terror in Greek epic, and the name later passed into ordinary speech for any protecting force or shield of authority. The gorgoneion set on its face remained a common apotropaic image on shields and buildings through an