Greek
Aegis
Aegis (Αἰγίς)
Shaken, it raises storms and sends enemy armies fleeing in terror.
ArmorFirst recorded c. 750 BCE
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Photograph: Antonio Canova's marble statue Perseus with the Head of Medusa, 1804–6. The nude Perseus holds a curved sword in his right hand and Medusa's head in his left.
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2,260 × 3,000 PX2260×3000
ArchiveGreek · Weapon
Harpe
Harpe (Ἅρπη)
A curved blade that can cut even the immortal.
- Owner
- Cronus, Perseus
- Maker
- Gaia (Cronus's sickle); given to Perseus by Hermes
- First record
- Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCE
- Gallery
- Greek
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
In Hesiod's Theogony, the earth goddess Gaia, enraged at the sky god Uranus for imprisoning their children underground, made a great toothed sickle of hard metal. Her youngest, Cronus, cut his father down with it and separated sky from earth.
Later mythographers say Perseus was given a similar curved sword. With the harpe from Hermes, Perseus approached Medusa while watching her reflection in a mirror-bright shield, and took her head in one stroke.
Perseus in Greek vases and sculpture often holds this hooked sword, so that the harpe became the mark by which he is recognized.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Perseus with the Head of Medusa(Italian (Antonio Canova), 1804–6), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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