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: A Greek bronze statuette of the early fifth century BCE. A bearded god, Zeus or Poseidon, spreads his arms as if about to throw something. The lower legs are lost and it stands on a rod.
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1,960 × 1,976 PX1960×1976
ArchiveGreek · Weapon
Thunderbolt of Zeus
Keraunos (Κεραυνός)
Lightning that splits the sky. It felled the Titans and the monster Typhon.
- Owner
- Zeus
- Maker
- The one-eyed Cyclopes
- First record
- Hesiod, Theogonyc. 700 BCE
- Gallery
- Greek
Notes on the photograph 3
Story
In the Theogony Zeus frees the Cyclopes whom his father Cronus had imprisoned, and in gratitude they make him thunder and lightning. Holding this lightning, Zeus ended the ten-year war against the Titans.
When Typhon, the most terrible of monsters, attacked the gods, Zeus hurled bolt after bolt, burned Typhon and cast him into Tartarus.
Zeus in Greek sculpture grasps lightning shaped like a rod pointed at both ends. For thousands of years afterward that form was how people drew the bolt of a god.
The object in the photo
The photograph shows Bronze statuette of Zeus or Poseidon(Greek, early 5th century BCE), a real museum object that evokes the legendary artifact.
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