From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Aetos Dios
Aetos Dios
Aetos Dios"
The "Aetos Dios (sometimes Aetos Dias) [Greek. αετός From then on the eagle would have the privilege of
Δίας], is translated from Greek into "Eagle of Zeus". There being able to approach the throne of Zeus. He would
are two schools of thought regarding the origin of this serve with Zeus and be the protector of Zeus’ sacred scep-
eagle, coming from different Greek legends. tre, while his wife would have the privilege of being a
sign of good omens in the affairs of men.[2][3]
Aetos Dios as the late King Pe-
riphas Aetos Dios as creation of Gaia
In other accounts the eagle was in fact an ancient cre-
Periphas was one of Apollo’s priests. He was later made ation of the goddess Gaia. He appeared before Zeus at the
King on account of his many virtues. Zeus however, was start of the Titanomachy (Battle of the Titans). Zeus took
jealous because King Periphas was now revered and ho- this to mean a good omen of victory, leading to him using
noured to the same extent that he was and so wished to the emblem of a golden eagle on his war standard:
destroy him. Apollo intervened however, and requested
that Zeus instead transform the King into an eagle. Zeus "...For so happy an omen, especially since victory
accepted and transformed both King Pereiphas and his did ensue, he made a golden eagle for his war stan-
wife Phene into an eagle and an osprey respectively. The dards and consecrated it to the might of his protec-
eagle also has a place amongst the stars as the constella- tion, whereby also among the Romans, standards of
tion Aquilla, one Ptolemy’s 48 listed constellations. this kind are carried." - a translated excerpt from
(Some accounts say Phene was turned into a vulture, Fulgentius’ "Mytholgies" (Mythologiarum Libri III)
not an osprey, and is the reason for the constellation of
Lyra (also on Ptolemy’s list). The constellation of Lyra is
an instrument of Apollo, but is also sometimes depicted References
as a vulture. This could be because Lyra’s brightest star, [1] Aetos Dios encyclopedia
Vega, has Arabic roots meaning "Swooping Eagle". The [2] From legend 6 of Metamorphoses by Antoninus
Latin name for this was "vultur cadens", or "sinking vul- Liberalis.
ture". The addition of the bird so close to the constella- [3] Information from "theoi.com" including excerpts
tion of Aquilla, has led some to believe that Lyra was in from Liberalis’ "Metamorphoses"
fact the consort of Periphas in his eagle-state[1])
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