aegis

/ee"jis/, n.

1. Class. Myth. the shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena, bearing at its center the head of the Gorgon.

2. protection; support: under the imperial aegis.

3. sponsorship; auspices: a debate under the aegis of the League of Women Voters. Also, egis.

[1695-1705; < L < Gk aigís shield of Zeus or Athena, prob. from aig- (s. of aíx goat) + -is n. suffix, from a type of shield made of goatskin]

Syn. 3. patronage.

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In ancient Greece, the leather cloak or breastplate associated with Zeus.

It was worn most prominently by Zeus's daughter Athena (whose aegis bore the head of Medusa) but occasionally also by other gods (e.g., Apollo in the Iliad).

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▪ ancient Greek dress

also spelled  egis,  plural  aegises  or  egises  

 in ancient Greece, leather cloak or breastplate generally associated with Zeus, the king of the gods, and thus thought to possess supernatural power. Zeus's daughter Athena adopted the aegis for ordinary dress. Athena placed on her aegis a symbolic representation of the severed head of the Gorgon Medusa. The head itself had been a gift from the Gorgon's slayer, Perseus. Occasionally, another god used it—e.g., Apollo in the Iliad, where it provoked terror. As early as Homer the aegis was more than an ordinary goatskin cloak, for it was decorated with golden tassels. A stout hide of this sort could turn a blow, like a buffcoat, and thus it often appears as armour. Later, after improvised armour of this type went out of use, it was occasionally thought of as a metal corselet.

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