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What was the colour of Athena's Aegis?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2010

Susan Deacy  and
Alexandra Villing
Susan Deacy
Affiliation:
Roehampton University, London
Alexandra Villing
Affiliation:
The British Museum
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Abstract:

The aegis is Athena's most intimate and widely-discussed attribute, yet one of its vital aspects has so far been largely neglected: its colour. We shall argue that the nature and the role of the aegis and of its bearer are reflected not only in its shape and decoration, but also in its colour and luminosity. As with Athena's glaukos eyes, the key to chromatic characterization and meaning lies in brightness rather than hue. Most often in literature and art, Athena's aegis is characterized by a yellow or gold reminiscent of the gleam of the sun or of metal, which expresses a general divine gleaming brightness but also Athena's specific charis, namely the beauty, vitality and sparkling (or cunning) attractiveness that she can bestow on mortals under her protection. The dark or even black aegis (kyanaigis or melanaigis), by contrast, expresses the dark, wrathful and furious side of the goddess. Brightly shimmering or darkly obscuring, the aegis refers to Athena's protective, yet also potentially destructive, power. Its variable characterization in terms of ‘colour language’ constituted one tool among the many that were available to the Greeks for the construction of her divine personality.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 129 , November 2009 , pp. 111 - 129
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 2009

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References

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