αἰγίς Ancient Greek · revision 2301

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=grc αἴξ}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /ai̯.ɡís/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ɛˈʝis/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /eˈʝis/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''αἰγῐ́ς''' (aigís) ''f'' (genitive αἰγῐ́δος); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is usually taken as derived from [[αἴξ|tr=aíx|t=goat]], “goatskin”, formed like [[νεβρίς|tr=nebrís|t=fawnskin]] from [[νεβρός|tr=nebrós|t=fawn]].^(Frisk 1960)^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary) Herodotus already took the aegis of Athena for a goatskin, a view that many modern scholars defend.^(Frisk 1960)^(DGE)

+

+ Other explanations exist: a derivation from an unattested verb *αἴγω “to move, shake”, matching [[sa|एजति|tr=éjati|t=moves, trembles]] (Kretschmer, Thumb), with αἴγλη “gleam”; or a link with [[αἴγειρος|tr=aígeiros|t=black poplar]], which would make it a wooden shield.^(Frisk 1960)^(DGE)^(Wiktionary) The sense “storm wind” was probably influenced by [[ἐπαιγίζω|tr=epaigízō|t=to rush upon]], used of winds.^(Frisk 1960) Cunliffe thought the original idea was a storm cloud.^(Frisk 1960)^(Cunliffe 1924)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Iliad'' it is the terrifying shield of Zeus, which he shakes to rout armies.^(DGE)^(Cunliffe 1924) Athena and Apollo also wield it, Athena casts it over Achilles' shoulders, and Apollo covers Hector's body with it.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The CGL describes the Homeric aegis as apparently a metal shield covered with goatskin, fringed with golden tassels and bearing the Gorgon's head, Panic, Strife, Might and Rout.^(CGL 2021) Hesiod describes Athena shaking it so that the earth groans.^(DGE) Later poets made it Athena's attribute and pictured it as a garment: in Pindar and Euripides it is fringed with snakes, in Aeschylus it is worn, and Euripides makes it of the Gorgon's skin.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940) Herodotus explains the aegis of Athena's statues from a goatskin dress.^(DGE)^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ As an ordinary word it meant a goatskin, as in Euripides' ''Cyclops''.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE) Aeschylus and Pherecrates use it for a storm wind, terrible as the shaken aegis.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021) Technical uses were the hard heartwood of the pine (Theophrastus) and a speck in the eye (Hippocrates).^(LSJ 1940)^(Wiktionary) Polybius uses it as a symbol of divine power.^(CGL 2021) English [[m|en|aegis]], from Latin, means “protection” from 1793.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – the shield of Zeus, wielded by Athena and Apollo.^(Cunliffe 1924)^(LSJ 1940)

+ * Before the 6th century BC – Hesiod describes Athena shaking it.^(DGE)

+ * 5th century BC – Herodotus explains it as a goatskin dress.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 6th–5th century BC – Aeschylus uses it for a storm wind.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses it for the heartwood of the pine.^(LSJ 1940)^(DGE)

+ * 1793 – English ''aegis'' “protection”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|aegis]], the shield of [[Ζεύς|tr=Zeús|alt=Zeus]], also borne by Athena and Apollo.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The aegis of [[Ἀθηνᾶ|tr=Athēnâ|alt=Athena]], pictured as a garment fringed with snakes and bearing the Gorgon's head.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A [[m|en|goatskin]] worn as a garment.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # A dress worn by the priestess of Athena, an ornament worn on the breast, or, in Laconian, a cuirass.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A rushing [[m|en|storm]], a hurricane.^(LSJ 1940)^(CGL 2021)

+ # The heartwood of the pine.^(LSJ 1940)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A speck in the eye.^(LSJ 1940)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[αἰγίοχος|tr=aigíokhos]]

+ * [[ἐπαιγίζω|tr=epaigízō]]

+ * [[καταιγίζω|tr=kataigízō]]

+ * [[καταιγίς|tr=kataigís]]

+ * [[αἰγίζω|tr=aigízō]]

+ * [[αἴξ|tr=aíx]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|aegis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}