Aegis
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The aegis or egis, as stated in the Iliad, is a device carried by Athena and Zeus, variously interpreted as an animal skin or a shield and sometimes featuring the head of a Gorgon. There may be a conn
The aegis on the so-called Athena Lemnia, a Roman statue type often identified as a copy of a work by the Classical Greek sculptor Pheidias (Dresden Skulpturensammlung)
Athena's aegis, with Gorgon, here resembles the skin of the serpent who guards the golden fleece (regurgitating Jason); cup by Douris, early fifth century BC (Vatican Museums)
First century BC depiction of Alexander wearing the aegis on the Alexander Mosaic, Pompeii (Naples National Archaeological Museum)
Augustus shown with an aegis thrown over his shoulder as a divine attribute in the Blacas Cameo; the hole for the head appears at the point of his shoulder.
Medusa
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In Greek mythology, Medusa, also called Gorgo or the Gorgon, was one of the three Gorgons. Medusa is generally described as a woman with living snakes in place of hair; her appearance was so hideous t
Classical Greek gorgoneion featuring the head of Medusa; fourth century BC
Coins of the reign of Seleucus I Nicator of Syria (312–280 BC)
Medusa, depicted as a centaur, is beheaded by Perseus, Boeotian pithos, c. 660 BC
Perseus decapitating Medusa while Athena looks on, from a preserved metope from the temple of Apollo in Selinus.