Aëtos

For other uses, seeAetos.

Not to be confused withAeëtes.

Zeus and an eagle,krater(c. 560 BC), now in theLouvre

InGreek mythology,Aëtos(Greek:Ἀετός,romanized:Aetós,lit. 'eagle') is an earth-born childhood companion ofZeus,the king of the gods, who served as the origin of theEagle of Zeus,the most prominent symbol of the god of thunder.

Mythology

According to the myth, Aëtos was a beautiful boy born of theearth.While Zeus was young and hiding inCretefrom his fatherCronuswho had devoured all of Zeus's siblings, Aëtos became friends with the god and was the first one to swear fealty to him as new king. But years later, after Zeus had overthrown his father and become king in his place, Zeus's wifeHeraturned Aëtos into an eagle, out of fear that Zeus loved him. Thus the eagle became the sacred bird of Zeus, and a symbol of power and kingship. The eagle even assisted Zeus during theGigantomachy,by placing lightning bolts on Zeus's hands.A similar tale was sometimes attributed toGanymede,Zeus's cupbearer anderomenos,whom Zeus's eagle abducted or Zeus himself abducted in the form of an eagle.

See also

• Periphas
• Argus Panoptes
• Daphne

Bibliography

• Kerenyi, Karl(1951).The Gods of the Greeks.London:Thames and Hudson.
• Maurus Servius Honoratus,In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii;recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.

External links

• Media related toAetos Diosat Wikimedia Commons
• "Eagle of Zeus".Theoi Project.