Page "Aegis" Paragraph 8

There also is the origin myth that represents the ægis as a fire-breathing chthonic monster similar to the Chimera, which was slain and flayed by Athena, who afterward wore its skin as a cuirass ( Diodorus Siculus iii.

70 ), or as a chlamys.

The Douris cup shows that the Aegis was represented exactly as the skin of the guardian serpent, with its scales clearly delineated.

Often the Aegis is described as the bag in which Athene carried her shield and the serpent who was her son.