Bird Gods in Ancient Europe 



and serpent infest caves of the rock, we may 

 consider her allied to the earth, that is to say, 

 of the race of the giants and of the powers 

 of darkness under the earth. We have seen 

 in the last chapter how the Greeks of the 

 time of Perikles placed the woman-headed 

 winged lion on her helmet instead of the owl. 

 This creature, like the eagle-headed lions or 

 griffons on the sides of the helmet, are sym- 

 bols of the power of Athene. 



She is perhaps a form of Selene the moon 

 (Diana) and is own sister to Aurora the dawn. 

 She and Aurora have the same family connec- 

 tions. She got her name Pallas, according to 

 Greek tradition, from the giant Pallas, grand- 

 son of heaven and earth, cousin to Aurora. 

 Another version of him is humanized into a 

 son of Pandion, an ancient king of Arcadia, 

 who is no other than Pan, the great primitive 

 Turanian god. Pallas Athene is therefore 

 descended from Pan, and gets her epithet 

 Paionia from the older form of Pan's name, 

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