Eagle of Zeus

[1] They were considered endowed with oracular properties, and a divine bird, as messenger of Zeus and herald of victory.

[1] From these divine associations, the eagle came to be used as an emblem of several rulers, from the Achaemenids to Alexander the Great and the Diadochi, and finally of the Roman emperors.

In one version, Aëtos was a childhood friend of Zeus who kept him company while the god was hiding in Crete from his father.

In some versions, Aëtos is supplanted with Ganymede, the Trojan whom Zeus abducted in the form of an eagle.

But Apollo interceded, and instead Zeus transformed Periphas into an eagle, making him king of all birds and guard of his sacred sceptre.