Palladion
The Palladion ( Latin Palladium ) is, according to Greek mythology, an old carving of the city treasurer Athena , which was kept at the castle of Troy as a pledge of public welfare. It was three cubits high and showed the standing Athena with her feet close together, in her right hand the drawn spear, in the left spindle and coat or carrying a shield . Zeus is said to have thrown it to Ilos as a favorable sign from heaven when he founded Troy.
According to another report, it was a votive gift from Elektra . Since Troy could not be conquered while it was in the possession of the Palladion, Odysseus and Diomedes stole the picture and given it to Demophon , who brought it to Athens .
Even Argos boasted of possessing the Palladium.
According to yet another legend, there were two palladia in Troy, which Chryse the Dardanos as dowry should have spent; one is said to have stolen Odysseus, while the other took Aeneas with him to Italy as pledge for a new state, whereby Rome also came into possession of a palladium. It has been preserved here in the Temple of Vesta and carefully guarded from all profane looks.
Around 330, Emperor Constantine the Great had the Palladion brought to Constantinople and hidden in a cavity below the Column of Constantine .
In a figurative sense, “Palladion” or “Palladium” means any sacred thing that protects something and whose preservation is important.
literature
- Emil Wörner , Johannes Sieveking : Palladion . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 3.1, Leipzig 1902, Sp. 1301-1333 ( digitized version ).
Web links
- “Palladium” in: The large art dictionary by PW Hartmann .
