Symbolism of the eagle.
As Supreme master of the air the eagle is one of the most unambiguous and universal of all symbols embodying as it does the power speed and perception of the animal world at its peak.
Together with Majesty domination victory valor inspiration and spiritual aspiration. It is an attribute or personification of great gods.
In the Greek myth of the beautiful youth Ganymede abducted by an eagle to be the Cup bearer of the gods.
Zeus • Zeus King of Heaven sends eagle as his Messenger or becomes the eagle himself depending on the version of the myth. The wrath of Zeus is personified by the eagle peaking at the liver of Prometheus the Titan.
Soaring through the skin son the eagle seemed a creature capable of carrying souls to heaven. The origin of a Roman custom of releasing an eagle from the pyre of emperors.
The biblical story of an eagle burning its wings near the sun and renewing them in the sea became a baptismal motif.
The eagle is one of the four creatures of the vision of the Prophet Ezekiel which later is said to represent the four evangelist.
The eagle was assigned to Saint John on the grounds that he is the most mystical gospel. In medieval iconography the eagle is associated with Christ ascent the wings of prayer the dissent of grace and the conquest of evil.
In Egypt, West Asia India and the Far East the link between the eagle an Sky gods it's ancient and consistent. An eagle with human arms was a Syrian emblem of sun worship.
The eagle is often a storm and Thunder symbol as well as a solar one suggesting both light and fertility power.
Garuda the eagle headed Mount of the Hindu God Vishnu is shown battling with forces of evil. In Native American myth the eagle has celestial and solar symbolism.
The duality of the sun and earth is represented in Central America by the eagle and Jaguar.
Among nomads particularly in northern Asia the eagle was a shamanic father symbol its feathers used in initiation and ascension rituals.
The eagle is one of the most ancient and popular emblems of victory it's flight taken foretelling of military success in ancient Persia and also in Rome.
The later Roman and Byzantine Empire used a double headed eagle device symbolizing the eastern and western halves of the empire it was adopted by later empires that saw themselves as the successors of Rome or Byzantium including the holy Roman Hapsburg and Russian empires.
Heretical use of the eagle was widespread throughout Europe. The American bald eagle with outstretched wings is the emblem of the United States. In art the eagle can be an attribute of pride.