ὁ ἀετός, οῦ – an eagle
ὁ ἀετὸς βασιλεὺς τῶν ὀρνίθων καλεῖται· μέγας γάρ ἐστι καὶ ἰσχυρός· βασιλικὸν οὖν ὢν ζῷον ὁ ἀετὸς καὶ τῷ Διὶ φίλος ἐστίν.
ἔνδοξος δ’ ἐστὶν ὅδε ὁ λόγος· ὁ Ζεύς, βουλόμενος κολάσαι τὸν Προμηθέα, ἔπεμψε ἀετὸν ὃς τὸ ἧπαρ τοῦ Προμηθέως ἤσθιεν· τὸ δὲ ἧπαρ καθ‘ἡμέραν πάλιν ηὔξετο, ὅτι ἀθάνατος ἦν ὁ Προμηθεύς. ὁ δὲ Αἰσχύλος τὸν αὐτὸν λόγον περὶ τοῦ ἀετοῦ οὕτως διηγεῖται·
Διὸς δέ τοι
πτηνὸς κύων, δαφοινὸς αἰετός, λάβρως
διαρταμήσει σώματος μέγα ῥάκος.
ἄκλητος ἕρπων δαιταλεὺς πανήμερος,
κελαινόβρωτον δ᾿ ἧπαρ ἐκθοινάσεται.
– ἐκ τοῦ Προμηθέως Δεσμώτου τοῦ Αἰσχύλου
The eagle is called “King of the Birds” because it is big and strong. Being a royal animal the eagle is also dear to Zeus.
Famous is the following myth: Zeus, wishing to punish Prometheus, sent out an eagle who ate the liver of Prometheus. The liver, however, regrew again every day because Prometheus was immortal. Aeschylus recounts the same story about the eagle as follows:
the winged hound of Zeus,
the bloodthirsty eagle, will greedily
butcher your body into great ragged shreds,
coming uninvited for a banquet that lasts all day,
and will feast on your liver, which will turn black with gnawing.
– Aeschylus, „Prometheus Bound“