VIRGO

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Virgo was often drawn with a staff or rod in her right hand and an ear of wheat in her left hand. Virgo is thought to represent Erigone who on finding her father Icarius (Bootes) dead, hanged herself in grief and was raised to heaven for her piety. An alternative story (cf. Aratus, Phaen. 98 ff.) identified her as Astraea, daughter of Jupiter (or Astraeus), who at the advent of the Bronze Age fled to heaven. [Manilius, Astronomica, 1st century A.D, Introduction, p.xxiv]. Astraea has been identified with the Greek goddess Dike, and Roman Justitia. The word virgo is Latin for virgin. Klein explains the word virgo; "is probably related to virga, 'a young shoot, twig', virgate", virgate (shaped like a wand or rod, also an early English measure of land area), from Latin virgatus, 'made of twigs', from virgo, 'twig, switch, rod', which is of uncertain origin. It stands perhaps for *wiz-ga, from Indo-European base *weis-, 'to turn, twist', whence also Old English weoxian, 'to wipe'". Indo-European base *weis-, gives as derivatives: whisk, from Old English weoxian, 'to wipe', 'quick stroke, sweeping movement' (with a whisk or brush), 'implement for beating eggs, etc' [1], whisker, 'hair of a man's face', originally a playful formation, from Middle English wisker, anything that whisks or sweeps' [2], whiskey (an obsolete word meaning a light vehicle. — Formed from whisk)