Astraea (mythology)
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An 1886 base-relief figure of Astraea in the Old Supreme Court Chamber at the Vermont State House.

In Greek mythology, Astraea (English translation: "star-maiden") was a daughter of Zeus and Themis or of Eos and Astraeus. She and her mother were both personifications of justice. Astraea was the last of the immortals to live with humans during the Iron Age, the final stage in the world's disintegration from the utopian Golden Age. Fleeing from the wickedness of humanity, she ascended to heaven to become the constellation Virgo; the scales of justice she carried became the nearby constellation Libra.

She is also the symbol for the tarot Card Justice. In literature, Shakespeare refers to Astraea in Titus Andronicus, and also in Henry VI, part 1, and is the title of a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

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Astraea