ASTRAEA, in ancient Greek mythology, the "star maid en," daughter of Zeus and Themis, or of Astraeus the Titan and Eos ("the dawn"), in which case she is identified with Dike. During the golden age she remained among men distributing blessings, but when the iron age began, she left the earth in dis gust and was placed amongst the stars as the constellation Virgo. She is represented with a pair of scales and a crown of stars.