1000 Classical Characters Briefly Described

Who was Iphigenia? What did Cincinnatus do? A thousand gods, heroes and tyrants of the classical world, each explained in the time it takes to read a text message.

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Palladium

A celebrated statue of Pallas. It represented the goddess as holding a spear in her right hand and in her left a distaff and spindle. It fell down from heaven near the tent of Ilus as he was building the citadel of Ilium, while, according to others, it fell in Phrygia; another account says Dardanus received it as a present from his mother Electra; other accounts are given of its origin. It is generally agreed, however, that on the preservation of the statue the fate of Troy depended. This was known to the Greeks during the Trojan war, and they contrived to obtain possession of it. But some authors say that the true Palladium was not carried away by the Greeks, but only a statue which had been placed near it, and which bore some resemblance to it.

Pallantias and Pallantis. Patronymics given to Aurora, the daughter of the giant Pallas.

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