Arke (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Arke is the daughter of Thaumas.[1] Her sister is Iris, the rainbow goddess.[2] Arke and her sister Iris had wings and were the messengers of the Olympian gods. When the gods were fighting the Titans, Arke betrayed the gods and joined the Titans against them.[2] When the Olympians won, Zeus took Arke's wings and cast her into Tartarus.[2] Arke's wings were later given to Thetis as a gift on her wedding day. Thetis later gave them to her son Achilles. She tied them to his ankles. which is where his surname Podarces (literally "swift-footed") came from.[3]

References

  1. Nathan Covington Brooks,Four Books of the Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidius Naso (New York: A. Hinds & Co., 1890), p. 231
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Csenge Virág Zalka, Tales of Superhuman Powers: 55 Traditional Stories from Around the World (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc. Publishers, 2013), p. 58
  3. Ptolemy Hephaestion, New History, 6 in Photius, Bibliotheca, 190