Litae
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Litae /ˈlaɪtiː/ (Template:Lang-el meaning "Prayers") are personifications in Greek mythology.
They appear in Homer's Iliad in Book 9 as the lame and wrinkled daughters of Zeus (no mother named and no number given) who follow after Zeus' exiled daughter Atë ("Folly") as healers but who cannot keep up with the fast-running Atë. They bring great advantage to those who venerate them, but if someone dishonors them, they go to Zeus and ask that Atë be sent against that person.[1]
This is an obvious allegory on the supposed power of prayer to mitigate the misfortunes into which one's folly has led one.
References
- ^ Homer, Iliad, 9. 502 ff; see also Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy, 10. 302