Pteras

Of Delphi, a mythical artist, who was said to have built the second temple of Apollo at Delphi. The tradition was that the first temple was made of branches of the wild laurel from Tempe; and that the second was made by bees, of wax and bees' wings. The name of Pteras shows that the story of his building the temple is only a rationalistic interpretation of this fable.

Another story about Pteras was that the Apteraei in Crete took their name from him.

❧

References

Sources

  • Pausanias. Description of Greece x, 5.5, 9, 10.
  • Smith, William. (1870). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. London: Taylor, Walton, and Maberly.

This article incorporates text from Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) by William Smith, which is in the public domain.