Ατη
The personification of Error. A goddess of lightness whose feet rested only on the heads of mortals, and that without their knowing it. When Zeus made the oath in which he pledged himself to give pre-eminence to the first descendant of Perseus to be born, and in this way exalted Eurystheus above Heracles, Ate deceived him. Zeus took his revenge on her by casting her down from the summit of Olympus. Ate fell to earth in Phrygia, on the hill which took the name of the Hill of Error. That was the spot where Ilus built the fortress of Ilium (Troy). When Zeus cast Ate down from high heaven he forbade her ever to stay in Olympus and that is why Error is the sad lot of mankind.
{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}
Table of Sources:
- Hom. Il. 9, 503ff.; 10, 391; 19, 85ff
- Lyc. Alex. 29 with Tzetzes ad loc.
- Apollod. Bibl. 13, 12, 3
- Steph. Byz. s.v. 'Ιλιον