Founding Myths
Lepreus, son of Pyrgeus (who was killed by Heracles) is considered by some to be the city's mythical founder, similar to the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus. Other historians however assert that the city's name comes from the fact that the original settlers were afflicted with leprosy, while some claim that it was due to the presence of a temple of Zeus Leukaios (Of the White Poplar).
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Famous quotes containing the words founding and/or myths:
“The Founding Fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on parents. So they provided jails called schools, equipped with tortures called an education. School is where you go between when your parents can’t take you and industry can’t take you.”
—John Updike (b. 1932)
“The poets were not alone in sanctioning myths, for long before the poets the states and the lawmakers had sanctioned them as a useful expedient.... They needed to control the people by superstitious fears, and these cannot be aroused without myths and marvels.”
—Strabo (c. 58 B.C.–c. 24 A.D., Greek geographer. Geographia, bk. 1, sct. 2, subsct. 8.