Xenokrateia Relief left. This is the god Apollo, sitting on a tripod, resting his legs on an Omphalos, near to which stands an eagle. The figure to his right is usually identified as Apollo’s mother, Leto, or as his sister, Artemis. Some scholars identify Artemis as the third figure from the left, while others identify it as Hermes, Leto, Rhapso, or an unidentified youth. The two figures of a smaller scale are almost unanimously identified as Xenokrateia and her son, Xeniades, since Greek art usually depict humans as smaller than deities. The figure who interacts with Xenokrateia and her son is usually
Zeus and the Tortoise deign to be present at the wedding of Zeus. The divine messenger Hermes was then sent to throw her and her house into the river, where she was changed into the animal now bearing her name. In the late 15th century, the Venetian Laurentius Abstemius created a Neo-Latin variant on the fable which was subsequently added to their fable collections by both Gabriele Faerno and by L'Estrange. It relates how, when the animals were invited to ask gifts of Zeus at the dawn of time, the snail petitioned for the ability to carry her home with her. Zeus asked if