InGreek mythology,Elaea (Ancient Greek:Ἐλαία,romanized: Elaia,lit. 'olive') is anAttic girl whose impressive athletic achievements and beauty won the favour ofAthena as well as the envy of the other Atticans. Her story shares many elements with that ofMyrsine. Her brief tale survives in the works ofNicolaus Sophista, a Greeksophist andrhetor who lived during the fifth century AD.
Elaea was an extremely athletic girl who outdid all girls in beauty and all boys in strength, winning the favour ofAthena, the virgin goddess of wisdom andpatron goddess ofAttica.[1] Elaea beat all her opponents in both thering and the race; many of her fellow athletes grew resentful and murdered her out of envy.[2] Athena took pity on Elaea, and for Athena's sakeGaia, the goddess of theearth, metamorphosed the dead girl into anolive tree, which was the most sacred tree associated withAthens andAthena.[3][4]
A similar, almost word-for-word, story was also told about another maiden,Myrsine, who was changed into amyrtle shrub.[3]
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