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Inancient Athens,Eleos (Ancient GreekἜλεοςm.) orElea[citation needed] was the personification ofmercy, clemency, compassion andpity – the counterpart of the Roman goddessClementia.[citation needed]Pausanias described her as "among all the gods the most useful to human life in all its vicissitudes."[1]
Pausanias states that there was an altar in Athens dedicated to Eleos,[2][1] at which children ofHeracles sought refuge fromEurystheus' prosecution.[3][failed verification]Adrastus also came to this altar after the defeat of theSeven against Thebes, praying that those who died in the battle be buried.[citation needed] Eleos was only recognized in Athens, where she was honored by the cutting of hair and the undressing of garments at the altar.[4][5]
Statius inThebaid (1st century) describes the altar toClementia in Athens (treating Eleos as feminine based on the grammatical gender in Latin): "There was in the midst of the city [of Athens] an altar belonging to no god of power; gentle Clementia (Clemency) [Eleos] had there her seat, and the wretched made it sacred".[6]
