Apate (deity)

Apate (Greek Ἀπάτη ) is a daimon in Greek mythology. She is the personification of deception and fraud. Their equivalent in Roman mythology is Fraus.

In Hesiod's Theogony she is fatherless born of Nyx, when Cicero comes from the Nyx and Erebus the. In the Dionysiaca of Nonnus Apate is visited by Hera because she is out for revenge because of meeting her husband Zeus and Semele. Apate then gives her a belt that allows the wearer to influence the will of the other person. Hera brings through the magic of the belt Semele to want to see the true face of Zeus. Zeus fulfilled this wish Semele, after which she is killed by its luster.

The most well-known pictorial representation can be found on the Perservase. The illustration shows how she tries Asia away from the altar of a protective deity.