Peristera (mythology)

In Greek and Roman mythology, Peristera (Ancient Greek: Περιστερά, romanized: Peristerá, lit. 'dove') is a nymph who was transformed into a dove, one of Aphrodite's sacred birds and symbols, explaining the bird's connection to the goddess. This myth survives in the works of Latin grammarian Lactantius Placidus and the first of the three anonymous Vatican Mythographers, whose works were discovered in a single manuscript in 1401.