Evander of Pallantium

In Roman mythology, Evander (from Greek Εὔανδρος meaning "good man" or "strong man": an etymology used by poets to emphasize the hero's virtue)[1] was a culture hero from Arcadia, Greece, who was said to have brought the pantheon, laws, and alphabet of Greece to ancient Italy, where he founded the city of Pallantium on the future site of Palatine Hill, Rome, sixty years before the Trojan War.

[2] Dionysius of Halicarnassus writes that Evander was the son of Hermes and a local nymph of the Arcadians, called Themis.

[3] Strabo writes that the Romans honour the mother of Evander, regarding her as one of the nymphs, and have renamed her Carmenta (a derivation of the Latin word for song).

[4] Dionysius of Halicarnassus also mentions that some writers, including Polybius of Megalopolis say that Lavinia was the daughter of Evander and had a son with Heracles who was named Pallas.

Previous to the Trojan War, Evander gathered a group of native Latins to a city he founded in Italy near the Tiber river, which he named Pallantium.