According to a story recorded by Servius, Palaestra was a daughter of the Arcadian king Choricius, and sister to Plexippus and Enetus.
Palaestra told about this to her lover Hermes; he liked the new game even more and, after making some improvements, introduced it to all people.
[2] According to Philostratus the Elder, Palaestra, a daughter of Hermes, was believed to have grown up in Arcadia, which connected her with Olympia and the Olympian Games.
For her hair is too short even to be twisted into a knot; the eye might be that of either sex; and the brow indicates disdain for both lovers and wrestlers; for she claims that she is able to resist both the one and the other and that not even in a wrestling bout could anyone touch her breasts, so much does she excel in the art.
She cares for nothing feminine; hence she does not even wish to have white arms, and apparently even disapproves of the Dryades because they stay in the shade to keep their skin fair; nay, as one who lives in the vales of Arkadia, she begs Helios (the Sun) for colour, and he brings it to her like a flower and reddens the girl with moderate heat.