Stock Photo - The first-century B. C. Roman poet Virgil wrote in his epic poem The Aeneid that the ""winged Iris, sitting on a cloud in front of a rainbow, appears to Turnus on the steps of the palace. "" In Greek mythology (Roman as well, Iris was honored as the goddess of the rainbow. In the tale of th Trojan War, Hera (Juno to the Romans), the queen of the gods and a deity who favored the Greeks over the Trojans, sends Iris to tell Turnus, chief of the Rutuli in Italy and the chief enemy of Aeneas once he arrives in Italy, to attack Aeneas and his band of Trojans, and that the timing is good as Aeneas has left the camp to find King Evander. This illustration, dating to around 1900, shows Iris carrying the message to Turnus.